Dear CW Families & Friends,
We had another amazing week jam-packed with fun and activity! On Saturday we had our annual Talent Show. It was so wonderful to see all the talent and creativity that lives here in our Camp Wise community! Some of our campers continued adventures this week with tent camping; Solel’s overnight even included a murder mystery, I don’t think it was ever solved though! And, with the start of the new week, we also started a new block of chugim, elective activities, and our campers have been busy exploring their skills all across camp from horseback riding to pottery, video, sports, and more. We have even uploaded some more podcasts for you to enjoy, head over this this link to listen: https://youtu.be/hkBl_6WuCDU
Over in Israel, our teens continued their adventures spending time in our sister community of Beit Shean, Haifa, Masada, and Tel Aviv. Be sure to read through to the end to learn more about all the special moments that they have had!
On Wednesday morning we said goodbye to our friends in Rishon. We couldn’t believe their time at camp went so quickly! We miss our Rishon campers already and can’t wait to see them back at the Home of Happiness in 2022. By dinner on Wednesday evening, the chadar was sent in a whirlwind and all four seasons hit at once! We had leaves falling and snow blowing and it sounded like there was a thunderstorm all at once. That’s when we found out it was Seasons Maccabiah and only the best season could remain. After all day of competitions ranging from dance to sports to fire building and more, only one team and season could prevail. The Tie Dye Summer team took the crown and the captains and judges celebrated with a pool jump while the campers cheered them on!
Speaking of seasons, this week we read in the Torah about God’s promise of the rains coming in their seasons. We are told when we enter the Promised Land, if the rains come in their seasons we will be able to share in the bounty of the land – fruits like pomegranates, dates and figs. With all we have learned about climate change recently, we know how vulnerable our earth is and the importance of the proper weather in every season.
This week is also one of many times we read about protecting the widow, the orphan and the stranger in our community. According to Torah, these are the most vulnerable members of our society. As Rabbi Shana prepared both Solel and Chalutzim for our final Shabbat, she explained that the real work of tikkun olam is to protect the vulnerable, whether it is our planet or the people living on it. And we have spent all session impressing upon our campers and staff that it is important to not just talk the talk, but to walk the walk. Don’t be surprised when your kids come home excited to do their part to make the world a better place!
Shabbat shalom,
Rachel
C1
C1 had a ton of fun this past week with playing basketball and soccer. They also enjoyed playing in the pool! They’re looking forward to spend their final week at camp at the giant swing and more swimming.
C2
C2 had a spectacular week at the Home of Happiness! We had a great time in Israeli culture learning a new game and had fun in Shabbat prep with our Solel buddies! We learned how to become ninjas and stole a sweet treat from the kitchen. Overall it was a great week and we look forward to the last week of camp!
C3
C3 had fun at the art shack making their cabin plaque and also got active at fitness and yoga. We’re excited for Chalutzim/Solel Shabbat this weekend!
C6
C6 had a busy week! We had an awesome time celebrating a birthday and our cabin wedding! We also had a blast decorating our C6 plaque that will be hung on the ceiling of our cabin. We spent lots of time preparing for Solel/Chalutzim Shabbat and are excited to show off our hard work to all of camp!
C7
C7 had an exciting week! We loved spending time with Rabbi Shana for Shabbat prep and Live Wise! We also were able to cool off from this hot weather during free swim!
C8
This week C8 had a blast helping plan Shabbat and playing wax museum at yoga. We also bonded as a cabin as we raided the kitchen for cheesy fries, and then became ninjas and earned nighttime ice cream. We’ve had story times and grown closer as a cabin. C8 can’t wait to see what the next week holds!
O1
O1 has really enjoyed this past week. They were stoked to have lake as a cabin activity and have been spending a lot of quality time together as a cabin. They had so much fun in Maccabiah and are excited to make the best of the last week at camp.
O2
This week O2 had a ton of fun! We’ve grown close over games of spike ball or cards, but it was our overnight that bonded us with the other boys in the village most of all. I can’t wait to see O2 experience what the rest of camp had to offer!
O3
O3 had such a fun week! We enjoyed mountain biking, soccer and song session. With the end of camp approaching fast, we can’t wait for more sports and evening programs!
O4
O4 had an amazing week! We had fun on the overnight where we slept under the stars! We also have been learning more about being in the Israeli army from our counselor Ido, who led some army training activities for us!
O5
This past week we made a cabin plaque! This plaque depicts the fun dynamic of our cabin, includes our name, and shows a picture of our cabin title “Red Hot Waffle Sandals”! Our campers are starting to reach somber moments knowing their time at camp is coming close to an end. They’ve had such a great session, but are also excited to know we have such a fun end of the week planned!
