Each and every night tochniot is special in Machaneh, but nothing is more important to the chanichim than Bunk Night. Each bunk puts on a short presentation involving anything from singing, lip singing, dancing or skits. The bunks compete for the grand prize at the end, a late night ice cream party.

Yesterday morning Uzi announced Bunk Night, allowing the chanichim enough time to put together their performances. Although most of the daily activities were on schedule, they were given an hour of time allotted for practicing. The minute dinner was over the chanichim, already in costumes, raced to the Bet Knesset to get the best seats.

At breakfast this morning the results were in. The winning bunks were G1 and B4. Sganit Esti Nussbaum explained that these bunks were chosen specifically because they incorporated their bunk names into it. G1, Delilah, made up their own song about the summer appropriately to the tune of, “Hey There Delilah”. B4 played on the theme of their new name, Chalomi (Dream) and made their dance look like it was in a dream. Although, these two teams were the winners everyone was amazing. The judges had a really hard time deciding, “We sat for what felt like forever debating over which Kvutzot deserved to win, each bunk was overflowing with talent.”

Even the photographer had a hard time weeding through all the pictures she took, and thus uploaded 172 Bunk Night photos for your viewing pleasure. Make sure to check out these photos and others on the Bunk1 website!

On Thursday we had the honor and privilege of having esteemed speaker Rabbi Hanoch Teller in camp. Rabbi Teller arrived at Machaneh on Thursday in the early afternoon and left at 5 AM Friday morning to get back to Skokie by 9 AM! Although he was here for such a short time he managed to give three shiurim. He ran the night tochnit for the chanichim, then went on to speak to machal and then finally he spoke to tzevet.

Rabbi Teller, who hails all the way from Jerusalem, Israel is best known for his 27 best selling inspirational story books. He also serves as guide in the Yad Vashem Museum in Israel and is a resident teacher in numerous Yeshivot and Seminaries.

Thursday, the theme of the day was the Makot. The specific plague of focus at dinner was Choshech (Darkness). To drill the theme into the chanichim, dinner was blacked out.  The lights went out at dessert and the kids had to eat in the pitch black. In the dark, Rabbi Teller shared a story about the plagues. The chanichim were then led to the hockey rink where they sat and listened to more stories and words of wisdom from the incredible speaker. The night ended with another skit depicting Hashem giving Moshe the first mitzvah of Rosh Chodesh and finally a spectacular fireworks show.

Rabbi Teller then spoke to Machal about the importance of human dignity and treating people with respect and its significance during this period of the three weeks.  It was truly a spiritually enriching night for everyone who had the privilege to listen.

This morning, the kids woke up to blood. The blood— completely fake, of course—was part of an exciting program about the Ten Makot (plagues). After an introductory skit featuring Pharaoh and Moshe (Uzi Beer and Sammy Shaechter), all liquids soon turned to blood!

The skit depicted Moshe going to Pharaoh requesting to be let out of Egypt, and yet again being ignored. Moshe warns Pharaoh that if he does not let the Jews out, all of the waters in the land would turn to blood. As we all know, Pharaoh did not take Moshe seriously. As a result, breakfast turned pink; the milk, pancakes and orange juice turned blood red. The chanichim all expressed the same sentiments: “seriously cool!”

To continue with the theme of the day, frogs “infested” the chanichim’s tzrifims (cabins). The kids came back from breakfast to find fake frogs everywhere! The rest of the day will explore all of the plagues in further depth and creativity.

Pictures coming soon!

A long standing feature at Camp Moshava is Chugim, which take place before dinner. The goal of Chugim is for the chanichim to make friends outside of their bunks and explore individual interests. Although Chug Tzahal (Literal definition: Israeli Army Club) is completely new to Machaneh, it is by far one of the most popular clubs. Chug Tzahal was created by Hagai Weiss, and features a wide range of IDF inspired activities.

Hagai Weiss, 30, moved to Skokie last year with his wife Bat-El (the amazing Bnei Akiva Shlicha) and three kids Avi, Shahari, and Tagel, and has been teaching at Shechter Day School. Weiss finished Hesder and ultimately became a commander in the Givati Brigade of the IDF. “When I first came to Moshava I was asked to run many different chugim, but I did not connect with any of them. I wanted to do something Israel themed, I wanted to bring the spirit of Zionism to Moshava.  As a commander in the IDF I thought it would be fun to pass on my knowledge of the army, so I sat down with {director} Avi and {Rosh Mosh} Uzi to figure out how to make the chug fun and informative at the same time.”  When Chug Tzahal was presented in Chug Fair, the kids mobbed him with questions. So many chanichim signed up that Chug Tzahal had to expand!

Although Chug Tzahal is co-ed, it is predominantly male with the exception of one incredible girl—Dahlia Sered.  Every day in Chug Tzahal the chanichim get their own water guns which they use to learn how to shoot targets. The playground is utilized to learn navigational skills, moving past obstacles, and maneuvering mazes to get to the final goal. Every day ends with water balloon fights and smiles.

What’s next for Chug Tzahal? Weiss explains, “We are going to watch movies about soldiers training and of course more WATER FIGHTS!!”  With so many exciting adventures planned, it is no wonder that Chug Tzahal is such a hit.