What a week it has been!! Trip II always has amazing energy as our camp events are action packed with a few “normal” days in between. This week featured a Solel trip to Pittsburgh, fun and funny evening programs, a full week of chugim (choice activities), and….. Maccabiah!!! Camp Wise does many things well, but Maccabiah (our color wars) we take to the max.
Maccabiah is a beautiful time as a camp community because it allows the whole camp Kehillah (community) to come together with a sense of unity. Campers get matched to 5 different teams for the color war competition and this session’s theme was “Pup”ccabiah – meaning that each color team was a different famous dog. For example, Red was Clifford, Blue was Bluey, etc. While walking around camp, the air fills with Hebrew cheers for each color, smiling faces, healthy competition, and teamwork. This event brings camp together because new relationships form and old ones strengthen. Siblings and family members in the camper population get sorted on the same teams, which also leads to a day of comradery.
This Shabbat we read the Torah portion, Balak, which tells the story of an enemy of the ancient Israelite community who tried to curse the Israelite people in the wilderness. When Balak engaged a sorcerer to do this, God intervened and the sorcerer could only offer a blessing, rather than a curse. Here in the camp environment we connect this story to the events this week in our program. Sometimes when we compete it’s easy to have a mindset fixed on winning – even to the point of insulting or demeaning opponents. Here in our Jewish environment we try to teach the value of Gratitude, HaKarat HaTov – being fulfilled by recognizing the blessings we have: that our relationships are more important and more enduring than winning. Yes – the Green Team won Maccabiah, but we are all one Camp Wise!!
Let’s check out what’s taking place around our villages:
Chalutzim/Rishon – Monday was an amazing pool party, Tuesday was our first ever “spy night” where we learned special spy skills around the camp, Wednesday and Thursday was an amazing Maccabiah, and Friday brings in Shabbat. Many cabins went Horseback Riding, jet skiing and we had a blast!
Ohalim
We had an epic “Titanic” pool party this week, the 6th and 7th graders enjoyed amazing overnights (even if a bit of thunder made it interesting!) We made s’mores and built tee-pees in the woods. Our village loved Maccabiah and got into every moment!
Noar
The whole villages was talking about the (approved) prank attacks between N3 and N6! N3 set up the N6 cabin bunks in the Moadon building – and surprise – everyone had an amazing sleepover. Noar also loved the “Ohio vs. The World” paint party on Tuesday and the “Barefoot Society” evening program on Monday. As we look to next week, we’re excited about the potential of a trip day off-camp!
Solel
This week we played reverse mission impossible on Monday night – it was a planned sneak out event (with permission!) We loved the Pittsburgh trip that featured white water rafting, the Andy Warhol museum, Duquesne incline, exploring the caves, and the Museum of Illusions. (Check out Campanion for some pics!)
