I happened to be in Tzofim the other morning and came upon “Survival Chug,” in session. There were some very happy campers learning how to build fires under the supervision of some well – trained madrichim. The winning fire was pretty amazing – built by Emma, an entering 7th grader, and her team! I wasn’t going to write about this today, but it was a great camp moment.
Several weeks ago, I was at a Gesher program that was developed and run by Dylan Singer, Tzofim sgan, (assistant unit head) and Nachshon Fellow. The Nachshon project is a fellowship whose goal it is to educate and inspire the top echelon of American Jewish undergraduates by expanding their horizons and exposing them to models of leadership, scholarship and meaningful encounters offered nowhere else.” The Nachshon Project provides full funding to study abroad at Hebrew University during the spring semester of a student’s junior year of college. Fellows receive at least 21 credits for spending the semester in Jerusalem, in addition to participating in thought provoking seminars and programs.
We are lucky to have three Nachshon Fellows at OSRUI. They are Dylan, Peter Luck, and Emily Rothstein. Peter is our Teva specialist and Emily is the Rosh Eidah of Tzofim. Emily and Peter presented their wonderful and on-going programs last summer.
Now back to Dylan’s program. The directions to the Gesher campers were as follows:
“You are each one representative for an equal part of a community in Israel. You need to build a new community center that will serve the needs of the community best. The list was given, the campers put in groups and the discussions began.
For a moment, I thought I was in the Kinnesset, due to the disagreements among the campers. In the end, they presented their ideal community center and peace was restored. Dylan was an engaging presenter and the campers enjoyed the assignment and ran with it.
It is wonderful for us to see our staff become such great mentors and teachers. Dylan has always had a wonderful presence in camp. Children are drawn to his kind nature and his sense of fun. His skills were fine-tuned during his year in Israel.
Kol Ha Kavod to Dylan and to all our Nachshon Fellows. We know that they will go far thanks to their intelligence, personality, ability and, of course, the wonderful Nachshon opportunity.
