The Theme Framing Our Week:
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Moshevet
Yerushalayim
For our opening tochnit in our month-long Yerushalayim
theme, the entire Machane gathered in the Beit Knesset
and were told how we are now celebrating 40 years of the reunification
of Yerushalayim.
To create the feeling and spirit of being in Eretz
Yisrael and specifically, Jerusalem, each member of Mishlachat
dramatically entered the Beit Knesset carrying a 4'x4' wall
encircling all of us within the chomot Yerushalayim.
As we live within its walls, learning about Jerusalem through the ages,
meeting its people and its sites, our understanding of what it's like
to live in Jerusalem and why Jews have dreamed of it for centuries, is
nurtured.
 A play, The Six
Days and the Seven Gates of Jerusalem, based on a modern day Midrash
about which gate the Israeli soldiers would use to enter the Old City,
written by former Israeli President Yizhak Navon, was performed. The Roshei
Eidah dressed up like Jerusalem's different gates and welcomed the
chanichim into the Holy City. Each of the gates
spoke, saying why it should be the one during the Milchemet
Sheshet HaYamim, The Six Day War, to have the kavod of
the chayalim entering through it. Sha'ar Ha'arayot,
the Lion's Gate spoke last. In a soft voice it said, "My heart is
breaking and I cannot bear to watch any longer. It doesn't matter
through which gate the soldiers enter. Just make the fighting stop."
G-d turned to the Lions' Gate and said, "All the other gates are
interested in their own honor. But you care more about the soldiers of
Israel than about yourself. Therefore, they will enter the Old City
through you." The chayalim did enter, and a miracle
occurred; Jerusalem was united. With these opening evening events, our
chanichim have also for the month, now entered Yerushalayim.
 Every possible
occasion for the chanichim to encounter a taste of Yerushalayim
is utilized. The face of the camp has changed a bit and the chanichim
were surprised to see street signs delineating different
neighborhoods in Yerushalayim such as, the Old City,
Yemin Moshe,and Katamon, representing
each of their tzrifim. On Friday night even the challot
put on the table were in Angel Bakery bags, a famous Jerusalem
establishment. Shabbat afforded the opportunity to discuss the meaning
of names, what nicknames are, and how when a person or entity have
various names, it reflects the complexity of that being. Yerushalayim
has 70 names. Through games and activities the campers were
learning its many names. One evening at dinner, stickers with one of
Jerusalem's 70 names were placed under each camper's place setting.
Throughout the meal, a power point presentation flashed Yerushalayim's
names and the campers identified if they had a match on the back of
their plate or if their sticker had a fabricated moniker.
*
Tisha B'Av *
 Tisha B'Av, the
culmination of the Three Weeks, commemorates the destruction of the Batei
Mikdash. Proceeding from maariv in our Beit
K'nesset and the various moadonim buildings on our
campus, the entire camp's tzevet formed two lines through
which all the chanichim passed on the way to a central
gathering spot. Sitting as a unified machane on the
ground we together lamented our unfathomable loss, and cried
out Eicha? How? How could this have happened? "They shall
make for Me a sanctuary and I will dwell inside them." (Shemot:
Exodus:25:8) How could G-d's sanctuary be destroyed? How could we
lose His Presence that abided there in our midst, and even, inside
ourselves? The pain is so great that unlike all other times, when we
meet one another we don't say hello. At camp, where we understand the
value of greeting everyone lovingly and with friendliness, each
moment's lack of acknowledgement gives expression to a small portion of
our pain.While candles burned and
a somber mood prevailed, explanations and stories of great kindness
were interspersed, reminders that where one human being loves another,
G-d is with us. A story is told that on the physical site of
tremendous chesed between brothers, where one cared more for
the other than for himself, G-d chose to have the Holy Temple
built. There's a famous story of a father telling his son that once
there were four walls surrounding Har HaBayit and all that's
left is the kotel. "Isn't that enough reason for the Jews to
cry?" the father asks his son. "Abba," he answers, "don't we
believe Yerushalayim and the Beit HaMikdash and the
walls around it will someday be rebuilt? Look at it this way, one wall
is already up, so we only need to put up three more!" Even amidst
despair, we dream of hope.
 During Tisha
B'Av day, we held an appropriate ceremony where we placed items
with kedusha into a genizah. Our campers helped
bury tefillin, siddurim, and sifrei kodesh. On
Tisha B'Av we mourn; on our other days we build,
so to speak, within our machane's 'daled amos', the city of
Jerusalem, a place for the presence of G-d to re-enter,
beginning with warm hellos.
