Shabbat Shalom from OSRUI

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SHABBAT BEHA’ALOTCHA 2016

“When you set up “

What an incredible first week it has been at OSRUI.  After an amazing and beautiful opening day, our chanichim (campers) moved into their eidot (units) with the help of our wonderful madrichim (counselors), moomchim (specialists), and segel (faculty).

After a week of climbing etgar (the challenge course), riding horses, water skiing, dance, drama, photography, art, sports, and so much more, Shabbat is here, a sacred and beloved time at camp.

Before we get clean and we put on our Friday night best, before we join together in prayer, before we tune our guitar strings and warm up our voices, before we prepare to rest, we take a look back at the incredible week that was week 1 of Summer 2016.

Chalutzim began their journey toward Ivrit (Hebrew) immersion being put into their various kitot (classes) and beginning their Ivrit lessons. Their madrichim, who are primarily Israeli, hosted a program to show the chanichim that they are, in fact, in connection with Israel.  The had an ice cream ice breaker planned and hosted by some chanichim and learned some timeless Israeli songs.

Moshavah prepared to depart for their first trip on Sunday with trip orientation, which includes learning to erect tents, learning how to pack hiking packs, and sharing previous trip stories. They had an amazing week full of friends, fun, and teva (nature).  They learned the Mosh cheers and had a lip sync battle. They had t’filot ha’derech and participated in an incredible discussion about gun violence and the Jewish response to it.

Our first ever Gesher Aleph session opened with great fanfare and excitement as the horseshoe is now our permanent Gesher campus. Chanichim visited a “Balloon Museum,” where they were given the opportunity to anonymously write a fear that they had for the session on a slip of paper. The madrichim then attached these paper fears to a balloon, and the chanichim had the opportunity to read the fears and find one they connected with. After this discussion of sharing similar fears and how they will help each other face these fears, they busted the balloons to symbolize that these fears will be conquered throughout the session. It was very meaningful and the chanichim really enjoyed it! They hosted Erev Tzrif (cabin night), enjoying many different activities, from capture the flag and trivia night, to s’mores and singing. Everyone had a great time and the bonds between the chanichim and the madrichim were greatly strengthened!  Yom Avodah allowed Gesher to connect with each other as a kehilah (community) and create a sense of community, family, and pride.  Gesher had an all unit session of “meet the counselor” and prepped for Shabbat by creating their own yad out of chopsticks!

Tiferet opened the summer with a big collaboration and an egg drop off the climbing tower.  They had amazing t’filot (services) on our beach overlooking beautiful Lac La Belle.  They had an intense study session about midrash, and the theme of the first session talent show, Mesibah, was revealed to the eidah.

In Kibbutz HaTzofim, they welcomed their chickens and goats for the refet (farm) and learned to take care of them as part of the downstairs family, in addition to their gan (garden) which is providing a variety of fruits and vegetables for them to use in their mitbach (kitchen).  They learned about mad science in limud (Jewish learning), wrote Shabbat Shalom letters to everyone in camp, gained each other’s trust through team building activities, had a crazy scavenger hunt all around OSRUI, and enjoyed making pancakes with a plethora of fun and crazy toppings and fillings.

Kallah had an amazing first week in the Kallah-only campus, now with the brand new and awe-inspiring tzevet (staff) built Beit T’filah. This week they had erev tzrif where each tzrif held their own special evening program for just their bunk kehilah, including pontoon rides, s’mores, karaoke, manicures, and climbing our tower wall.  The Kallah community created flags to represent the variety of interests that are present within the eidah.  They played and watched the “bean skit” with our silly and talented madrichim, had a pool party to prepare for Shabbat, and of course, had a great time on “Facepaint Friday” (a Kallah tradition)!

It has been an amazing and exciting opening week here at OSRUI and we can’t wait for week two. Thank you for sharing your children with us!

Shabbat Shalom from all of us at OSRUI!

Jerry Kaye, Director    Susan Alexander, Associate Director     Albert Marks, Senior Assistant Director