The Camp Gilboa Blog

Shalom Gilboa! It rarely happens that a parent gets to spend a few hours with us during a regular day at camp. This winter, Sara's dad had to pick her up for a Bat-Mitzvah, and got to see Gilboa in action. I asked him to write about what he saw, and here it is: My friend Ron and I set out from West LA on Friday morning around 7:15 for Angelus Oaks. We feared the worst--a long, traffic-ridden, snow-filled, chains-on-tires drive that would try my patience and technical skills. What a pleasant surprise it was then when two hours and fifteen minutes later--after an effortless, chain-free ride-- we pulled into a parking spot at Alpine Meadows, where the Gilboa winter game was located. Our mission was to pick up my daughter, Sara, and return before Shabbat to join in the bat-mitzvah of a dear family friend. The even greater surprise was what we discovered when we walked into the chadar ochel (dining hall). The room was bursting with energy, enthusiasm, and above all, fun. I've

Shalom Gilboa Families We are finishing our Shabbat up here at Machaneh Choref and getting ready to head home tomorrow. We started our Shabbat on Friday afternoon with a long chofesh (free time) with tzrif (cabin) cleaning, showering, and musical jamming. All nice and clean we gathered for Hatikva and broke into our mishpachot (families) by ezor (region) to share our experiences from the last days. Kabbalat Shabbat is a wonderful time at machaneh, and this winter is no exception. Gilboa’s never seen such explosive ruach (spirit) during Shabbat shira (singing), and the rikud (Israeli dancing) went on for hours. Shabbat morning in Gilboa is a peaceful time for chanichim (campers) to play board games, read books, and rest. After a late breakfast, a fast-forward skit of the life of Moses presented our torah portion discussion of the week. Chugim (interest groups) followed, and chanichim could choose between fun ones like Snoccer (soccer in the snow), music, or more serious discussion grou

Shalom Gilboa Families We have been having an amazing time the past few days up here at Machaneh Choref, packed with snowy fun and inspiring activities. Going with the theme of Melting Apathy, we had an amazing peula broken up into age groups where we discussed Tikkun Olam as Jewish resistance to apathy. Each age group had a separate age appropriate activity to explore and discuss this concept from many different angles. The climax came with a tekkes (ceremony) with the whole machaneh, where each kvutzah came together to rally around a common cause and vow to take action to repair this world as Jews, as youths, and as members of Habonim Dror. It was a powerful tekkes for everyone involved, and incredibly inspiring for the chanichim. They engaged in social issues and discussed how to take action and not be apathetic, they are an amazing groups of kids. Fortunately, the storm passed and left a ton of snow. We have had blue skies, and warm sunshine the last few days, ma

Yesterday camp had lots of fresh snow. Today the sun came out and it was a great opportunity to play in the snow. Here is a set of pictures that show how fun it is. You can view and download the full set of hi-res pictures also thru picasa with this link ( or copy and paste this to your browser in case the link doesn't work: http://picasaweb.google.com/buisness.gilboa/WinterCamp2010?authkey=Gv1sRgCJaY5fGG59vkHw&feat=directlink# ) Zman Sheleg (Snow Time)

Shalom Gilboa Families, We are all here safe and sound with lots and lots of snow! It started snowing the day we arrived and hasn’t stopped. Lots of snowmen, snowball fights and beautiful scenery for us. Yesterday we all arrived to a hot pizza lunch and soft snow falling. The day continued with orientation, and tochnit erev (evening program). The theme of this machaneh choref (winter camp) is “Snow What? – Melting Apathy”, with several activities throughout the week dedicated to talking about apathy, the role it plays in our lives, and how we can step out of it and engage both locally and globally. Last night’s tochnit erev consisted of the chanichim (campers) working through a series of fun challenges to free the madrichim (counselors) from the spell of Mr. Apathy, and imprisoning him for the rest of machaneh. We woke up this morning to a fresh blanket of snow and made the most of it with a machaneh wide game of snow capture the flag/ snowball fight on the sports field. After taking a

This weekend was our final Shabbat of Gilboa 2010. Things got rolling on Friday with our usual Shabbat celebration: a procession to the migrash sport, a song from the shomrim, a story from Kara and finally "Hachama Merosh" – a song welcoming the Sabbath queen – as we faced the setting sun. Saturday each kvutza got together for their final meeting of the summer. In the evening we had what may be Gilboa's longest ever Medura – our time for skits, songs, and other performances in front of the campfire. Groups of campers stepped forward, one after the other, singing and acting until it was time to go to our final mesiba – the party at the end of the summer. The chadar ochel became a packed dance hall, with moon bounces, fortune telling, and ice cream sundaes offering diversions. Sunday morning the chanichim jumped on their buses and headed home amid hugs, songs, and some tears. Thankfully there is always the ken – our year-round activities – to reunite us with each other.

On Tuesday, we celebrated the overthrow of tyranny and the democratization of Rome. However, the evening of Rome Meyuchad left the chanichim with the question of how Rome’s expansionist policies ultimately affected the world around them as well as Rome itself. The following day was a yom ragil with a twist! In the afternoon, we were at Boombamella — an Israeli festival on the beaches of the Mediterranean! Chanichim were lead through guided meditations and decorated with body paint designs. To cool down, the chanichim could soak in a mud bath or take a dip in the pool. The vibe of Boombamella was fun, relaxed, and very new age! The highlight of Thursday was Wish Night — the night when the wishes of chanichim come true! Wishes ranged anywhere from a Gilboa style deck of cards to flying to becoming pink. As each chanich received their wish, the other chanichim cheered them on. When the delivery of the wish was complete, the whole machaneh proclaimed, “Your wish has been granted!”

On Sunday, Bogrim, our oldest chanichim, finally got a chance to run the program they had been planning all session. It was an almost full day activity based on the works of Doctor Seuss. The Evil Grinch brainwashed other Doctor Seuss characters to work for him and prevent all the chanichim from getting any candy, and it was the chanichim's duty to un-brainwash them. They had to work together to overthrow The Grinch's corrupt leadership. Along the way the chanichim got to meet famous Doctor Seuss characters like the Lorax, the Cat in the Hat, Yertle the Turtle, Thing One and Thing Two, The Snitches, and many more. Stations included firing arrows at water balloons, piecing together limericks, and a massive water balloon fight. The day ended with a machaneh-wide dance party, bonfire, and of course, lots of candy. You'd think machaneh couldn't get any crazier, but today the chanichim woke up to ancient Rome - built in a day - out of cardboard and art supplies. Not only

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