Camp YavnehCamp Yavneh
July 31, 2019

Kayitz 19 – Maalot Second Session Second Blog Post

Author - Camp Yavneh

Erev Tov, Maalot Parents!

As we prepare for our second Achla Yom (trip day) to Hampshire Hills, an all nighter-lock in, we can’t believe its already been a week since our last Achla Yom to Water Country with the rest of camp. Since then, we have been so busy with our chanichim! 

Our first peulot (activities) of this session were fantastic. Erev Sumo Wrestling was a blast, and had the banim (boys) dress up as a giant sumo wrestler, each with their own traditional sumo name. Pillows were placed under each of their arms, and a balloon was put under an extra large T-Shirt. Instead of involving wrestling, whoever’s balloon popped first, lost the match. They had an absolute blast, and everyone was laughing as even the counselors maneuvered through the competition! 

Meanwhile, on the other side of camp, the banot (girls) were involved in their own spooky peulat erev (evening activity). During Erev Monster Mania the banot competed against one another as Zombies and Mummies. Everyone had a blast whether it was the spooky games of hide and seek or picking up eyeballs at the bottom of buckets of ice water….with their toes! We ended the night playing with oobleck (also known as ooooooobleck) and a yummy cookie monster treat. It is safe to say that the night was quite the Monster Mash!

On Friday, we had our very first Rikudiyah (dance night) practice, and enjoyed the beautiful Agam (lake) on one of the hottest days yet. We brought Shabbat in while munching on pizza and singing to tunes in the Chadar Ochel (dining hall). Shabbat was spent celebrating Aaron Butler’s birthday, complete with ice cream and a gift from all of us. After a relaxing Shabbat, we brought in the week by celebrating Yavneh’s 75th. We met our Gurim buddies for the very first time, and watched pictures of Yavneh from over 50 years ago! The best part of our day, however, was watching the Artsfest Dance. Fifteen Maalot campers have been working night and day to perfect their dances and songs to perform at this summer’s Jewish Summer Camp Arts Festival, and we finally got to see the end product. Our campers absolutely shined in a creative dance and beautiful song. Kol HaKavod to Marcello and all of the Maalot chanichim who participated!

With preparation for Rikudiyah, Powder Puff, KTV, and ArtsFestival, this week will be one of our busiest yet! We can’t wait to go to Hampshire Hills for the iconic “Lock In” and we are excited to see what this week brings!

B’ahava,

Rachel and Aaron