Camp Moshava Summer Blog

Todah Rabah!

We wanted to take this opportunity to say Todah Rabah (thank you) to the entire Mosh community for making summer 2021 so fantastic.

To our hard-working tzevet: the tireless work you put into your jobs and the enthusiasm you brought was absolutely the glue that held summer 2021 together. There is no Mosh without you.

To our parents: thank you for your patience, your thoughtful questions, and your support from afar!

To our chanichimot (campers): you all rolled with us even though this summer was different than expected. Thank you for your ruach and all of the fun and memories you created this summer.

To our madatz: we loved watching you grow and take on the world this summer! Your engagement in pe’ulot was a treat and the ways you took responsibility over machaneh were truly special.

On that note, we never finished the story of what was happening on Revo second session. The text below is from Mollie Block, Rosh Revo, Madatz ’21.

Mosh is different from other camps in a lot of ways and one of those ways is the different days we have every year. One of those different days, where the schedule is changed and there are new activities, is called revolution. Revolution, more commonly called revo, is twelve hours first session and twenty four hours second session where the Madatz (CITs) run the camp. Madatz take on the roles that Tzevet normally have such as being rosh (head of camp), running toranut (kitchen duty) and shmira (staying up to check on kids after they are asleep). I had a really special experience this revo because I was one of two roshim who were in charge of the whole planning process as well as point people the day of. Our kvutzah (age group) worked tirelessly for nine days planning activities, making kishutim (decorations) and creating a menu. Our hard work and late nights definitely paid off and culminated with what lots of kids are calling their “favorite revo ever”!

The way revo works is the Madatz surprise the rest of the camp by calling for a revolution and all the chanichimot chase the Tzevet out of camp with water balloons. There is a theme and a plot, conveyed throughout the day by skits. The theme of our revo this session was haunted mansion. Tuesday night, the chanichimot explored the mansion in a round robin with stations such as fort building, floor is lava (moving across a cabin without touching the floor) and checking behind old pieces of art to get dares which led to candy. Wednesday morning, after a night of slightly later bedtimes, which the kids were happy about, we found out that the mansion was actually haunted. We got to meet the Dankworths, the ghost family who haunted Dankworth Manor, and learned more about them in a round robin with stations such as blob tag with the butler (Sir Bates), a relay race with the mom (Clarice) and twin activities with the twin sisters (Carrie and Adeline). After lunch, it was revealed that the butler we’d grown to know and love was actually the force keeping the Dankworths trapped in the house! The rest of the day was spent training to defeat him with a water carnival including bumper tubes in the pool and soap hockey and a round robin including a homemade escape room and ghost maze.

The day came to a close as we chased the butler out of the house, telling him we weren’t afraid anymore. He left and the ghost family was finally free to travel to the spirit realm. The best revo ever ended in a dance party in the “ballroom” where there was candy, good music and fun. Personally, the end of revo was one of my favorite moments of the summer. Everyone in our kvutzah put so much time and energy into making this day possible and to see it run so smoothly and hear all the praise from chanichmot was such a meaningful and fulfilling moment. As one of two roshim, I had the unique experience of organizing and supervising a group of my peers. It was lots of late nights, dedicating my free time to planning, navigating kvutzah tensions and corralling everyone into working. It was so amazing to watch our kvutzah come together in our own time to create something without help from Tzevet and have it go so successfully. Revo haunted mansion was a success!

Backwards Day

This week, we had Backwards Day. You’d think that doing the same schedule but backwards wouldn’t be that different, but turns out, it was a whole new adventure. We started off the morning listening to “Rad Hayom” and other songs about nighttime on the ram kol. Then we had “dinner” – a delicious meal of macaroni and cheese, sweet potatoes, and broccoli. Next up was our “tochnit erev” or evening activity, which was a banana relay race. The Bogrimot faced off against the Bonimot in a tight competition in which every member of the kvutza had to perform one task, while holding their team banana, of course. In the end, the Bonimot won!

The middle of the day was not too different – we still had sadna’ot (workshops) and schiya (swimming). But then, there was shira (singing) and pe’ulat schichva (educational activity with age group) – in the afternoon!!! After hitkansut boker (morning flagpole gathering), campers did night avodah and ended the day.

People even chose to wear their clothes backwards and we did a ton of our favorite cheers backwards! What a silly day.