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| In Vision: |
 Meet Yoni Berlin:
Shaliach Machane
Rabbi Yoni Berlin, the Shaliach
Machane, who set the Mishlachat, (Israeli staff), in motion
at the
beginning of the summer and who left his mark from the first month on
the machane, has joined Moshava for the past seven years, the
initial six at TVI and this year at the main Moshava campus. Yoni's
wife Liza Berlin, who was the Rosh of Chavaya Yisraelit,
along with 4 of their 5 beautiful children, added their warmth and
wealth of background in chinuch to our camp.
Presently on shlichut
in Toronto for three years, they plan to return to Modiin, their
home in Israel after their shlichut
is finished. Yoni has served in the army and miluim,
learned at Gush Etzion for 8 years, and launched a teacher
training institute for Russian Jewish girls during 2 years in Russia.
He taught for 3 years at Brovenders, been principal
for 9 years at a high school in Hashmonaim, and a Rav
for 10 years in Ramat Eshkol. Did we mention
he's only 40 years old? Yoni's dream upon returning to Eretz
Yisrael is to open a Beit Medrash that is accessible for
all types of Jews, secular and daati. He envisions it
being a place to learn about Judaism's culture, history, and texts,
within a climate of acceptance.
The 80-90
Israeli staff who come to Moshava for the summer, either right
after high school, or following army service or Sheurut Leumi-
national service, before entering the next stage of their lives, are
the ones largely manning logistical and technical parts of camp, as
well as being involved in the machane's educational elements,
especially infusing Moshava with the atmosphere of Eretz
Yisrael and its culture. Their integrated presence
provides opportunities for ongoing interactions with our American
campers and staff, developing their understanding of life in
Israel.
Mishlachat,
for example, lead Tsofiyut: a type of scouts, where they teach
campers how to put up tents and build fires at their overnight
campsites. They also conduct educational peulot
on Shabbat for chanichim, such as staging plays about Yerushalayim,
dramatizing scenarios about issues, like sinat chinam-baseless
hatred, and telling anecdotes about various experiences in Israel
including what it means to be a soldier in Gaza, and more.
As Yosef Frankel, a
Moshava staff member whose father administers the Mach Hach Ba'Aretz
program and whose mother works in the Moshava office,
said, "Yoni is Number One Rav!" "Why?" Yosef was
asked. "He takes care of each one of his staff, each
individually, and makes every single one feel special."
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| Through Our
Kids'...(and Staff's) Lens |
What is great in
your Moshava day?
-"shekem,
because you can buy any candy you want"
-Avigayil Yucht,
Eidah Hey
-"davening
because counselors help us daven better" -Pamela
Tanner,
Eidah Bet
-"free time- it's fun" -Tara
Seidel, Eidah Hey
-"having hot chocolate at breakfast" -Rafi Wiesen, Eidah Gimmel
-"the activities, especially sports" -Stefanie Reichman, Eidah Bet
-"the smiles on the children's faces, the chesed
people do for each other
without even thinking about it, and the way they say, 'b'simcha'-with
happiness, when you ask them to do something- you feel the best of
what Israel is, is here." -Rita-Rivka
Lewy, Rosh Gan, 3-4's
-"the kids in my bunk" -Shara
Zierler-Feit, Eidah Bet
-"peulat erev" -Noah
Notis, Eidah Hey
-"all the great friends I'm making" -Rachel Levit, Eidah Bet
-"being with
the kids all day and learning from them" -Divra
Benhamou,
counselor, Eidah Bet
-"hanging
out with your friends" -Marisa
Young and Yosefa Sebrow,
Eidah Gimmel
-"my awesome
counselors and my awesome friends" -Moshe
Lewy-
Neuman, Eidah Daled
-"I love sorting the mail because I anticipate the
kids' excitement
receiving it." -Devorah Freedman, Office
-"spending
time with kids, having fun, and talking" -Pinky
Kiejedan,
Eidah Daled
-"the whole day we have fun and there's nothing really
bad about it"
-Rafi Wind, Eidah Aleph
-"it's fun- being with my bunk and the activities here
are awesome"
-Nathaniel Mayberg, Eidah Aleph
-"seeing
kids having fun and doing new things" -Ezra
Starr, Sgan Rosh
Mosh, Eidot Hey and Aleph
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| Sports
Snapshot |
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Beach
Volleyball
"It's fun!"
