Galil Blog
Hey Galil families, with our second day out of the heat wave, we had another gorgeous day full of kef (fun) and chinuch (education)! After the usual morning routine of hikansut boker (morning flag raising), breakfast of cereal and scones, and avoda (work) the amelimot (workers)—our youngest chanichimot (campers)—made a short trek to our ropes course. They started with the low ropes, a series of exercises to introduce them to the course and built trust within the groups, and then moved into the high ropes. On the low ropes course, they were tasked with different goals that required them to communicate with each other and feel safe knowing that their kvutzah (group) mates were there to support them. Once they got to the high ropes course, the bravery and tenacity they showed was extremely impressive. Almost all of them completed the Elements, a suspended system of beams and ropes high off the ground. Because of how high the course was, there were a few chanchimot who got stuck at different points, but after being cheered on by the other members of their kvutzah, they got a second wind and braved the rest of the course.
By the time the amelimot were done with the Elements, the rest of machaneh (camp) made their way to the chadar ochel (dining hall) for lunch. It was a make your own poke bowl meal, which was perfect for the amelimot because they could grab and go right back to the ropes. Now that they had completed the Elements, they were ready to climb the gargantuan tree that hosts the start of our zipline. Even though not all of them decided to make the trip to the top, it still took a long time for those who wanted to zip to complete it. This was due to the fact that our zipline is a whopping 45 feet in the air!
Zipping back to the rest of machaneh, the tzophimot (scouts)—our b’nei mitzvah age chanichimot—had a peula (activity) about Jewish identity run for them by their madrichimot (counselors). They drew their gardens about their Jewish identities with each flower representing a different element, along with considering which spaces they feel Jewish in or not. Galil seemed to be a running theme for what places they felt comfortable expressing their Judaism in.
After the peulot, the chanichimot went to sports. Today, we offered swimming (as always), volleyball, and rock climbing. Chanichimot had a blast splashing around in the pool, but the real excitement was in the rock wall races and in the volleyball pit, which had some wonky, made up rules, but surprisingly, this seemed to elevate the game. Then, rounding out the afternoon, we had shira (singing), where chanichimot learned different machaneh cheers, which led into hitkansut erev (evening flag lowering) and a dinner of delicious tortillas with various fillings.
To end the day, our tochnit erev (evening activity) had the chanichimot split up into different groups and compete in numerous assignments. The most electrifying mission was a competition between two teams trying to push tzevet (staff) members (who were in large inflatable plastic balls) into the opposing teams goal. Tired out by all of the running in the night, finally it was time for bed. For one final treat this day, the madatz (C.I.T.s) decided to tell the chanichimot bedtime stories as they finally drifted off into dreamland.
Bye for now, Amos