Tuesday was a regular day at Gilboa ending in a vigorous evening of "Zapping Hood" – a Robin Hood themed obstacle course where the chanchim had to sneak by flashlight-wielding Merry Men in the dark. After thwarting the efforts of the Sheriff of Nottingham and learning a little something about privatization, the chanichim headed to sleep.
A couple hours later, Aliyah Bet broke loose on the sleeping machaneh. In the continuation of GIlboa's annual tradition, madrichim woke the machaneh with tea and the news that they were immigrating Jews on their way to Israel. Each Tsrif (cabin) was a different country of origin – Yemen, Morocco, Iraq, Hungary, Germany, and Ukraine. The chanichim then toured the machaneh, getting an experience in 1940's aliyah, learning about the Palmach, and hearing Mizrahi folktales. The night ended with David Ben Gurion's Declaration of Independence and fresh pita off a fire.
After a sleep-in to make up for the late night revelry, the chanichim awoke to a machaneh covered in Israeli flags and romantic Zionist posters from the 1950's. Yom Israel was upon us. The day's theme was the 1950's and special attention was given to the mass Sephardic aliyah, the assimilation of holocaust victims, and the battle over German holocaust compensation. In an opening round robin, the kids experienced Israeli parliamentary politics via making houses (or platforms) out of crackers, licorice and peanut butter, learned rikudei-am, got an intro to ulpan, and had an encounter with some Zionist ghosts. The day proceeded with discussions of immigration in the 1950's and discrimination against sephardi immigrants, and chocolate ball making assembly line style, to experience young Israel's industrialization process. Chanichim also engaged in debates over whether or not to accept the German compensation offer, and got a taste of the Suez Canal crisis in the pool. They then had some balloon fights and fun slpashing around. Meals for Yom Israel included (I kid you not): Hummus, falafal, malawuach, shakshuka, quiche, lentil soup, salad, shnitzel, eggplant, couscous, Israeli chocolate spread, and mekupelet (an Israeli chocolate bar). The day ended with a tekes (ceremony) in which the chanichim expressed their hopes for Israel's future, and a mesiba (party) in the cheder ochel (dining hall). After much food, fun, and thought, everyone headed to sleep with a new understanding of Israel in the 1950's.
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