-Sophie Schick
"I like the sand and
I like the sport." -Lauren Tuch
"Even though I'm not
that into sports, I like this game. It's a little like being at the
beach." -Tehila Stone
On Moshava's
beautiful sand volleyball court adjacent to where Eidah
Daled girls were playing basketball and Eidah Bet boys were
improving their tennis skills, Eidah Bet girls,
both madrichim and chanichim had an exuberant and
exciting game of nucomb led by sports counselor, Yoni Jaskoll. Between
singing bunk chants, bonding with old and new friends, and lots of
laughter, they played a close game. "Get your hands
ready!" Yoni called. "Who's catching?" The
ball dropped from one girl's hands, but Dani Marson made the save,
catching the volleyball as it fell from her bunkmate's hands! Go
G3R!
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| Eye On... |
The Ropes Course
"You use teamwork at
ropes to establish ways of climbing things."
-Ezra Gross
"Low ropes is good- it's hard, it's challenging."
-Matanya Landes
What is a challenge?
How do you know you're challenged? How
can you accomplish something you've never done before?
What can you do to help yourself when you're feeling
challenged? How can you work as part of a team to meet
with success? If you do stretch yourself and
make progress with athletic challenges, what does that mean about you
in other arenas? What does gaining proficiency in this
activity imply you might be capable of in your life? As
our chanichim and tzevet take their feet off the ground
and climb the ropes, (and also the climbing wall), these questions are
the underpinning foundational blocks upon which the Moshava's Ropes
course stands.
 Hadassa Meller,
trained at the National Challenge Course Symposium,
who during the year lives in Efrat and works as a group facilitator,
comes to Moshava each summer, (now as a staff member, but prior, as a
camper and then as a Rosh Eidah), to lead the Ropes course for the past 10
years. She also implements training material she has
written, which guide the tzevet in matters such as: how to give
feedback, how to set goals for the campers, and how to teach life-long
'learnables' from various activities. Life-long
'learnables' are explored in part, through inquiry, asking questions
like: What can we learn from playing soccer?, or in the Chadar Ochel?,
and in Melechet Yad? These are all opportunities
to learn skills that can be applied to life: at soccer-team effort; at
meals-sharing, waiting your turn, not hoarding; at arts and crafts-
finding a creative voice, making
an effort, getting results even when there is a mistake.
Similarly
symbolic, is the work she does with our machane with the
ropes and at the climbing wall. At the climbing wall,
the climbers start at Eilat and work their way 25 feet up to Har
Hermon, (Mount Hermon).
"It's so
much fun rock climbing and strategizing what your next move will be."
-Elana Kook
"I'm excited about it; it's really
fun. I like heights." -Amalya Sherman
"If
you climb up really high, you don't have to be nervous because they have
you, and everyone cheers for you." -Hannah
Lockspeiser
Low
ropes, (which has various configurations of ropes to master,
for example: Pirate's Crossing, Swinging Log, Space Loops, and Spider
Web), are a chance to work within a group and develop both
leadership skills and ways of interacting with the
team, to figure out how to complete the task of getting from
one spot to another. It introduces problem
solving as a way to cooperate and achieve goals. This
casts the emphasis not on the actual task, but on the process. The
tzevet is trained and sensitized to identify and
share aloud the qualities exhibited by the campers such as:
determination, bravery, and persistence.
High ropes are
more of an individual or personal challenge in which self-confidence
grows as fear of heights is overcome.
Each chanich has his or her own level of
challenge, as they also do at the climbing wall, where sometimes
campers even climb blindfolded, learning to rely on and trust others in
order to arrive at their chosen destination. In answer
to a question posed to the machane a couple of weeks back:
'Where or when at Camp Moshava do you feel closest
to G-d?' One reflective camper answered, "at the ropes
course area- that feeling of trusting people".
Hadassa also
frequently poses questions to her participants. In
asking, how is a ropes course like
friendship or like G-d? "It's like G-d," a camper told
her, "because if you're having a bad day, you know G-d isn't going to
let go of you". On visiting day, Hadassa and
Camp Moshava invite you to come give it a try!
