Shabbat Shalom!
This week we welcomed home our Second Session family! We are constantly excited by the energy and spirit that is present this session! Although it has only been a week, our community has already tried new activities, made new friendships, and strengthened existing ones. Our kehillah kedoshah (holy community) is stronger (and bigger) than ever, which is perfect since the Jewish value of the week is community (Kehillah)! I am so excited to see everyone stroll to the breezeway in their Shabbat whites; tonight, we will come together as one big family to sing Shabbat songs, do Israeli dances, and celebrate Shabbat.
Olim has been very busy experiencing everything that camp has to offer. This week they’ve engaged in Jewish education through Kehillah, gone swimming in the pool and the lake, and gotten their first dose of Jacobs Magic! In the evenings, they found Dory, put their ninja skills to the ultimate test, and got really messy!
Garin jumped right into all that camp has to offer! Our Gariners learned about building a strong community and had their first round of Chugim and Peulot. They loved climbing the new obstacle course and iceberg in the lake, biking, experimenting in Wacky Science, and shooting arrows in archery! During their evening programs, Garin went on a scavenger hunt all around camp, worked on their survival skills, and experienced a day in the life of their counselors! As the biggest unit at camp, Garin’s energy is contagious!
Our Maskilimers have been absolutely loving their specialty camps so far! Just this week, our campers have climbed the tower, ridden bikes, made ceramic name tags, and learned about robots! They’ve also made Lego creations, practiced their archery, and had some great jam sessions with our very musical staff. In the evenings, they’ve stayed busy too! The Maskilimers had a dance off between cabins, created new inventions Shark Tank style, went on an adventure, and escaped to Israel. Maskilim is setting an example for the younger kids at camp; it is incredible to watch them role model for our community.
Along with specialty camp, our Talmidimers are experiencing all that our departments have to offer. They have loved doing experiments and learning about robots and space in our STEM program. Yellow ball and kickball were a lot of fun during sports, and they loved reaching new heights on the tower! They made jewelry and shadow boxes in the art room, and worked on weightlifting in the Berman. Evening programs have been a blast this week too! Our Talmidimers learned about camp legends, racked up as many points as possible in an all camp scavenger hunt, and discovered that ninjas are better than pirates! After only one week, Talmidim is leading our community by caring for each other and engaging with the other units during all camp time
Chalutzim had a fantastic time on their trip to North and South Carolina! While they were gone, they went white water rafting, kayaking, camping, and bonded as a unit. When they got back to camp, they welcomed our second session campers home and followed their dreams as they learned about Israel. For the first time, our Chalutzimers got to go to the pool with Olim, and I am amazed by the relationships that they formed with our younger campers; they were even hanging out later during song session!
Even though it has only been a week, there are so many connections and friendships being created. I cannot wait to see what next week has in store for us!
Love,
Anna
