Dear CW Families,
The first few days of second session have been filled with energy, ruach (spirit), and excitement! We love the energy that all of our second session campers brought with them to the Home of Happiness. On Wednesday our cabins spent the day getting settled and getting to know each other. And in the evening each cabin participated in bunk night where they worked to create a special dynamic and bond in each cabin. Last night the villages had their first evening programs. Chalutzim and Ohalim participated in an epic lip sync battle, Noar cabins had a Wrestlemania night with fictional places, and Solel grew closer together during their cruise night.
While it’s been a bit of rainy start to the session, that has just inspired more creativity amongst our camp. Today we are playing Raining Day Olympics! Cabins are competing against each other for Nursery Rhyme Music Videos, in a game of Bunk Bed Battleship, and redecorating their cabins in MTV Cabinz! Be on the lookout for all the fun their having getting to know their bunkmates even better!
In addition to all of our campers here on camp, we also have 43 teens who just started their three week journey in Israel. After nearly two years of planning, we are thrilled to share that this group is having the trip of a lifetime, learn more about their first few days in Israel by reading below.
In addition to beginning a new session of camp this week, this Shabbat we also begin a new book of Torah, the final of the five books, Deuteronomy, Devarim in Hebrew. Devarim means “words” in Hebrew and these are the final words that Moses speaks to the Israelites before they enter the Promised Land. There was a person who loved Moses so much, and every year they hoped that the Torah would end differently, that Moses would be able to enter the Promised Land. Yet every year knowing they would be disappointed, they read the final book of the Torah anyway. Many of us do this same thing with a favorite book or movie, we reread or rewatch them over and over again, hoping for a different ending.
This summer we are focusing on the core value of Tikkun Olam, repairing the world. We are learning about how we must partner with God through social justice, social action and being shomrei ha’adamah (guardians of the earth) to make the world a better place. As Rabbi Shana prepared with Noar for Shabbat this week, they discussed Rabbi Ben Bag Bag’s teaching about Torah. He said, “Turn it and turn it, for everything is in it.” The Torah teaches us everything we need to know to create our different ending. It holds all the values by which we should live.
Below is short highlight from each cabin this week. Stay tuned to your CampIn Touch this week for new and unmasked cabin photos!
I look forward to sharing more highlights next week. Thank you for allowing us to spend part of our summer with your amazing campers!
Shabbat shalom,
Rachel
C1
C1 came to camp filled with excitement and already did some fun activities such as swimming and bunk night. They’ve bonded as a cabin and look to making memories and new friendships in the next few weeks.
C2
C2 has been able to accomplish a lot since we got here just a few days ago! We’ve made it up to the pool several times, played tennis, created and designed our new tie dye shirts and enjoyed some very delicious food options. Can’t wait to see what the next 3 weeks bring us!
C3
This week in c3, the campers arrived at camp and got to know each other at bunk night. They learned about Israel, made commercials in Drama, and made their tie dyes, all in addition to swimming. It’s been a fun week so far and we can’t wait for what next week brings!
C4
This week the C-4 Crunchin’ Curly Fries had the pleasure of partaking in horseback riding, tie dying, and their very first free swim! Everyone is thrilled to be spending our first summer at the Home of Happiness and to experience the rest of the activities camp has to offer in the coming days and weeks.
C5
C5 is so happy to finally be at camp! Everybody is having so much fun with their new cabin mates and trying new activities. Both C5 and C6 got to go down to the lake together!! We spent the whole time kayaking, paddle boarding and jumping on the aqua jump (a trampoline on the water). We can’t wait to see what the rest of our session brings and all the fun things we will get to!
C6
This week was jam-packed with fun for C6! After moving in and getting settled, we spent time meeting our new friends and eating yummy snacks. We had fun at new activities like kayaking and paddle boarding at the lake, tie dye, and tower. We can’t wait to explore more things at camp and make new friends in the village!
C7
This week C7 got to settle into the cabin and try lots of new things! We got to do the low ropes course and horseback riding! We’ve also had the chance to swim! All the girls love hanging out in the cabin with each other and they are loving camp so far!
C8
Everyone arrived yesterday and all the girls in C8 Smiley Fries have been getting to know each other and camp. Everybody’s taken their swim test, tie-dyed their camp shirts, and participated in an all camp (socially distant) dance party after lunch! All the girls have also been busy making bracelets and we can’t wait to continue to try new things throughout the session!
O1
O1 had an amazing first couple of days! They really enjoyed low ropes, Israeli culture, and drama! We can’t wait to see what the rest of the session holds!
O2
This week O2 had a blast raising our cabin mascot, Babe Z! Together we will work to raise Babe Z through milestone activities during the session and by setting a good example for them by behaving like responsible older siblings. During these past few days our cabin supported Babe Z for their Bris and birthday, and I can’t wait to see them raise an amazing child in the coming weeks!
O3
O3 has had an amazing start to camp! We had a lot of fun getting to know each other during bunk night and enjoyed archery and low ropes. We can’t wait for the week ahead!
