Pish Night!

Every Thursday evening, instead of having a regular dinner in the chadar ohel (dining hall), the chanichimot (campers) enjoy a cookout outside in their respective shtachim (living areas). The younger campers eating in the lower shetach, and the older ones in the upper, and everyone enjoys hotdogs or hamburgers, with potato chips and carrots on the side.

After everyone has eaten, the chanichimot split up into their age groups for peulat shikva (age group activity), or “pish” for short. That’s how Thursday evenings get their name – Pish Night!

Last night, each shikva did something pretty different. The amelimot (chanichimot going into 4^th and 5^th grade) watched a movie and enjoyed ice pops. The chotrimot (going into 6^th and 7^th grade) played games and swam in the pool. The bonimot (rising 8^th and 9^th graders) had a “beit café,” where they enjoyed tea, cinnamon buns, and had conversations in small groups reflecting on their summer. Finally, the bogrimot (rising 10^th graders), took a walk around machaneh (camp), reflecting on all of their memories from past years, and then enjoyed a campfire and talked about their hopes for the future going into the next years and summers.

This past Pish Night provided fun and also closure, as the chanichimot get ready to leave Mosh in a few short days.

Zman Metsuyan!

Every afternoon, we have Zman Metsuyan, when we learn about Israel. Today during Zman Metsuyan, the chanichimot (campers) learned about art, literature, and culture in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. The goal was to give the chanichimot a better understanding of each city, and to prompt them to think about their preconceived notions regarding each city.

The chanichimot were able to choose to go to two of five discussions about various topics. These were the different options:

• For the first option, the chanichimot listened to some music! They heard a song by the popular Israeli band Hadag Nahash that compared Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. Then, they listened to Yerushalayim Shel Zahav, a song about the desire to be in and the love for Jerusalem. They compared Yerushalayim Shel Zahav with a song called Yerushalayim Shel Barzel, which was written in protest of the 1967 war.
• Other chanichimot read an essay about metaphors for Jerusalem and Tel Aviv in Israeli literature. They learned about how Jerusalem is often portrayed as rigid and closed off, while Tel Aviv is seen as more open.
• Another option was reading a short story by Israeli author Etgar Keret, who wrote about modern day life in Tel Aviv.
• For the next option, chanichimot read and discussed a story called “Swimming Contest” by Benjamin Trammuz, which tells the story of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict pre-1940 through the eyes of two young boys living in Tel Aviv/Jaffa.
• The last option focused on the arts. The chanichimot looked at and compared biblical, classical Bezalel art with the more modern, abstract art coming out of Tel Aviv.

Here’s what a few chanichimot had to say about today’s Zman Metsuyan:

“I really liked that we got to choose which chugim we went to” -Mollie Block

“It was really interesting to read the stories and see how Jewish culture and ideology affects the way things are worded” -Danya Levy

“It was fascinating to see the different styles of arts. There was a great painting of the sea in Tel Aviv.” -Nathan Maya

Kupa Trip at Guppy Gulch!

Here at Mosh, we have a system of sharing called kupa. Kupa manifests in many different ways at machaneh (camp): chanichimot (campers) all share any candy that they get in the mail or on visitors day, there is a kupa shelf for shared toiletries, and no campers have personal money. Additionally, a portion of each camper’s tuition goes to this collective fund.

Every session, we do something fun with the money in this fund. So today, we left camp and drove about fifteen minutes to an amazing place called Guppy Gulch! It’s hard to describe Guppy Gulch if you’ve never been there, but it is essentially a lake with tons of inflatables to play on, a zip line, slide, canoes, kayaks, and more! With so much to do, everyone had a fun day swimming and playing together. Make sure to look at more pictures from the day on our Facebook page!

 

 

Scooby Doo Bocoup

It’s been a busy few days at camp! Tuesday was Bocoup, when the oldest chanichimot (campers), the Bogrimot, take over camp for around six hours.

The Bogrimot planned and ran the whole afternoon, which was themed Scooby Doo. The day was focused on finding and defeating a jester. To complete their mission, the chanichimot participated in two round robins, where they learned from both villains and members of the Scooby squad about how to defeat the jester.

After a game of “catch the bogrimot,” the chanichimot went to stations with fun activities including navigating a maze, running through an obstacle course, and playing with oobleck.

The chanichimot were finally able to capture the jester during a fun game called sardines, and the day ended with a messibah (party)!

Even though it is just six hours, Bocoup gives the bogrimot a sense of responsibility and understanding of the way Mosh runs. To run Mosh smoothly, the bogrimot worked together and developed a greater sense of community and communication with each other. More pictures from Bocoup are on Facebook and CampMinder!

Yom Teva!

Today we had Yom Teva! Since we aren’t having a tiyul (camping trip) this session, we felt it was especially important to have a day focused on appreciating nature, as well as a day to create art inspired by nature.

