Today we had a BLAST at Israel Getaway camp! The Philadelphia public schools are closed today and tomorrow, and we are making the most of it!
When we got together this morning, the first most important task was to make sure everyone was good and comfortable. We played a few games while we were getting to know each other, learning each other’s names, and what some of our favorite things are.
We then kicked off our day of playing and exploring together by creating art with Mordechai Rosenstein, our artist in residence. He taught us to use the letter yud to build lots of Hebrew letters, and showed us how to play with the shapes of the Hebrew letters to tell a story. We each created a piece of art that tells a story about us—we turned letters into baseball bats, guitars, challah, and more! Check out the pictures to get a sense of what we did. We’ll have another exciting project with Mordechai tomorrow.
After lunch, we got to explore Israel together. Our team of detectives learned that Carmen Sandiego had stolen a rock from the Kotel (Western Wall). They were appalled—then they asked what the Kotel was. So we went on a journey all over Israel to learn about places that Carmen Sandiego could be hiding. We stopped in Beit Guvrin, Jerusalem, Be’er Sheva, Tel Aviv, and Tzfat.
At Beit Guvrin, we participated in an archaelogical dig. We found puzzle pieces and put together a map of Israel.
In Tzfat, we learned about the artists who live there and the beautiful mountains they get to look at through their workshop windows. And we painted our very own sunrise and sunset pictures looking over the mountains of Tzfat as we imagine them.
In Jerusalem, we used the live KotelCam to see what was going on at the Kotel (Western Wall) today. And we learned about what makes Jerusalem a holy city to Jews, Christians, and Muslims.
We stopped in Tel Aviv to play Gaga and have potato bourekas for snack.
In Be’er Sheva, we learned about the kinds of kibbutzim that sprang up in the Negev Dessert in the early days of Israel’s statehood. Our campers squeezed their own orange juice for the snack and raced to set up the table—and enjoyed a well-earned snack!
Tomorrow, we’re looking forward to meeting Neta Burstein—our Jewish Agency Shlicha from Israel. She’ll join us to facilitate some problem-solving around how Israel makes sure all the people who live there have enough water to drink. And we have another great art project with Mordechai Rosenstein to look forward to, too!