O4
O4 had an exciting 1st day at Camp! We sang our hearts out in 2 song sessions and showed off our dancing skills by winning Best Overall with O10 at the Dance Competition last night! It’s been a great time so far and we can’t wait for the upcoming weeks 🙂
O5
O5 had so much fun doing Podcasting the other day. We first made our own cabin podcast and we played a guess that tune game. We had a blast! Despite a lot of early rain, we as a cabin have been able to persevere and do so many fun things despite having to be inside!
O6
O6 had an awesome first few days. We did our camp tie dyes and shot some bull eyes at archery. We got to do low ropes with our pod which includes the boys cabin O3 and also had a fun dance at lip sync battle last night.
O7
Our cabin is settling into camp and having so much fun getting to know each other. Yesterday we got a chance to try out the low ropes course and learn new camp songs at song session! We are looking forward to the session and can’t wait to see what it brings for O7!
O8
08 had an amazing first few days! We had fun playing drama games, bonded during low ropes, and danced to lion king songs! We are so excited for the rest of the session!
O9
09 had a great time doing the vertical playground at the high ropes course this week. We also had low ropes where we paired with 05 to do team building challenges and memory games. Everyone is getting settled in and having a blast; they cannot wait for horseback riding and lake!
O10
O10 ended the day yesterday with roses and buds: stating something we enjoyed today and something we’re looking forward to for the session. We also had fun creating a nursery rhyme music video today where we transformed “Five Little Monkeys” into an awesome rap.
N1
This week N1 had tower and soccer and really enjoyed getting to know each other and N7 which is the cabin we are together with in a pod. N1 has loved hanging out in the village getting to know kids on the other side of the village. We are bonding as a cabin and are all getting adjusted to being back at camp after two years!
N2
N2 had a special moment this week when we all shared our favorite parts of the day right before we went to bed so we can go over them all on the last day of camp. We all also played a basketball ball game together and everyone was being very friendly they even invited another cabin to play with them. Every single camper in our cabin gets along very well and we can’t wait to see how we get closer over the next 3 weeks.
N3
This week N3 really enjoyed playing soccer, especially with our counselor Yaya who is the soccer specialist. We also enjoyed getting ready for Noar Shabbat! Our bunk night was a really special moment for us this week, we were able to be open and sharing stuff about ourselves and learned a lot about each other. We also all set goals for the session and we can’t wait to have the best summer ever!
N4
This week we had basketball and low ropes with another cabin in the village and had a great time. All of the kids in the cabin are growing closer and are always looking out for each other and making sure everyone is included. We are bonding all together and getting close!
N5
We had so much fun at our village Wrestlemania program! And last night we spent time talking and sharing about more about ourselves and really connected as a cabin. As a cabin everyone is really friendly, they got to know each other really fast and the cabin is already united!
N6
We had an awesome first couple of days! We had so much fun at bunk night getting to know each other and playing games to learn more about each other! A special moment we had together was the Wrestlemania evening program. We all got super into it and made posters and came up with cheers to root for our counselor, Alex.
N7
Highlights from this week were at our soccer and tower cabin activities. All of the girls participated and had a ton of fun and enjoyed the competitiveness of being paired with a boy’s cabin. Last night during the evening program the whole cabin got super into dressing up their counselor and coming up with cheers. They were really excited and united as a cabin. They’re having fun and adjusting well and making new friends!
N8
This week we had bunk night where we learned more about our cabin mates and created a bucket list for the rest of the session! One special moment we had was cheering on our counselor in Wrestlemania. The cabin dressed her up as the “Doof Demolisher” after our cabin theme of Doofenshmirtz Evil Inc. The whole cabin is starting to bond and we’re looking forward to an incredible session!
Solel
Solel is off to an amazing first 48 hours! We’ve rebranded ourselves as The Solel Life on Deck, named after the hit TV show “Suite Life on Deck”. On bunk night, the campers got a chance to meet all the staff members with a game of freeze dance mixed with 20 questions. On their first full day, they got to climb the tower, swim in the pool, and hang out on the deck. We’ve seen a lot of bead bracelet making, mad libs, hammocking, and reading! Our first program was cruise ship themed, where the campers got a chance to learn more about each other through “get to know you bingo” and a meme game, while also making their own sailor hats! We can’t wait to spend more time with each other in our first week, and look forward to our first Shabbat as a Solel family!
Israel Leadership Summer (ILS)
The ILS teens have made it to the holy land! We spent our first few days in the Negev Desert, sightseeing at the beautiful canyons and trying traditional Israeli foods. Then, we were off to Jerusalem! We immersed ourselves in the culture on Ben Yehuda Street: trying new foods, dancing with local kids, and of course, shopping! We crawled through the underground tunnels beneath the Old City walls, all while shouting our favorite camp songs. We are having so much fun and are so excited to have so many more unforgettable experiences on our trip.
