Dear CW Families,
We’ve had another very exciting week at the Home of Happiness! While we did have a bit of wacky weather with some really hot days and some days with a lot of rain, it didn’t stop any of the fun! On Sunday our Ohalim (6th & 7th grade) girls enjoyed a cookout dinner and camped out in tents and then later in the week the Ohalim boys got enjoy their campout. Both groups enjoyed some late night stargazing and had the chance to see nature’s twinkling lights as the fireflies lit up the Camp Wise tree line!
In the middle of the week we had a break from our normal activities for our first Maccabiah since 2019, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Maccabiah! Mickey Mouse was moving out of his clubhouse and the camp was divided into five teams to battle over who could move in; it was between Goofy, Daisy, Donald, Minnie, and Pluto. Over the course of a day and a half, each team participated in competitions full of sports, spirit, and arts. The second day wrapped up with each team presenting a dance, skit, and song. It was really hard for the judges to declare a winner because each team really gave it their all, but in the end the Tie Dye Daisy team claimed victory! Campers are already talking about next summer’s Maccabiah and brainstorming themes!
It’s hard to believe there’s only one more week of camp left. The last week will be very busy and there’s so much to look forward to as we close out first session. In this upcoming week we will celebrate the Fourth of July, have our CW Talent Show, and showcase all of our campers who participated in our performing arts programming. In between all of these special events, campers are just starting another round of chugim (elective activities)! Be sure to ask you camper to tell you all about it in your letters.
This week’s Shabbat will be led by the village of Ohalim. In Shabbat prep they learned that this week’s parsha (Torah portion) is about Zelophechad’s daughters. I love their story for so many reasons, not the least of which, is that it is one of the few times in the Bible where women challenge the norm and God agrees with them and changes the way things are done. Zelophechad’s daughters are upset because their father’s land will be lost to the family since he has no sons to inherit it. They step outside of their tent and the private sphere that women normally inhabit to ask Moses why they, as daughters, cannot inherit the land. Moses consults God, who recognizes the wisdom of Zelophechad’s daughters and changes the laws of inheritance, granting them their father’s land.
As Rabbi Shana worked with Ohalim to prepare for Shabbat, they discussed this story from Torah and the importance of land and the world God created. Part of tikkun olam (repairing the world) is being shomrei ha’adamah, guardians of the Earth. Each cabin created their own Guardian of the Earth, their own tikkun olam superhero. The campers were so creative, coming up with their superhero’s power, their battle cry, their emblem, and their arch enemy (what/who they are trying to defeat). They did such an awesome job, their Guardians are all proudly displayed in their moadon (rec space), reminding the entire village all the ways we can protect our planet.
I cannot wait to see how they bring this aspect of tikkun olam to our Shabbat celebration!
Thinking about getting some more of Camp Wise after the session ends? We have two great programs at the end of the summer: Family Camp and Women’s Weekend! Learn more and register here!
Shabbat shalom,
Rachel
C1
C1 had so much fun this past week! Free Swim, Basketball, and HBR were some favorites this week. C1 also loved Mickey Mouse Maccabiah! C1 can’t wait for the week ahead!
C4
This week C4 did exciting activities such as basketball, Jet Ski and outdoor cooking on Israel day. They also screamed their hearts out for Mickey Mouse Maccabia! Next week, the cabin looks to continue their fun with cookouts, swimming and more sports.
C7
This week C7 got to try lots of new things like Israeli culture, yoga, and lots of swimming! We also participated in Mickey Mouse Maccabiah. C7 is super excited to get to spend more time swimming and hanging out in the village!
O1
This week our cabin had a special movie lunch, which we earned by getting a high score with cabin clean up. We also bonded as we worked together to climb the Vertical Playground on the high ropes course.
O2
The last week was crazy and full of so much fun. It was great seeing everyone come alive during Maccabiah, and having two winners in the cabin, as well. We celebrated a camper’s birthday with a Giant Swing, pad thai pool party, and stargazing with s’mores. We have been growing closer together as a cabin and family and it is sad to see that we only have a week left.
O3
03 had a blast cheering their teams on during Maccabiah and screaming through the camp on their overnight. They also all worked together to build an awesome forest fort to hang out in.
O5
05 aglio e olios have enjoyed yoga, spending time in the village, and playing soccer with other cabins and other villages. We got to enjoy the stars at the boys overnight and make s’mores at the bonfire. Go camp!!
