By Jonah Brandhandler, Rosh Eidah of Tzofim
Kibbutz HaTzofim takes great pride in having the most ruach (spirit) on camp, and these past two weeks all of that great energy has been on full display. For starters, Oconomostock was a huge success. Both the chanichim (campers) and madrichim (counselors) put a lot of hard work into creating The Stocklot, and it was a show that everyone should be very satisfied with. The chanichim have continued to sing songs from the show throughout the session, and it is a talent show that will be remembered for ages.
While many chanichim will say that Oconomostock was the highlight of their summer, another large portion will talk about how much they enjoyed the 7th grade trip or Yom 5/6. It is tradition in tzofim that the 7th graders go on some sort of overnight camping trip, typically it is a brief, relaxing hike at a nearby forest preserve with a lot of time to rest and just hang out. This year, we did something completely different. I have seen first hand how much of an impact Moshavah trips have on chanichim as a former Mosh madrich myself, and therefore decided to fashion the trip as though we were in Mosh for a day. This meant that rather than going to nearby Kettle Moraine, a nice, yet not very scenic park, we took 7th graders to Devil’s Lake, one of the most awe inspiring places to go camping in the country. The hike was much more difficult than in previous years, but still very manageable, and everyone left with a much better sense of accomplishment for what they completed. The boys and girls split up on the first day and they both were able to hike up the bluff and see over the entire park, but stayed a couple miles apart. The next morning, we woke up right at the crack of dawn where both groups hiked to the lake to meet up for where we had an incredulous tifilot, a meaningful and topical limud, did some bonding games and activities, and enjoyed swimming in the water. Many chanichim mentioned how great it felt to complete the hikes, but also how much they didn’t even realize they love camping. The trip was a great success and helped instill an appreciation of teva (nature) and a desire to do more overnight camping trips like this one.
The 5th and 6th graders were by no means forgotten, as the madrichim who stayed back at camp planned an amazing day called Yom 5/6. There was a pool party complete with slip n’ slide kickball (it really was as fun as it sounds), a paint fight, homemade pizza for lunch, tie dye games, and capture the dessert (a unique twist on the classic game capture the flag) among many other activities. The kids who stayed at camp had a great time, while also looking forward to when they are the 7th graders in tzofim and get to go on their overnight trip. As the final Shabbat approaches, kids are beginning to pack up their stuff, and get ready to take down all of the tents tomorrow. As sad as it is to see the session ending what seems very suddenly, there are still another couple days left for kids to create lasting memories at OSRUI.