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| Say Cheese |
From the kitchen: A favorite Mosh recipe 
With rave reviews of last month's, Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe by Beverly, the
Moshava baker, in an act of generosity and wanting
once again for the chanichim and tzevet to continue to
have the taste of Moshava at home, she's sharing another of the camp's
favorites with us. "I rotate my recipes," she says, "so
no one gets bored and I keep everyone happy. It's a good feeling when everyone enjoys what you're baking;
I feel gratified."
Beverly's
Sprinkle Sugar Cookies
¾ cup margarine
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 ½ cups flour
1 teaspoon baking
powder
chocolate
sprinkles and/or rainbowsprinkles
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Cream margarine and sugar
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Add eggs and all other Ingredients
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Form balls and dip in sprinkles
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Bake at 400 degrees for 8 minutes
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| With A Longer
Lens |
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Machal
"M-A-C-H-A-L, Machal, Machal, we love Machal!"
-the Machal campers' chant
Machal, or Machane
Chalutzi, specifically designed for our post-ninth grade teens, is
off to a great start. As young adults, many of whom
have spent years in our camp, we have conceived a program that builds
team spirit and develops interpersonal relationships, all
within the context of strengthening our campers' Jewish, religious, and
Zionist identities.
With this context in
place, they began to get to know each other on an overnight at one
of the local farms, where in a group effort, they
tackled orienteering. With a topographical map
in hand, they plotted out and problem solved how best to go from point
A to point B. Counselors accompanied them, offering
guidance only when necessary.
The
overnight was followed a couple of days later with a day hike
in the gorgeous wooded mountains of Stokes State Forest.
The day concluded with an evening activity of low
ropes.
Tisha B'Av tefillot
and educational peulot occupied Machal, Monday evening through
Tuesday. Then it was off to The World's End State
Park (and then later that night to a sneak preview of the movie,
The Simpsons), located in a narrow S-shaped valley in Sullivan County,
so beautiful it seemed to be the end of the world. The
purpose of specifically taking hikes, is to provide a challenging
experience, one that upon completion, helps create camaraderie amongst
the chanichim, as well as between the chanichim and tzevet,
and to also give an appreciation for G-d's creations-
'Ma Rabu Ma'asecha
Hashem'-How great/wondrous are your creations, G-d.
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| D'var Torah |
 A Kid's View
By: Orli Major
Eidah: Daled
This Shabbat, the
Shabbat after Tisha B'Av is called Shabbat Nachamu, the
Shabbat of comfort. Nachamu is the first word
that we read in this week's Haftorah. The idea
or theme of comfort though is not only found in the Haftorah;
throughout the parsha we see many different examples of Bnei
Yisrael taking comfort from Hashem and from their leaders
around them.
In this week's Haftorah,
Bnei Yisrael has just watched the destruction of the Beit
HaMikdash. Bnei Yisrael is left with no hope or
spiritual connection to Hashem. They have lost
all faith that they had had before. In attempt to
reassure and comfort Bnei Yisrael, Isaiah says,
"Comfort, comfort my people says your G-d." He then
compares Bnei Yisrael and all living creatures to grass and
blossoms. He explains that over time, "Grass withers and
blossoms fade, but the word of our G-d shall stand forever." Although
Isaiah starts by putting Bnei Yisrael down, he then reminds
them of all the promises that Hashem has made. He
reminds Bnei Yisrael that G-d is always with them- that they
need not lose hope.
In this week's Parsha-
Parshat Ve'Etchanan we read the passages of the Shema in
which we reaffirm our belief in Hashem being our one and only
creator. Everyday we recite those passages and remind
ourselves of G-d's oneness and holiness. We take comfort
in knowing that Hashem is always there for us. We
remind ourselves that no matter where we are or where we go- whether we
are sitting in our homes or walking on our way, G-d is always one.
We take comfort in reminding ourselves-when we rise
and when we retire that Hashem is ever present.
In our daily lives we
need to remind ourselves that G-d is always with us. We
say the Shema in order to reassure ourselves that Hashem is
there even when we face the challenges and struggles of everyday life.
Tisha B'Av is a day that commemorates the
major tragedies that befell Bnei Yisrael. Bnei
Yisrael needed a reminder from Hashem. They
needed to know that not all hope had been lost. Shabbat
Nachamu is the time where we comfort ourselves, a time in which we
remind ourselves that, "the word of our G-d shall stand forever."
On this special Shabbat, we remind ourselves
that even after the destruction of the Beit HaMikdash, we are
still here today. On an everyday basis we have hardships
that we struggle through. We say the Shema twice
a day in order to remind ourselves that Hashem is always taking
care of us and that gives us continuous comfort.