O6
This week 06 has had a blast riding the jet skis and tubing at the lake! We also got to learn how to take care and groom the horses at the stables during HBR! Maccabia broke yesterday, and we all cheered until we can’t cheer anymore! We only have one more week left and we’re sad to be going so soon.
O7
O7 had a really good week participating in chugs and cabin activities. We so much fun doing the Israeli culture cabin activities we learned so much about Israel and had a lot of fun playing games! We can’t wait to see what the last week of camp holds and are so excited to spend the rest of our time together.
O8
This week 08 enjoyed jet skiing at the lake, going on the Ohalim girls overnight, and beginning Maccabiah. We had a paint party and celebrated milestones with our pod babies.
O9
O9 had so much fun this week. We enjoyed new chugim and doing the horseback riding cabin activity! We got our tie dyed shirts back and all matched at breakfast one morning! We cannot wait for our final Shabbat!
O10
O10 has enjoyed movie lunches this past week with other cabins in Ohalim, they loved the new Space Jam movie! They are had fun during Maccabiah; they created lots of ruach (spirit) with their teams.
N1
N1 had a blast celebrating their counselor Gabi. They spent an afternoon on the climbing the tower, zipping across the high ropes course, and having fun at the giant swing!
N2
A highlight we had as a cabin was lake/boating, we went with N5 and got to either ride a Jet Ski or go tubing and it was hilarious watching everyone fly off the tube as it did donuts. The cabin really enjoyed the Johnny Big Boots program a couple days ago which brought us back down to the lake!
N3
A special moment for N3 this week was the evening program about Johnny Big Boots. We went down to the lake and we made a funeral for a fictional character, everyone took a part and enjoyed the evening program!
N4
This week we had a movie lunch. We watched tangled and at lunch together. They loved that we were able to do something special for them. A highlight for our cabin this week was our period party. It was so much fun to see what games they came up with for us to play. We loved seeing them embrace the craziness of camp.
N5
We had tie dye and plaque this week and had a great time in the art shack. We also had a great time at the lake for an evening program we had with the rest of Noar and celebrated our famous fictional characters funeral!
N6
We had such a fun week! All summer they’ve talked about going to the lake and we finally got to do it! We spent all morning riding the Jet Ski and tubing, with only one or two wipeouts! We also had an epic cabin performance in the talent show, where we did a new version of Old McDonald.
N7
High ropes, horseback riding, and plaque were our highlight activities for the week. Everyone had so much fun spending time with the horses and up in the trees. All of the girls participated and learned new things. All of our cabin has gotten closer as the days have gone on, and everyone has created meaningful relationships with each other.
N8
The cabin really enjoyed going down to the lake this week. The campers took turns tubing and riding the Jet Ski to beat the heat. One special moment the cabin shared this week was a midsession bunk night. We raided canteen and reflected on the session so far, writing down special moments with each person in the cabin.
Solel
Solel has had a fantastic week at camp! We can’t believe we only have a few days left of the session. Our week was filled with a beautiful kayaking/canoe trip, a painting class, Chalutzim/Solel Shabbat prep, and a night under the stars. We all had a sleepover on the deck while playing a murder mystery game, it was definitely a night to remember (we didn’t solve the murder though :/). We were so excited to lead campers through some of their first Maccabiahs and we’re making every last moment count.
Israel Leadership Summer (ILS)
Welcome to Beit She’an! The ILS campers spent last Shabbat by the pool in our sister community of Beit Shean and the Valley of the Springs! They made friends with other teens on Kfar Ruppin Kibbutz. Sunday, we traveled to the Jordan River and participated in an intense raft-building activity: solving puzzles and completing challenges— not without taking well-deserved breaks to swim in the water. From there we traveled to Ancient Tsfat to explore the Artists’ quarter and experience the rich history of Jewish Mysticism. The next day, we traveled up to the Golan Heights to hike to the hidden Banias Waterfalls and to experience Druze culture.
Next stop: Haifa! In Israel’s most diverse city, we learned about many different religions— visiting the Ahmeddiya Mosque and the Baha’i Temple Gardens. We traveled back to the desert and partook in Bedouin traditions before waking up early the next day to climb Masada and watch the sunrise. We floated effortlessly in the Dead Sea and relaxed on the beach! Thursday and Friday, we’re in Tel Aviv. We’ve studied history of innovation and Jaffa port, explored the Carmel flea market, and swum in the Mediterranean Sea. We can’t believe we start our final Shabbat, back where started in Jerusalem. We’re taking advantage of every last moment we have together in Israel!
