Galil Blog
Boker tov Galil families! Today we woke up at 8:00, as usual, and headed to the toren for hitkansut boker. During the daily ivrit shimushit, we saw an ultrasound to announce that there were twins on their way. The twins? Habonim Dror and our sister movement in Israel, HaNoar HaOved!
That silly break was the way to tell the kids that today was Yom Yisrael! Full of excitement for the awesome day, we noshed on shakshuka for breakfast and went to “avodah”, which was really just fun activities related to avodah that happen in the HaNoar HaOved kenim (movement clubs in Israel). Among the stations was “unclogging a toilet,” which was actually just transferring water via sponges.
After a brief intermission, the older chanichimot (Tzophimot, Bonimot, and Bogrimot) met with a representative from Partners for Progressive Israel, who gave a presentation on the history of Israel. Meanwhile, the younger kids participated in a peula (activity) where they painted rubber ducks and talked about their ideal world.
After that we played a massive camp-wide scavenger hunt, where chanichimot run around and try to pull other people’s “flags” (shirts or tape) out from their waistbands. While doing so, they learned about the different parts of the HaNoar HaOved movement, such as the Druze Kenim.
After that we needed some sustenance, so we went to lunch, where we ate Arais (meat-stuffed pita) and Makluba, an upside-down rice dish, which got us ready for putting together a play about the founding of HaNoar HaOved. We learned about how the young girls stood up and went on strike for better conditions in the matches factory they worked in. Plus, we got to act on the stage! If you like theater or not, it was so much fun!
It wouldn’t be a special day at Galil without a pool party! We swam in the four major bodies of water in Israel. Well, it was really just our regular pool with decorations and rubber ducks, but it was pretty much the same thing, since there were people handing out ice cream bars, bisli, and malabi (rose water pudding).
We then watched an original music video by people in the movement, which led into a color war, where we threw red and blue powder at each other! More than a little messy, but it was so much fun.
Before dinner, we took a moment to acknowledge October 7th. This session, we are joined by a group of teens from Kibbutz Kerem Shalom. One of the teens, currently participating in Madatz, shared a bit about what they experienced on October 7th, and their journey since. We appreciated the opportunity to hear from our new friends.
Dinner was dedicated to those still in captivity and was based on some of the favorite dishes of some of the hostages/people who’ve been killed. The recipes came from #RecipesforReturn and from the Shavuot cookbook released by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum and other sources. This was a special way to connect to the families who have loved ones in captivity. Much thanks to Guy and Galit and all who worked in the Mitbach (kitchen) to prepare so many special dishes.
After dinner, we went through a Love Island tochnit erev, where we had to help different characters of people in the movement find their perfect ken. We made decorations, went to a haunted house, sang karaoke, meditated in the gan, and did just dance outside of the mini mo.
Unfortunately, our night was cut short by a power outage, which took out the lights but not our ruach (spirit)! We got ready by flashlight and used the dark to our advantage by stargazing. The energy came back around midnight so we didn’t have to wait too long. There’s never a dull day at machaneh!
See ya next time Galil families!
