By Deborah Goldberg, Tzofim Rosh Eidah
Tzofim Bet is off to a great start! On Monday night, after we unpacked and set up our ohelim, we had an introduction to Tzofim. The chanichim (campers) learned about the mitbach (kitchen), the refet (farm), and the gan (garden). We got a chance to pet the goats and sheep in the refet and pick some yellow beans that were finally ripe! They also created a name for their va’ad (committee), a group that Tzofim campers are a part of to help take care of Kibbutz HaTzofim.
On Tuesday morning, we started our first full day of Tzofim together. We introduced our limud (Jewish studies) theme, Jewish heroes, and talked about what qualities we see in Jewish heroes. The chanichim had thoughtful things to say about how we can all be Jewish heroes. On Tuesday afternoon, we went to the breicha (pool), we broke into our Ivrit kitot (Hebrew classes), and our va’adot did their first rotations around Tzofim. One group led t’fillot on Tuesday night and talked about times we felt welcome in places and how we can welcome others. One camper shared her thoughts on being welcomed to camp: “When I arrived at OSRUI two years ago, I was expecting to be homesick the second I got off the bus, but I instead I was welcomed by music. Counselors were singing, playing guitar, and campers were laughing. It took my mind off being homesick. I felt very welcomed.” All the chanichim leading services were very thoughtful about what they shared with the eidah (unit).
Tzofim is looking forward to the Maccabiah Games! We will break into our different colors tonight so we can get excited for all the fun activities tomorrow. We’ll be celebrating 4th of July in our colors (red, white, blue, and silver) throughout the day and everyone is very excited! On Saturday night, after all of our Shabbat activities, all of camp will join together to watch Tiferet put on the Star-Spangled Mesibah, an all-camp talent show. We’ll then go to Bayit Hill to watch fireworks over the lake. The first few days of Tzofim Bet have been wonderful and the rest of the week promises to be just as exciting!