After lunch, we spent all day outside, enjoying different natural spaces at machaneh (camp). For the first part of the afternoon, chanichimot (campers) participated in a round robin hike, with seven stations around the Mosh property. The stations included weaving grasses together in the serpentine, playing games by the ropes course, painting a mural, tracing leaves, listening and drawing by the river, canoeing in the agam (lake), and a plant identification scavenger hunt.

Later, at a relaxing carnival, chanichimot spent the time creating art and listening to music in the MLC, swimming, cloud watching, and tie dying.

At dinner, we sat by tzrif (cabin) and ohel (tent) for a short discussion that was focused on how we relate to nature and how we can respect it at Mosh and in the outside world.

After dinner, we had a bonfire! Chanichimot played cards, talked, and listened to music around the campfire. We also had a mini art gallery in the Melechet Yad (arts building), where we displayed all of the beautiful drawings that chanichimot made throught the day. Check out more pictures on CampMinder and Facebook!

Getting ready for Shabbat!

Shabbat at Mosh is quite different from the rest of our week. Although Shabbat doesn’t technically begin until sundown on Friday night, we begin preparing from the moment we wake up on Friday.

Breakfast on Friday is extra tasty, with special cereals like Captain Crunch and Cocoa Puffs, along with chocolate milk and orange juice. The fun breakfast gives us the strength and motivation to spend twice as long in our anafim (work groups), so that camp stays clean through all of Shabbat.

Next, we have chugim (interest groups) and Shabbat shira, which is a time when we learn songs that we sing on Shabbat. Today we learned Redemption Song, along with a few others.

In the afternoon, we have mechina, which is a time to prepare ourselves mentally for Shabbat. Each week, Shabbat has a theme that is based on the parashat hashavua, the Torah reading of the week. This week’s Shabbat we are focusing on feminism, so mechina included body-positive yoga, listening to music by female artists, making gender empowerment posters, and reading feminist short stories.

After mechina, the chanichimot (campers) have time to physically prepare themselves for Shabbat; they use this time to clean their tzrifim (cabins) and ohelim (tents), and to shower and get dressed for Shabbat.

Kabbalat Shabbat begins with everyone meeting around the toren (flagpole) to wish each other Shabbat Shalom and take some pictures. Next, we go to the MLC (big red pavilion) to sing some songs, and then we walk out to the grass and sit facing the setting sun.

Our Rosh (head of camp, Lily Sieradzki) tells us a story or offers her thoughts on the past week, on Shabbat, and on the upcoming week. This week, Lily chose to share the creation story of the Cherokee people, and encouraged us all to think about the ways that we create such a special place at Mosh.

After saying a few blessings and singing a song to welcome Shabbat, we all head to the chadar ohel (dining hall) for a delicious meal of chicken, vegetables, rice, and of course, challah.

Soon, we will watch the oneg (age-group performance), and do rikud (Israeli dancing) all together. Shabbat shalom!

 

Welcome to second session!

 

After an amazing first session, second session is here!

The chanichimot (campers) arrived to Mosh at noon today, where the Madatz (counselors-in-training) greeted them in their traditional silly costumes. Then, everyone went to the MLC (big red pavilion) to dance, learn some cheers, and find out who their counselors are! Here’s one of the cheers we learned today, called “I go to Mosh”

I go to mosh, I got to mosh
I go to mosh, I go to mosh
Everybody look at me ‘cause I’m a kid at mosh!
I got my swim trunks, and my flippy floppies

Where am I? I’m at the sherutim, I’m at the melechet yad!
I’m at the combination sherutim melechet yad
I go to Mosh!

After going to their living spaces to put away their stuff, the chanichimot (campers) went to the chadar ohel (dining hall), where everyone enjoyed a lunch of pizza bagels and broccoli. Everyone also made sure to drink lots of water to prepare for the action-packed, hot afternoon ahead of us.

Next, each shikva (age group) rotated through stations to help them adjust to camp! Each group went to the pool to take a swim test, got health checks at our new Marp (infirmary), took a tour of camp, and met with the melavot (inclusion specialists).

At 4:30, everyone met up in the MLC to learn about anafim (work groups) and chugim (special interest groups). The madrichimot (counselors) who are running these different groups performed silly skits to introduce their respective anafim and chugim, and then the chanichimot wrote down their preferences.

Next, we had peulat shikva (age group activity), where each shikva learned the rules of camp and got to know each other.

After dinner, we’ll have tochnit erev (evening activity), where the chanichimot will have a chance to meet the madrichimot and learn some fun facts about them!

It’s been a great first day so far here at Mosh, and we’re all so excited for the session! Keep checking the blog, Facebook page, and CampMinder for updates on all of the fun we are having!