By Micah Brandhandler, Rosh Eidah of Chalutzim

Shalom From OSRUI!

We have had a great start to Chalutzim this summer.  The “shock” of speaking only in Ivrit (Hebrew) has worn off and the chanichim are beginning to open up engage in conversations.  We just started our Hebrew Olympics, which is a competition between the tzrifim (cabins) about who can speak the most days in a week of Rak Ivrit (only in Hebrew).  Each chanich (camper) that attempts this challenge starts the day off witha sticker, and during the course of the day if they speak in English they lose their sticker.  The next day, they get to try again.  The goal is to keep your sticker for the whole day, which is quite a challenge!  The chanichim have really gotten into it and I expect tons of Rak Ivrit from everyone in the near future!

We had our first tochnit erev (evening program) about Israel this week.  We talked with the chanichim about their connection to Israel and what they could do after camp to continue the conversation.  At the end of the session, we will run the same program again, and see if/how their opinions have changed over the course of the session.

Chalutzim is the only program of its kind in North America, and I am very proud of all of these chanichim who have taken the challenge to speak Rak Ivrit and embrace the Israel education aspects.  We could not have asked for a better first few days, and we can’t wait for many more to come!