by Lily Booker, Moshavah Rosh Eidah (Unit Head)
Here in Mosh, we believe in the power of a journey. When you think about Mosh, the first thing that probably comes to mind are our tiyulim (trips) – biking, hiking, canoeing, and rock climbing. We just returned home to OSRUI after some amazing, inspiring treks, and there’s nothing better than hearing stories exchanged between the chanichim (campers) about their crazy adventures, and how much they learned and grew!
Of course, there’s so much more to Mosh than the tiyulim – we also learn so much about ourselves and our kehilah (community) during our time spent at camp. Last week, we celebrated with one of our Israeli madrichot (counselors), Bar, as she read from the Torah for the first time. Even though we know you become Bar or Bat Mitzvah when you turn 13, most girls in Israel don’t get the opportunity to read Torah or lead services. We had a huge party in Bar’s honor, with music and dancing and food. There were even party favors (special stickers for Bar’s Bat Mitzvah)! We had lots of fun, and we also learned more about Jewish culture in Israel, as we welcome an Israeli into American Jewish culture!
It’s fitting that Bar continued along her Jewish journey here at OSRUI, since our Mosh limud (Jewish learning) theme for the session is Jewish Journeys. We’ve had the opportunity to hear from our madrichim, and even had a special guest tell his Jewish Journey – Solly! After hearing from guests and madrichim, all of the chanichim got to practice telling their own Jewish Journey stories. This whole process in Mosh is leading to a deeper understanding of who we are as Jews, and how we will continue to grow. We have two more weeks to continue learning together, and I can’t wait to see how we’ve all changed from the beginning of Mosh Bet to the end!
Lily Booker just graduated from Boston University where she studied International Relations with a focus on the Middle East and the security dilemma. Between her time as a camper, counselor, and Unit Head in Moshavah, she has been on a total of 24 trips (so far)!!