O7
This week O7 had so much fun participating in the Israeli culture cabin activity and getting to learn more about Israel! Later in the week camp had Mickey Mouse Maccabiah(color wars). We had so much fun cheering for our teams all day. The whole cabin is doing great and is looking forward to a great end of the session!!
O8
O8 had an amazing week full of swimming, sports and singing! The girls also had a great time bonding through meaningful conversations, journaling, and storytelling before bed.
O9
This week O9 had tons of fun going to the lake as cabin. Everyone and got to go tubing or ride the Jet Ski! They also had a blast at the girls overnight where they sang songs, slept in tents, and ate s’mores!
O10
This week was jam packed with fun for O-10! They celebrated two birthdays in the cabin, had a blast at Maccabiah, and loved going on the Jet Ski’s twice. They also spent time preparing for Ohalim Shabbat. We are excited for all the exciting things still to come!
N1
Our cabin strongly enjoyed the Maccabiah we had this year. The Mickey Mouse theme was a strong hit for everyone! We love Magic the Gathering, the campers made their own deck of cards as a cabin this week that they started playing with!
N2
N2 really enjoyed fitness and tower. They like hard physical challenges especially ones that they might not be able to finish like the hard side of the tower. Some campers even tried to break a record for squats in fitness. A special moment our cabin had this week was David’s birthday, we had a blast at a pool party and getting cake for everyone.
N3
N3 loves our time in the pool, we also had a blast at our Israeli culture and archery cabin activities! Maccabiah was special and it brought the cabin together to have genuinely mature discussion about things they wanted to see differently in the cabin.
N4
We’re now halfway through the session and the campers already are talking about how they don’t want to leave! This week we bonded together even more with s’mores as we gathered around a warm campfire.
N5
This week we got to go jet skiing and our girls had fun tubing and jumping on the trampoline. We also had a fun water fight with our cabin and the girls bonded cheering each other on during Maccabiah despite being on different teams. Every time we looked at them they were smiling and having fun.
N6
The girls showed a lot of ruach (spirit) while cheering their hearts out during Maccabiah! This week we also had an incredible deep talk one evening in which they discussed accepting individual weaknesses and strengths. We have really bonded as a cabin and have lots of fun activities and surprises coming up!
N7
This week our cabin’s favorite activity was Maccabiah!!! I saw each and every camper get involved in their teams! Most of them even woke up without voices from cheering so much. The campers have their own little rituals with each other at night, they tell each other fun facts about random things, share stories, and laugh a whole lot.
N8
The girls were very upset to learn that it’s already July because they’re having such a great time and don’t want to leave. One of our favorite moments from the week was our village paint party. We all ran around pouring paint on each other and all cleaned up together afterward. We also loved Maccabiah. They each took on leadership positions on their teams and they encouraged the younger campers to get up and cheer and helped to choreograph their teams’ dances.
Solel
Solel had a jam packed week that was filled with so many activities that led to new friends, laughter, spirit, and bonding. This week was Mickey Mouse Maccabiah, where our Solel Campers helped the younger campers cheer, create songs/skits/dances, and participate in all different kinds of sports. Our campers on the winning Tie-Dye team were so happy to win in their final year as a camper, and everyone had a great time. We also had glow roller skating, where everyone got to skate the night away with Tosafot, which was followed by a beautiful hike that featured a suspension bridge! We were all so happy to have a covid safe day trip together. This week S3 has been really enjoying the activities, specifically at high ropes while zip lining, as well as hanging at the lake where they tubed and rode on the jet ski! In S4, the campers have been having story time with one of our staff members Yoav before and they go to bed and they love to ask him about his life in Israel and his family! This week S2 began to explore nature in a new way. The Teva activity challenged them to complete an egg drop with just what we could find in nature, then we all defied gravity and conquered the easy medium and hard walls. S1 led a village scramble before bed that was fun for the staff and they love to have their nightly conversations with each other in bed. We can’t wait for our last week at camp!
Tosafot
Tosafot had an eventful week from Glow Roller Skating, to our burrito cooking class, to Mickey Mouse Maccabiah! The Tosafot campers got their creative juices flowing for a program run for the staff- it was a blast! After running around for the scavenger hunt and playing capture the flag, we got to crash Solel’s pool party for a cool end to the night. Everyone was super involved in Maccabiah and helped carry their teams to the finish line! We’re working hard on the camp’s new mural for the summer and we’re so excited to see it completed. We learned how to make yummy chicken burritos in our cooking class with our wonderful camp chef. We’re so excited for the rest of camp but we’re so sad it’s ending so soon.
