Maccabiah always comes down to one thing: ruach. Following a full day of sports, heavy rain, the apache race, lunch/dinner setups and an excellent few hours of funny final presentations, Team Mayim and Aish knew they had to prove themselves with their team spirit. They screamed, laughed, and yelled what they had left in them after almost 48 hours of non-stop maccabiah fun.

After much anticipation, the Apache Race commenced albeit an hour late due to torrential downpour. Eitan Halpert (Aish) and Caleb Maeir (Mayim) started off the race by running from Highway P all the way to the gym. From there, campers dodged, set tables, stuffed their faces with watermelon, rolled down the valley, wheel-barrowed and blobbed their way to victory. In the end, team Aish prevailed during the final stage of the race: the bucket brigade! Both teams filled up coolers by passing cups of water hastily and carefully along a big line of their teammates as counselors raced back and forth to fill up the cups. The close victory was celebrated by Team Aish with an intense amount of ruach and the water cooler being poured upon Team Co-Captain: Adir Pinchot.

Then, it came down to the final decision- the winner. The winner was announced using four Gatorade bottles: two blue (being drank by Sammy and Esti) and two red (being drank by Uzi and Rachel). With the chanichim surrounding them, the pressure was on to see who would finish first, and in the end, be the winner of Maccabiah! And the winner is… TEAM MAYIM! Kol Hachavod to all of the teams for all of their hard work!

The second day of Maccabiah is already in full swing! Team Aish is “red hot ready to roll”, while Team Mayim, is flowing with energy; both teams are bringing stories of Tanach alive each day!

Lunch was a surging success; Team Mayim decorated the Chadar Ochel as Noah’s Ark. Not only were the walls fully adorned in blue, but the illusion of the ark was completed animals- chanichim dressed up in costumes. Team Aish proved to be competition with a “Back to the Future” themed dinner that displayed different biblical encounters with fire.

Following dinner, both teams presented stomps full of musical and theatrical synergy. Team Aish’s stomp explored Eliyahu’s successful korban on Har Karmel that put the four-hundred and fifty Ba’al worshippers to shame. Meanwhile, Team Mayim made the Yam Suf story come to life, using unique instruments such as water and brooms.

Both teams are on their toes waiting to see who will win the Apache Race tonight, better yet, who will win it all!

At Machaneh Moshava we encourage all sorts of healthy competition. As written previously we have daily intramurals, we played Lets Make a Deal, and last night – Bunk Night. The most notable of all competitions, Maccabiah has just been broken out!

Maccabiah 5770 was broken out at 4:45 camp time during Shekem. Prior to the breakout, the campers had returned to their tzrifim (cabins) only to find them boarded up due to a “mold” problem. Interim Director Avi Roth condemned the chanichim for being lax on their cleanliness and hygiene. The chanichim were left utterly confused, then Rosh Mosh Uzi Beer yelled, “Maccabiah Breakout!” and the chanichim went wild.

The two teams are Mayim (water) and Aish (fire). Stay tuned for regular updates on Maccabiah and pictures of the events.

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.

What do three Chasers, two Beaters, one Keeper and one Seeker have to do with Machaneh? Quidditch, of course! Quidditch is the sport made up by J.K. Rowling in the wildly popular series Harry Potter. Today is Yom Harry Potter, and what better way to celebrate then by learning a new sport?

Quidditch is played on “flying” broomsticks and is a mixture of dodgeball, tag, and flicker ball. Rho Muller, our resident Quidditch expert, who doubles as shekem lady, taught the sport, “Quidditch is the most rewarding sport that ever existed. It redefines sports as a whole. People who haven’t tried it are missing out!” Muller, plays for her Boston University team as a Beater. “The beater protects its team by throwing dodge balls at the other team”.

The Chanichim are loving it! How often do they get an excuse to run around with broomsticks? It’s also a nice change from every day sports and encourages creative thinking. More updates on Yom Harry Potter to come.

Tuesday marked the 17th day of the month of Tamuz, a fast day that commemorates the breaking through of the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem- three weeks prior to the destruction of the temple. Although most of the younger chanichim do not fast, they did not have the usual fun daily activities. Rather, the day was geared to an inspirational and spiritual program about what defines a hero.

The day started off with davening, and then went to a thoughtful group discussion about recognizing the hero within ourselves. The chanichim engaged in meaningful debate about who they felt their personal heroes were and why. They then proceeded to write letters to themselves, or their parents defining why they felt they were heroes and how they could make a difference.

After the activity and shiur everyone davened mincha, and then had an optional lunch for those who weren’t fasting. After lunch the chanichim had shaat menucha (rest time), and had the option to watch a movie in the gym or to do various arts and crafts in the melechet yad (art room).

After a very meaningful Slow Shira (singing) on the basketball court, maariv was prayed and fasts were broken. The chanichim immediately jumped into their night activity- dodge ball in the gym. Pictures are online.

Today, the Chanichim will depart for the two day Machaneh Chutz (camping trip) . The Machaneh Chutz, a long standing tradition in camp, is a real chance for the campers to experience nature and enjoy each others company in a more relaxed setting.

The chanichim will have a brief hike to the Chutz. They will get to participate in swimming both in the lake and in the fabulous waterpark the Evergreen Campsite offers! The Chanichim will have the oportunity to play sports and just hang out in the great outdoors. For a lot of these kids it will be their first time to have this type of an outdoor experience, and they are all really looking forward to it!

Aside from the general fun associated with the Chutz, there is an educational value to it as well. When asked about how he plans to connect the Chutz to this month’s theme Moshevet Cheirut, Sgan Sammy Shaechter explained that it is part of the storyline that the kids are experiencing. Moshe asked Pharaoh to, “Let his people go” and was told that now the Jews would not even receive the bricks they needed to build with, instead they would have to make them from scratch! On a much much smaller scale, the kids were told that they not only would have to assist in making their own food, they would have to gather the firewood as well. Additionally, the chanichim are being taken out of their comfortable beds and being forced to sleep in sleeping bags under the stars. The real outdoor experience will include delicious S’more making and singing by the campfire! It should be a lot of fun for everybody!

Avodah also will leave on their own two day Chutz as well.

Pictures will be loaded tonight from day one of both Chutzes, and as usual stay tuned for the Moshava Minute.