Seminar on Aliyah Bet

We’ve had a crazy weather day! What started as a cloudy and rainy day has turned into a very warm and sunny day. Everyone headed to the pool in the afternoon to cool off from the sudden temperature change. During instructional swim today, the campers (chanichim) split into teams and had relay races that helped them to practice their different strokes they have learned. 

Today, the Bonim had a special seminar. During the seminar they learned all about Aliyah Bet which was an illegal immigration to Palestine by Jews after the World War II. Every summer the Bonim plan a simulated Aliyah Bet for the entire Machaneh so their counselors (madrichim) wanted to teach them about the actual event before they planned it for the machaneh. 

Before their seminar began the Bonim were instructed to put on “shtetel” clothing which included long skirts, scarves, slacks, buttoned shirts, rags and head coverings. When the Bonim got to the barn (refet), it was transformed into a “shtetel” located in Western Europe in the 1930’s. The refet was set up as a carnival with different stations that simulated what a “shtetel” would be like in the 1930’s. The stations included a cow milking station, a school that taught yiddish, a bakery and a shul (synoguage). 

After the stations, they were split into groups and each group had a different idea of where they were going to migrate to next. One group wanted to go to America, the other group wanted to join the communist revolution, one group wanted to assimilate, and last group wanted to make the journey to Palestine and join the Zionist movement. They all had a debate voicing their opinions of why their idea was better than the others. In the end they all decided to make the journey to Palestine, aliyah bet, because they wanted to hold on to their Jewish identity and traditions together.

During the afternoon the Bonim watched skits of a mock ship headed towards Palestine. They learned all about the difficult journey the Jews completed. The seminar will continue into the night and will end with a short hike.

During workshops (Sadnaot) today, the Sayarim brought white t-shirts to the arts and crafts building (beit omanut) to spray paint! They each created their own stencil design and chose their own colors! 

We are excited for the first Shabbat of second session!