Friday, July 17, 2015

A typical day in Kallah Gimmel, Anything but typical

Every day in Kallah Gimmel may have a similar format but the surprises are what all the chanichin, madrichim and Segel anticipate with great relish.  Our Boker Tov in the morning is followed by breakfast which today was delicious egg muffin sandwiches and of course a choice of cereal, cottage cheese and Israeli salad. After breakfast Segel leads the eidah in a short t'filah and Thursday was a Torah reading day.  One of our madrichim volunteered to read Torah and then we were on our way.

Our next activity was Limud and today we learned about Lashon Hara and our puppets, Keif and Yedidut helped us to learn about not spreading gossip or hurtful words.  We told all of the chanichim to spread blue gravel all over the eidah.  After they ran around and spread blue fish gravel all over we asked them to gather it back up.  They soon realized that this would be near to impossible task. They could never gather up all the gravel they had thrown so carelessly around our area.

Keif and Yedidut
We then told them that the blue gravel is like gossip and hurtful words.  It is not easy to get those words back once they are out of your mouth.  This limud is based on an old Hasidic tale, the Tale of the Feathers.  Some of chanichim recognized the tie in to this story immediately and we were glad that they made the connection.

After limud, chanichim have swimming, showers, Ivrit and lunch.  In Ivrit we learn Hebrew through games and movement.  In my kitah we are learning the names of fruits and vegetables by playing an old school game of SPUD.  You call out the name of the fruit in Hebrew while throwing up a ball, the chanich catches it and try to get another friend out.  They learn the Hebrew words while playing outside.

In the afternoon we have minucha, chug, and sports.  During minucha chanichim write letters home and also have an opportunity to read a book from one of the many "little Libraries" around camp.  I gather books all year and make sure there is always something to read in our "little Libraries."  Chug is a chance to horseback ride, water sky, sail, dance, music, theater and many more.  There is always time for sports, structured free time before dinner.

As you can see we have a day packed with fun and experiencing Judaism with our entire Kallah Gimmel family.  Just in this one blog piece I have used over 10 Hebrew words, double or triple that for the number of Hebrew words we use in day and you can see how our chanichim learn so much Hebrew over a 3 week period.

I love spending the day with both chanichim and madrichim.  For me there is not a better place to practice Jewish education.  I thank all of the parents, synagogues, grandparents and One Happy Camper for making it possible for all of our campers to come OSRUI.  As we prepare for Shabbat, a unique event  I look forward to spending more time with my eidah and continuing the traditions and fun at OSRUI.

Dictionary:
Chanichim:Campers
Madrichim: Counselors
Segel: Faculty, Rabbi, Cantor, Educator attached to each unit
Eidah:  Unit
Lashon Hara: gossip
Kef:  Fun
Yedidut: Friendship
Limud:  learning session
Ivrit:  Hebrew
Kitah: Class
Minucha: rest hour
Chug:  different activities to choose 

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