Wednesday June 29

Everyone slept outside last night at their lina site – even Kaytana pulled it off!! They are officially real overnight campers 🙂

Machal really stepped it up last night, impressing their counselors with their ability to take charge in cooking dinner and working together to make it a fun, bonding, yummy night!  They made really creative burgers and turned it into a Master Chef competition. They did the not-so-fun clean up part this morning and headed for a long hike called “Sugar Run” nearby. They arrived at their next campsite and “set up shop”, pitching tents and cooking food. They have really developed into a community, and we are getting great reports from their two fearless leaders Adina Falk and Elliot Berdy! Kol haKavod. We look forward to seeing them as tzevet in camp soon!

Kaytana experienced a little “splitting of the Red Sea” as they learned about kriat yam Suf in shiur and then had some water fun in the Agam today! They also had a little “taste” of what it felt like in the desert eating the heavenly manna: they had a fun Bean Hunt for a peulah. All in all, these youngest campers have been welcomed with open arms here and know their way around camp and have really become acclimated. We are so proud of them and impressed by their enthusiasm, independence and …cuteness!!

Eidot Aleph-Daled learned about Queen Esther today since, according to many Torah scholars and historians, the story of Purim happened exactly in the period we have been discussing – as the Jews were building the second Beit haMikdash and creating community back in Eretz Yisrael.  We dicussed the concept of nes nistar (hidden miracles) and the challenge – but obligation – for us to see G-d’s hand in history behind all of the politics and human decisions.

A fun day of peulot and chugim (electives) was capped off with a separate night activity for each eidah:

Aleph – this youngest division which never stays up late enough on a Friday night to enjoy an oneg Shabbat party, had a mid-week Oneg Shabbat kumzits! They loved it!

Vav girls had a “just dance” party with their Rosh Eidah leading the dancing

Vav boys got the b-ball courts all to themselves!!

Bet girls had a fun Spa Night with face masks and hair beads and strings etc

Bet boys had a karaoke activity

Gimmel girls played 9-square

Gimmel boys had a dodgeball bunk vs. bunk tounament, best of 3

Daled just wanted a good night sleep after last night’s lina. They were the stars, lighting everyone’s fire pits and really stepping up as leaders! They begged to just be allowed to go to bed 🙂

Last bonus fun fact for the day: This summer Eidah Daled has been having their own minyan every morning; they have a really nice tefilah on their own. Kaytana, Aleph and Vav have a “young kids” minyan and Bet and Gimmel have their own too. With each minyan a little smaller, tefillah can be run more efficiently and more meaningfully for each age group, respectively.

Is tomorrow Thursday already?? This week flew by!!