Shoafim It’s a Good Life Chug: Second Session 2025!

A large group of smiling kids and a few adults, standing close together under a canopy outdoors, hold up cups and pose for the camera, suggesting a fun camp or group event in a wooded area.

I’ve been having a great time this machzor (session) with the SHOAFIM chanichim/ot in The It’s A Good Life Chug!

This special chug, offered exclusively to adat ha-Shoafim, as a special treat for being the oldest on Tzad Aleph (A-Side), meets periodically during the summer for fun and goofy peulot (activities).

To get into the chug, campers have to write a twenty-two-and-a-half word essay, on a creative canvas of their choice (paper is not allowed), expressing why they should, nay MUST, be allowed entrance into the chug.  Here are just a few of this year’s entries.  Yoav (Rosh Shoafim) & I were, as always, so impressed by the creativity of the Shoafimers!!!

A man with dark hair and beard, wearing a black graphic T-shirt, sits on a chair indoors and smiles at the camera while holding a decorated piece of wood with writing on it.A smiling man in a black polo shirt and hat sits at a desk holding a long blue strip with writing on it. He wears a lanyard with an ID badge. Art and portraits decorate the wood-paneled wall behind him.

This entry was written in Elvish!!!  Wow!!

A smiling man in a Camp Ramah New England shirt and cap sits at a desk, holding a brown paper bag with a handwritten note on it. The background includes wood-paneled walls and colorful artwork.

Pictured at the top of this blog is our first gathering, at the start of this session, to welcome all the new Good Life members with a blue drink l’chaim.  (Since the beginning, blue drink has been a key part of the chug.  Because it’s silly, of course!  At each event I bring some blue beverages — I have a variety of different ones we use — for the kids to enjoy.)

We’ve done a number of different Good Life events this summer.  One of my favorites was when I challenged the kids to make candy portraits of me.  They made some really funny creations!!  (I had a bit of a beard at the time; I love how the kids depicted that in candy form!)  And then of course the kids all ate the candy at the end.

Three smiling boys sit at a wooden picnic table with candy and a decorated plate in front of them. Other kids are seated in the background. The setting appears to be a camp or outdoor activity.Three boys sitting at a wooden table outdoors, smiling at the camera. In front of them is a plate with food arranged in the shape of a face. Candy packages and snacks are also on the table.Four smiling girls sit together on a wooden deck, holding a bowl filled with candy and cereal, enjoying a summer day at what appears to be a camp with cabins visible in the background.Two boys sitting on a wooden porch smile and point at a plate with a dessert. Other kids are in the background, sitting in a group, all appearing to be at a camp or outdoor gathering. Trees and a lake are visible outside.

We have a few more Good Life events still coming up this week, before the end of camp…!  I love getting to spend time with these great Shoafim campers and helping to celebrate their being the oldest on Tzad Aleph!

Categories: Director, Shoafim
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