Yom Israel
Yesterday, chanichim (campers) woke up to find themselves on an airplane flying into Ben Gurion Airport. Tour guides waited for them, and they were taken into a typical touristy Israeli breakfast at "Aroma Cafe".
They then continued into a carnival of Israeli culture. The tour started with an exploration of Israeli children's and pop culture. Chanichim listened to Israeli music and created new poems from the lyrics, read a classic children's book (Where is Pluto?), visited the shuk (market), and made pita bread at the medura (fire) pit.
At that point, chanichim were realizing that they might not be engaging fully with Israeli culture, and they decided to go on a deeper tour of Israel. Chanichim went through stations where they explored various holidays and traditions celebrated in Israel by different groups that they were less familiar with. At each station they learned about the holiday as well as created decorations, cooked and made signs raising awareness.
Stations included, among others, the Mimouna (North African Jewish holiday) where chanichim made mufletas - a classic North African Jewish food, Ramadan (the Muslim month of fasting and prayer) where chanichim created lanterns, and Sigd (a holiday of Ethiopian Jewry) where chanichim went on a short hike, to symbolize the Ethiopian Jewry's yearning for their return to Israel. Chanichim also explored the use of languages in Israel, and contemplated questions of representation and equality.
The day ended with an event called Chag Hachagim - the holiday of the holidays, as a way to respect all religions, groups and traditions of Israelis.
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