As part of a peulah (program) this past summer, our Kochavim campers wrote notes to hashem, with the intention that these notes would be brought to Israel and placed in the Kotel (the Western Wall). Rosh Kochavim, Yoav After, is from Israel, and last week he fulfilled his promise and delivered all of the notes to Jerusalem, and placed them in between the bricks of the Kotel. It's an exciting culmination to this peulah from the summer. Todah Rabbah, Yoav!
In kochavim, we daven (pray) every morning just like the rest of the community here at Ramah. Almost every morning, we come together in the bet knesset to begin our day. Our t'filot are filled with new songs and new melodies along with many traditional tunes that our chanichim know from home.
Yesterday during tfila the children were able to express their artistic abilities and draw pictures about certain prayers during the service. They were really excited to try something new and fun, other than the usual service routine.
Tonight Kochavim boys went outside right after showertime, They all dresssed as ninjas, and they ran to the gazebo. At the gazebo they learned about the "secret camp ramah ninjas" and completed some secret missions. Here is a photo from the "sneakout"
the"sneakout".
Tonight in Kochavim was a Night of a Thousand Stars! The campers all dressed up as different characters (some real-life, most fictional), and then, in teams, they constructed their own space-ships (out of supplies given to them by their counselors) which they then raced around the migrash (field)! Here are some photos:
Today the kochavimers had their yom meyuchad(speical day). Today's theme was kochavim(stars) the kids had activities surrounding stars,such as writing their wishes on pieces of paper whice i (Yoav) will be taken back to israel with me to put in the kotel.
Yesterday we welcomed our 28 new kochavimers! They all met their bunkmates and did some icebreakers and introductory games. They then played an edah wide game of kickball and learned some great camp songs. After edah-wide icebreakers, everyone sat in a circle and developed an edah contract, with rules coming from the campers. We are so excited for the rest of the session…
Today after lunch, Kochavim celebrated "Yom Pack" with frozen treats: ice cream from Rondeau's! After lunch the whole Edah headed down Bennett Street and walked to the ice cream store outside of camp. We sat in the shade and enjoyed cookie dough, mint chocolate chip, chocolate, and cotton candy ice cream (to name a few flavors), as well as some milk shakes. Kochavim had a great time sharing in this camp tradition.
Now we are back at camp finishing up the packing and preparing for Shabbat.We're looking forward to a great last weekend, and we'll see you on Sunday!