Yesterday, we were back to our normal happenings at machaneh. The Bogrimot were excited to finally go tubing!! But the day ended with a surprise….Revolution!! As I write this, it is currently Revo and the chanichimot are experiencing a haunted-mansion themed-day. Tune in on Friday to hear more about Revo!

Wish Night

Last night, we had one of our favorite Mosh traditions – Wish Night! Everyone at Mosh submitted wishes over the past week and on Wish Night, some of those wishes came true. Some highlights included:

Someone asked for Five Guys cajun french fries so five boys handed them a bowl of “french fries”
A family of brothers performed Hey There Delilah because the eldest wished for it
Someone asked for Rosh Mosh to be thrown in the pool “if consent”. He did not consent and did not get thrown in the pool. We’ve all been learning about consent, so it was a good way to see the lesson in action.
A few people wished for World Peace. They got a puzzle piece from a map of the world 🙂

The whole thing ended with a big dance party because somebody wrote for their wish: “I wanna dance with somebody. I wanna dance with somebody who loves me.”

Friday Update

It’s been a great two days at camp. We finished up tiyul and hiked back to Mosh on Thursday morning. On Thursday, we got to watch the Olympics! Everyone was excited, especially to see the Team USA gymnastics.

Last night was Pish night! Because we had our amazing cookout on tiyul on Wednesday night, we opted for an Italian dinner in the chadar last night. Spaghetti, garlic bread, and green beans were a big hit. For their pish night activities, the Bogrimot went on a night hike and prepared for their oneg. The Bonimot had a silent night – the longest they’ve been quiet since they got here! J

Today, Bogrimot are continuing to prepare for their oneg. The Bonimot had a really interesting peula (activity) examining body image and society’s beauty standards. The conversation provided some interesting food for thought, as always.

Tonight, we are preparing to head into another beautiful Shabbat!

Yom Tzedek and Tiyul

Yesterday was Yom Tzedek, which means Justice Day. On Yom Tzedek we learn about and get involved with a social justice issue. The theme this year was environmental justice. We had different activities throughout the day for chanichimot (campers) to learn about environmental justice and how they can have an impact.

In the morning, everyone learned about environmental privilege and how this can be a foundation to inspire working towards climate justice. Later, everyone learned and sang the songs “When the World is Sick” and “Light is Returning.”

In the afternoon, chanichimot attended different chugim (interest groups) about topics ranging from fast fashion to oil pipelines. In the evening, they learned how to create actions against climate change and created a mural and videos expressing why environmental justice is important to them.

Yesterday’s thoughtful day about the climate and environment was a perfect transition to going on tiyul, our camping trip, today. We are camping out on Mosh property, in a part of the woods that we don’t use for daily activities. Tiyul is a special time to experience nature and slow down from all the daily activities we have regularly. Chanichimot started the day by hiking down to the tiyul spot and setting up their camping tents. After lunch, they did trust exercises and went to the river to cool off. Later, the chanichimot did tiyul chugim where they did different activities like nature journaling and bird calls. After dinner, we will finish the night with a bonfire and s’mores before camping out under the stars.

Shabbat, Field Trips, and More!

What an amazing few days it has been! It was our first Shabbat dinner back in the Chadar Ochel, which was exciting for everyone. We had amazing challah, chicken, and broccoli for dinner. In the evening, it was the Bonimot Oneg, which was hilarious. Now that we have only the older chanichimot here, everyone has been enjoying making jokes about Big Kids Camp! On Saturday, we had some Shabbat classics – Gaga in the MLC, swimming in the brecha, and mishpachot. We also had the best medurah yet. The fire was huge and the ruach was outta this world!

On Sunday, the Bogrimot had an awesome field trip to Rocks State Park. They had relaxed kvutza-time in nature and got some relief from the heat with a refreshing dip in Deer Creek. The Bonimot had a fun day at camp! They swam in the pool and did a fantastic art activity. They used poetry as an inspiration to make collages and other art pieces. In the evening, everyone played Zap, one of our favorite Mosh traditions. Zap is flashlight tag where kids must sneak through camp without getting tagged out. Everyone made it through in the end and then we had a mesibah (party) to celebrate making it to the finish line.

Week Four Happenings

Shabbat Shalom! Everyone at Mosh has had such an amazing week. We only have three schavot left at camp – the Bonimot, Bogrimot, and Madatz.

