Galil Blog
Boker tov, Machaneh Galil! Today began our last week of the summer as the mini session campers left, but everyone was still full of energy and ready to enjoy the day. At Ivrit Shimushit, we learned the word delet, which means door. In the skit, Adam Sandler had escaped the fictional camp, and the other characters guessed that “they let” him out the door. We headed to breakfast, where we had bagels and cream cheese before doing avodah (chores) and nikayon tzrif (cabin cleaning) to make sure camp was clean for our rookies! That’s right, today was rookie day, where prospective campers can see what a summer day at Galil looks like. The rookies were welcomed with a sweet activity, making lemonade in the gan (garden).
In the morning, we had sadna’ot (specialist workshops) and peula shichva (age group activity). For Puela Shicvha – Pish – we talked about youth empowerment and the t’nua – the movement. Afterwards, we went to lunch where we noshed on chicken tenders. For sports, we swam, ran, played frisbee, and climbed the rock wall. Then there was free swim, where the kids had another chance to cool off from the August heat. After rachatzah (shower time) and kibbud (snack), we had chuggim, where the kids broke off into their interest groups. Chuggim gives kids an opportunity to make friends with kids outside their age group and bond over common interests.
For shira (singing), we were joined by a special guest: Chana Rothman! Chana is a Jewish folk singer and songwriter as well as a Galil mom! We sang along to soulful Hebrew tunes like ya’aloz sadai and the song of the summer, hineini. Then we had a pasta dinner and came together in song again at the end of the meal. After dinner and some chofesh (free time), we moved on to tochnit erev (evening activity).
Tonight’s tochnit erev was antiracism night, where there were three educational discussions to choose from. Part of youth empowerment at Galil is giving kids a space to talk about serious topics that they wouldn’t usually explore outside of camp. In addition, social justice is a core element of education at Galil and contributes to the Jewish value of tikkun olam. Campers engaged in thoughtful discussions about concentration camps in China, prison surveillance, and the civil rights movement. Another great day of fun and learning was in the books, but stay tuned for what’s to come tomorrow!
