Galil Blog

Boker tov, Galil Families! This morning, our chanichimot (campers) were woken up to Israeli music on the romkol (loudspeaker) and trucks decorated as El-Al planes parked outside their tzrifim (cabins). Without an hour of extra El-Al security, it only took a few minutes for everyone to pile into the back of our “planes” before jetting off to the chadar. Today was Yom Israel, and we kicked off with a full kibbutz-style breakfast of omelets, toast, and Israeli salad.

Staying in theme, we transitioned to Avodah (chores). Doing avodah at Galil helps us keep camp clean and connects us to Habonim Dror’s roots as a labor movement, inspired by the kibbutzim of Israel. Then, we had a rotation of water activities, including a slip-and-slide and a dunk tank where the kids took aim and sent the tzevet (staff) splashing down into the water. Before the weather could cool off too much, we grabbed our flip-flops and towels to celebrate our “moving onto the kibbutz” with a pool party.

After washing off, everyone was feeling ready for lunch. Greeted by the delicious spread of chicken schnitzel, challah rolls, pickled onions, and salad, we were all more than satisfied. After lunch was chuggim ritzinim (serious electives), where campers had the choice between learning some conversational Hebrew slang, learning about life on a kibbutz, and learning about “Workshop”—Habonim Dror’s year-long program in Israel. (This fall, Habonim Dror kicks off their 75th Workshop!)

Then, we had another rotation, during which we learned about the various holidays celebrated by different communities in Israel. Campers got a taste of festivities from Sigd, Shavuot, Eid al-Adha, and Mimouna—an opportunity to learn about all the different ways that our tzevet (staff) celebrates the holidays in Israel (with even the chance to sample some sweet ma’amoul cookies).

Then, the kids split up by shichva (age group) for a trivia contest inspired by the Israeli reality TV show, “The Golden Cage.” For each correct answer, they would have 10 seconds to look for papers that could be exchanged for prizes. The kvutza with the most points at the end scored extra points for this week’s “Golden Broom” tzrif cleaning competition! After working our brains and running around, everyone was ecstatic for dinner, an Israeli classic: shakshuka with burekas.

After dinner was our final activity of the day. We saved the best for last, ending the night with a Eurovision dance competition! Each shichva made and performed a dance to a famous Israeli pop song. Our judges graded them, but it ended in a tie. We had a fruit feast for dessert, before finally heading to bed, ready to fall asleep after a fulfilling day. Laila tov!