Galil Blog
Today we woke up full of energy and ready to take on our first yom shishi of the session. We started off with hitkansut boker (morning assembly) and ivrit shimushit (useful Hebrew), where we fittingly learned the word shavua, which means week. We fueled up with muffins at breakfast, just as we do every Friday. We had extended avodah (chores) and nikayon tzrif (cabin cleaning) to get ready for Shabbat. During nikayon tzrif, our campers gave it their all because the golden broom was on the line.
Then, our wonderful madatz (CITs) ran peulot (educational activities) for each shichva (age group). We followed that with Shabbat Shira, where each shichva competes to be the loudest and most enthusiastic when learning songs. The loudest group gets to go to lunch first! For lunch, we had a pizza picnic in Hyde Park, the area outside the Chadar Ochel (dining hall) with trees and play structures. Then came another Friday tradition, where Hyde Park lives up to its name and kids can make their voices heard by suggesting changes to camp.
The afternoon was mostly free time, yet many came together on the frisbee field for a big game of ultimate. Long throws and high-flying catches made it an exciting afternoon. Then, we all cleaned ourselves up for Shabbat before meeting our mishpachot (camp families). Mishpachot is a time on Fridays where we reflect on the past week in a group of various ages. Before dinner, the Bonimot (age 14) performed for Kabbalat Shabbat. They sang a Hebrew song, an English song, and performed a rikkud dance. Our rosh, David HD told his weekly rosh story, where he relates an event from his life to the week’s torah portion.
Then we headed to dinner, where the Bonimot said the blessings for the candles, grape juice, and challah bread. We had a break from the usual Friday night fare of chicken, opting instead for beef meatballs and gravy. After dinner, the chelmimot (sayarimot + tzophimot) performed the weekly oneg, a short play that pokes fun at camp happenings from the week. Then, we headed to Rikkud for all of our favorite dances before going to bed, looking forward to the rest of Shabbat and the relaxation that comes with it.
