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 groups.

After lunch and Hyde Park, where every chanich has an opportunity to speak and be heard by everyone at Gilboa, chanichim brought their bags into the chadar ochel (dining hall) in preparation for tomorrow’s early departure. As chanichim were preparing their musical acts and skits for the evening performances, we learned of a potential power outage due to a problem with the generator. We decided to have a big sleepover in the MLC, a large carpeted room adjacent to the dining hall, for safety. Everyone brought in their sleeping bags and made themselves cozy. The evening brought us to Musical, where chanichim shared their talents in music, singing, drama, and poetry. We ended the evening with a kumzitz around the fireplace and ice cream. The problem with the generator was fixed later in the evening, and younger chanichim are now going to sleep to the sounds of guitars and older chanichim singing around the fireplace.

It was an amazing Machaneh Choref from beginning to end, full of snow and inspiration. Thank you Gilboa families for sending your kids to us for this week. They really are amazing, and without them it would just be a bunch of snow and bored madrichim.