Machon 2013 Opening Day!

Day one is in the books! We started things off with some quick icebreakers k’tzrif (by bunk) before heading into an edah-wide pe’ulah (activity) where we shared some interesting facts about ourselves while meeting new people and reuniting with good friends. We then met with Rabbi Gelb who shared the Camp Ramah in New England summer theme – Amidah – with the edah. He stressed standing up and being dugma’ot (role models) for the entire camp, and being mindful and respectful during one of the centerpieces of our prayer experience. We transitioned from that into more structured pe’ulot tzrif (bunk activities), and then our first banim/banot (boys/girls) bonding activities! Through controlled chaos, the banim ran around collecting bits of amusing information about each other and memorized a speech about brotherhood and looking out for one another. The banot shared goals for each other and their summer, and composed these goals on t-shirts which they will keep with them for the entire summer. Our pe’ulat erev (evening activity) was especially meaningful, as the chanichim (campers) rotated around different stations where they learned and experienced different ways to eliminate cliques, selfishness, and disrespect as stepping stone to becoming a unified edah – Edat Machon 2013. We finished up with learning the Edah Song (to the tune of “Can’t Hold Us” by Mackelmore), to which they immediately sang loudly and jumped around.

It was an amazing start to the summer!