By Jonah Brandhandler, Rosh Eidah of Tzofim

What a great start to the session! The excitement of opening day was supposed to be dampened by the ominous grey skies and thunderstorm warnings, but instead it turned out to be a beautiful day in Oconomowoc. Chanichim (campers) were divided into their ohelim (tents), where they quickly started forming bonds with their peers through fun games and icebreaker activities. A great part about being a Tzofim madrich (counselor) is that we have three different sessions where we get to try a lot of new things, and meet as many chanichim as possible. However our staff is always especially thrilled to be a part of gimmel because four weeks allows us to form stronger connections with the chanichim, and make a larger impact in their lives.

The first few days have been filled with all sorts of awesome activities. We’ve broken up into our chugim (electives), competed in a variety of sports, went to a fantastic concert featuring Billy Jonas, and in general have been learning to love life in Tzofim. Every tent gets a chance to go tubing on the lake, as well as climb Etgar, and always come back with beaming smiles on their faces. The first few days have been spectacular and we can hardly curb our enthusiasm for the weeks to come!