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| Kodak Moments: |
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Our Special Happenings
* Digging Deep In Learning About
Yerushalayim *
Since
one of the most phenomenal discoveries in the past few years has been
the archeological dig of Ir David, the City of David, Aaron
Greener, an Israeli archeologist,
who founded the program Dig
the Past: An Israeli Archeological Experience,
is recreating the excitement of an Israeli archeological excavation at
Moshava and
will spend a week at camp spear-heading
the ongoing learning experience.
In
taking us on an archeological mission, he is replicating for our chanichim
the
experience of
excavating and uncovering history,
which is routine in Israel, the most densely excavated country in the
world, but exotic in Honesdale, Pennsylvania. He
facilitated our building a dig site in camp, taught our chanichim
what a dig is, is taking them on digs, and is providing the experience
of learning how to dig properly, as well as how to restore some
artifacts from their dig.
As they make discoveries in the life-size
tel, (an archeological mound created by the remains
of a civilization, one layer on top of another), the campers gain a
better picture of life in ancient Israel. Our
campers hunch over the dig, sift soil and intensely examine the tel
for hidden artifacts, both day and night, (at night the
tel is lit up with flood lights), using real
archeological tools and professional excavation techniques. Towels, brushes, and buckets in hand, campers, not
believing what they discovered, call out from various areas of the
site: "Look what I found!" They then bring their finds to the
Archeology Lab, where they wash off muddy pottery shards, coins, mosaic
floor pieces, and scroll fragments, (all reproductions of originals
that Aaron shipped from Israel), examine them for differences in
artwork, and catalogue the finds.
"Archeology digging,"
Aaron said, "is considered a national pastime in Israel. Not only are we recreating a site, we're recreating
the whole Israeli archeology experience. We're
trying to be as realistic as we can by using real tools and allowing
children to touch the past with their hands and feel a connection with
ancient Israel."
*
Siyum *
 Under the big tent
decorated with Israeli flags in the middle of a field, Eidah
Daled gathered for a siyum. Yoni
Hartman finished Masechet Taanit and was concluding the
learning of the masechet with his eidah.
"It's a huge gift", Judah Hartman, (Yoni's abba
and the camp's Marp driver- first month) said, introducing the siyum,
"to be in a Machane that observes the Nine Days and has the
proper aveilut about it, but also values limud Torah
so much that we can have this siyum and barbecue.
When you take something upon yourself and work on
it, rather than just having it handed to you, your efforts make it far
more meaningful. Tonight, we celebrate Yoni's
working on learning Torah. As he completes the masechet,
we're learning with him, helping him complete his efforts."
"If a people can still cry for the Beit
HaMikdash of many, many hundreds of years ago," the eidah
was told, "then this is a people that has a future. We
can cry about our failures, but we can also take on learning Torah as
well as work that has meaning, and rebuild our future."
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| Moshava Glossary: |
A
Moshava word can be worth a thousand pictures...
Aliyah = yes! just do it :-)
Machane = camp
rosh = head
Chinuch = education
Shlichut = mission
Miluim = army reserve
Peulot = activities
Chanichim = campers
Tzevet = staff
Rosh Eidah = division
head
Chadar Ochel = dining
hall
Eidot = divisions
Tochnit = program
Melechet Yad = arts
and crafts
Chomot Yerushalayim =
walls of Jerusalem
D'var Torah = a
thought of Torah
Tefillot = prayers
Batei Mikdash = The
Holy Temples
Beit K'nesset =
synagogue
Maariv = evening
prayer
Har HaBayit = the
Temple Mount in Jerusalem
Chesed = kindness
Machal = Machane
Chalutzi (program for kids going into 10th grade)
TVI = Torah V'Avodah
Institute
Chavaya Yisraelit =
Israel experience
Beit Medrash = study
hall
Dati = religious
Shaliach Machane =
Israeli representative
Geniza = shemot
Sifrei kodesh =
religious books
Moadonim = meeting
rooms
Daled amot = 4 amot
(measurement)
Mishlachat = Israeli
contingent
Siyum = completion
Masechet Taanit =
Tractate Taanit
Aveilut = mourning
Midrash = parable
Kavod = honor
Chanukat HaBayit =
dedication
Chayalim = soldiers
Tzofiyut = camping
Tzrifim = bunk houses
Kedusha = holiness
Parsha = Torah portion
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