Water holds a special place in Jewish texts. It is a source of life, it softens even the hardest of rocks, and it is even compared to Torah in terms of its importance. So in that sense, there was a lot of life, a lot of rock softening, and a TON of Torah on our canoe trip lastweek! And with all those things there was, of course, a lot of fun! We began our tiyul (trip) in the Wisconsin Dells seeing a beautiful dam pour water over the Wisconsin River. As we began paddling, we basked in the beauty of the teva (nature) around us and simultaneously rejoiced in building up our community. Upon arriving at the campsite we had some downtime when suddenly storm one arrived! We quickly ran to our tents and sang songs together while enjoying the pitter-patter of the rain. Once the rain left, we ate dinner, enjoyed beautiful tfillot (services) on the shore, and had a restful night of well-deserved sleep.

The next day was gorgeous! With no hint of the storm from the night before — or the storm that was to come — we had a perfect day. We stopped on sand bars for lunch and for swimming and had a great time. That evening though proved to me what a special and amazing kehillah of madrichim and chanichim we have here in Chalutzim. When told that it was going to rain, we quickly went to the campsite’s recreation room and ate dinner. We proceeded to have an evening program of games, folk songs, and s’mores (without the meltiness). We proved that we could have a fun time on this tiyul no matter the weather and that as long as we were
together, we would enjoy ourselves!

On the last day, the weather let up and we had a wonderful treat of walking around the spectacular Wisconsin Dells! The chanichim all had a great time flush with a few dollars from canteen in their pockets (*cha-ching* *cha-ching*). All in all, the tiyul was one to be remembered and was a phenomenal time for all. We proved the power of community in having fun, enjoying ourselves, and even in getting a little bit of water on our stuff.