The Bogrimot have taken some deep dives into great content this week. After a pish (educational activity) about social media and another about Judaism and civil right, the Bogrimot spent their pish night relaxing and reminiscing about this summer and the jam-packed week behind them.

The Bonimot are thinking about the future, instead. First, they made a time capsule of their experience at Mosh this summer with letters to their future selves, personal artifacts, and even a 2+ hour vlog showing future Moshniks what Mosh looked like in 2021. The Bonimot spent so much time this week preparing for their oneg tonight. The dances have been practiced, the songs rehearsed, and the jokes crowd-tested. It should be a performance for the books.

The Madatz were up to the same-old, same-old — learning about being madrichimot, running some programming of their own, and staying up “all night” (AKA til they get tired at midnight from a long Mosh day).

As we write this post, Mosh is in Shabbat preparation mode. The chicken is in the oven, the chanichimot are starting to relax from the week, and even the goats can tell that we are heading into a restful weekend.

Special Day Mario Kart

We have two big updates from yesterday to share. The first is that we moved into our Phase III! This means we have even more freedom at camp – we are no longer cohorting and can be inside without masking or distancing. Yesterday was the first day of eating inside the Chadar Ochel (dining hall) and it was so refreshing to feel the energy.

The other exciting update is that yesterday was Special Day! Special Day is a fun and immersive day that explores an important educational topic. The theme of special day was Mario. The chanichimot (campers) woke up in a totally changed world – it was Super Mario everywhere you looked! Mosh was completely decorated and we even had Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, Daisy, and more characters running the day.

In the morning, we had a fun and exciting round robin with some water activities. We played bumper boats in the pool, had a slip n slide, decorated mushroom cookies, and more. Later, it was revealed that all of our Mario characters had been in a car accident and couldn’t get the care they needed because they did not have health insurance. The afternoon was devoted to learning more about healthcare inequality. Chanichimot attended different chugim (interest groups) with topics such as racism in healthcare, healthcare for working Americans, the healthcare system in Israel, and more.

We finished out the day with a pool mesibah (party) and a delicious Princess Peach Cobbler. Chanichimot learned so much and had tons of fun while doing it!

Revo, Bozmon, Kuparnival, Oh My!

Welcome back to the Mosh blog! We have been so busy with this past week at camp. We kicked off the week with Revolution, when the Madatz take over camp for the day. Revolution is a time for the madatz to learn what it means to run camp and to create a fun and silly day while they do it. Right after Revolution, we had Bozman! Bozman is when the Bogrimot take over Mosh for the afternoon. The theme was time travel – the kids went through all different time periods to try to reset the space-time continuum. It was a huge success!!

On Friday, we had our Kuparnival, full of moonbounces, a blow-up waterslide, cotton candy, sno-cones, and some cool tunes. Every summer, we do a fun trip or event for all of Mosh from our camp kupa. Kupa is Mosh’s communal fund, so our kupa events are a way of having a shared experience together. The kuparnival is our way of having a fantastic kupa event right here at Mosh.

We finished off the week with our final mesibah, our celebration of the end of the first three weeks. We watched a slideshow with pictures from the summer, ate some treats, and danced into the night.

After all of the excitement of the past week, we had a few days of rest for the campers that are still here. They watched movies, went swimming, and relaxed. Today is the first day of second session, so we are back in the swing of things.

In these next few weeks, we will resume posting on our Monday, Wednesday, and Friday blog schedule. Keep an eye out for exciting updates!

Check out these photos from this past week.

Special Erev – Environmental Justice

Last evening all of Mosh participated in a special themed night of activities. This year’s theme was environmental justice.

First, everyone went on a round robbin of various activities all having to do with the environment. There was a water relay where the chanichimot learned about water disparity around the world. A trash race where they learned about the importance of picking up litter. Also an environment-themed Jeopardy game.

After dinner, the Amelimot (rising fourth and fifth graders) and Chotrimot (rising sixth and seventh graders) had a private discussion about what they learned. While Bonimot (rising eighth and ninth graders) and Bogrimot (rising tenth graders) went to special chugim (interest groups.) There was a chug about the fast fashion industry, environmental racism, and Native American rights and land back.

It was an informative and fun evening that made us think about the world around us more.