תשעה באב

Leil Tisha B'av

Leil Tisha B'av solemnly descends on Machaneh Moshava and the campers are finishing tefilat Arvit. The Eidot exit their respective Batai Tefilah and begin walking through a sobering drizzle, towards the path to the Pavilion, where Aichah reading for the entire Machaneh will take place. They arrive and are greeted by a long line of Tzevet on each side of the path singing slow, powerful songs and swaying stoically. The Roshai Eidah are given torches and slowly lead their Eidot down the dark path towards the lit Pavillion. The campers then arrive at the Pavillion and are seated quickly as the almost eerie silence of hundreds of huddled people ensues and Chana and Alan each give short moving speeches. A member of the Beit Midrash Program personifying the Yerushalayim of Yirmiyahu's Eichah then pleads with the Machaneh to feel her pain and weep for her as we begin our journey through Aichah. As the reading ensues and we are met again by the personification of Yerushalayim and a beautiful performance by the Tzevet Makhailah (choir) we each ask ourselves that two thousand year old question: Aichah, how?

Putting a face on the Holocaust

Later, after the Aichah reading had ended, Eidot Hey and Alef were sent off to bed and the rest of the camp enjoyed a very meaningful Peula run by the Tzevet. The campers were divided into groups and given sheets with some brief information about a fellow Jew who perished in the Holocaust. Each participating member of the Tzevet then went to a different group and pretended to be a person on one of the sheets elaborating on his/her life and tragic death. As the round robin continued and the campers saw some of the many different faces of the tragedy, the campers began to understand the importance of this day and its connection to every calamity in Jewish history.

After tefillah and kinot, Eidot Gimmel and Daled continued to discuss the Holocaust as a paradigm of "churban". Bunks sat with their counselors and discussed a variety of related topics. Many of the campers shared stories about their family's experiences during the Shoah.

Moshiach Puppet Story

Eidot Hey and Aleph heard the poem "Moshiach's Hat", http://www.haruth.com/JSMoshiachsHat.html. Each bunk was given materials to fashion puppets and to then act out one stanza of the poem. The poem stresses the idea of "ahavat chinam", of treating your fellow Jews with love for no other reason than it is the right way to be.

Gniza

It's a camp Moshava tradition that every Tisha Be'av afternoon the campers in Eidah Gimmel and Daled Take the Shemot (Materials that have G-d's name on it) that have accumulated over the year in the Beit Midrash and bury them. Everyone met at the Shul and then began walking, with their arms around each other's shoulders and singing, towards the new Gniza pit. When they arrived their counselors gave a presentation on the importance of Hebrew letters in a person's life, ranging from first learning the Alef Bet to their Bar/Bat Mitzva's and beyond.

Beit Hamikdash

There were five major occurrences that happened on Tisha B'av:

• First Beit Hamikdash was destroyed
• Second Beit Hamikdash was destroyed
• Cheit Hameraglim
• The last city, Beitar, fell on this day.
• Spanish Inquisition

The chanichim did a few activities to help them understand and empathize with the tragedies that happened to us: In the first activity the chanichim got a square of paper on one side they wrote what they will do to contribute to the coming of Moshiach and they decorated the other side. In the end, all the squares were put up together on the wall which is, "our corner stone to the Beit Hamikdash III".

In the second activity Klei Beit Hamikdash: the chanichim built the vessels of the Beit Hamikdash out of playdough. In the third activity there was Tisha b'Av bingo that had questions and the answer was on the bingo board.

In the last activity the chanichim made coins like the ones they used in the time of Beiter.

Kamtza Bar Kamtza

Eidot Hey, Aleph and Bet participated in a special peulah that stressed the importance of being kind and not vengeful to one's friends and acquaintances. Four short plays were presented by the staff that demonstrated instances where people did not respect one another's feelings. The settings of the plays were Talmudic times, the story of Kamtza and Bar Kamtza, a story from the era of the founding of the state of Israel, a play that takes place in camp and a fourth story that transpires over the Internet. After watching the plays the eidah broke into smaller groups and had the opportunity to discuss the values and circumstances that had been dramatized.

Click here to see pictures from previous days in camp.