By Barrett Harr, Regional Director of Youth Engagement for NFTY-Michigan Region, and Gesher Segel
A is for Active! Our days are very busy! We are up and moving from 8:30 in the morning until 9:30 at night! We pack as much fun and learning in each day as we can.
B is for Bedtime. Each night the madrichim (counselors) have a bedtime ritual with their tzrif. The chanichim (campers) share the highlights of their day.
C is for Chugim. Chugim are the electives that we get to choose from. We have so many to choose from! Some of the favorites are Hippie Chug, Caveman Chug, Music Chug and more!
D is for Donuts. Do you know that we get to have donuts on Saturday mornings if you get up for early breakfast?
E is for Ecological. Ecological issues are one of the foci of the Hippie Chug. We’ve been working to reduce the amount of food waste our eidah (unit) generates to help reduce our impact on the environment.
F is for Food. No one goes hungry in Gesher! Between the three meals that we eat in the Chadar Ochel (dining hall), we have two snacks every day to help make sure we have energy for our very busy days.
G is for Gesher. In Ivrit (Hebrew) we learned that Gesher means bridge, but it also means braces!
H is for Horseshoe. The area in the middle of the Gesher tzrifim (cabins) is called the horseshoe. You can often find people hanging out and socializing during free time.
I is for Ivrit. We had our last day of Ivrit on Thursday and rotated through several stations to review all of the words we have learned. Ask your chanichim to sing you the song we sing every time we have Ivrit.
J is for Justice. On Monday we are going to visit a dairy farm and will be talking about ethical treatment of animals and fair trade food practices.
K is for Kallah. This past week we shared our last buddy day with the chanichim in the unit of Kallah. We made picture frames and took photos together.
L is for Leadership. Leadership is the focus of our Limudim (study). We have been filling our chanichim’s tool boxes with tools they can use as well as learning about leadership shown in the Torah.
M is for Menucha. Menucha is our rest time. Each day we have some time off to relax, nap and write letters.
N is for Nikayon. Nikayon is what we call the time when we pause to straighten up our cabins each day.
O is for Outside. Since we have had such wonderful weather, we have been able to have almost all of our t’fillot (services), limudim, and even many of our chugim outside under the shade of the trees.
P is for Prayers. We begin and end our day with t’fillot. Most mornings our segel (faculty) lead t’fillot and many evenings, our chanichim lead creative t’fillot for the eidah.
Q is for LGBTQ. One of our tiyulim (trips) was to the LGBTQ center in Milwaukee to learn about the issues that our LGBTQ friends and family members face.
R is for Ruach. Our eidah has so much ruach (spirit). Our days are filled with laughter and song.
S is for Segel. Our segel come from as far as Michigan and as close as Chicago. We’ve been lucky to study with Rabbis Prass, Spilker, and Goldberg as well as Barrett Harr, the NFTY Michigan Regional advisor.
T is for Tank Tops. Our unit has so much fun with different dress up days. One of our standard ones, is Tank Top Tuesdays. Everyone that wants wears a tank top for the day!
U is for Unique. Each of our chanichim are unique and bring so many gifts to our eidot. It makes our community so rich and diverse.
V is for village. All of the madrichim (counselors) care about all of the chanichim (campers) in the eidah (unit). It’s amazing to see how this eidah feels like one big village.
W is for water. Every day we spend some time in the water-either the pool or the lake. We also make sure our campers are drinking plenty of water to stay hydrated and always have a hat and water bottle with them.
X is for Extra. When we have a night that runs extra late, we sleep in a bit the next morning to ensure our madrichim and chanichim are well rested.
Y is for Yahoo! The 10th Gesher carnival is happening this week. We have been working hard to prepare to run this event for the whole camp.
Z is for Zimria. means songs. Each night we end our day with the most beautiful singing of Kumbaya as a Gesher community.