By Micah Brandhandler, Rosh Eidah of Chalutzim
What a wonderful last week we have had in Chalutzim! The kids are having a wonderful time and they do not want to leave this great community that they have been building for the past 7 weeks. We have had quite a busy week as well. We started off with Oconomostock in which Jada, Matty, and Abby sang a beautiful song and Emilio and Phinea created a cool mash-up and played guitar. The Chalutzim acts were definitely the highlight of the evening.
The Chalutzim chanichim (campers) are going to be the madrichim (counselors) in a few years, so we always like to give everyone an opportunity to be a leader within camp. This week was our Maccabiah Games, and all of the Chalutzim chanichim had the opportunity to lead the different teams. They ran the meetings, answered questions, and created cheers. It was a wonderful chance to show these kids what it’s like to be a madrich for a day. They exceeded my highest expectations for Maccabiah. Every time I saw a Chalutzim chanich, they were bursting with energy; leading cheers, playing games, and helping out the younger kids. It really showed me how much these kids have grown from their first day when they were overwhelmed with all of the Hebrew, to Maccabiah when they were speaking in Hebrew to the other chanichim and teaching Hebrew cheers to everyone. It was a wonderful day and I could not be more proud of our Chalutzim chanichim for all of the great avodah (work) that they accomplished.
Our last 2 days are going to be filled with fun, sad goodbyes, final programs, and of course, Rak Ivrit! It has been a wonderful summer and I cannot wait to hear about what all of the chanichim are planning to do when they get back home and how they plan to continue to learn Ivrit. As Sunday draws nearer, I want to let everyone know that the kids will come back more outgoing and much more knowledgeable than before. It is a great transition in their lives from their last year as a camper to starting to think about being on staff. It has been a pleasure and an honor getting to know everyone this summer and I know that all of the futures will be bright.