Kallah, from an Educator's Point of View
Posted on 07/22/2011 @ 07:00 AM
Enjoying a meal of pita and falafel on Israeli night
It is unique to wake up every day and work in the company of kind, educated and talented individuals. As a new member of the specialist team at Kallah and a first time BBYO employee, I am thrilled to be here. Week two of KALLAH 2011 started off on an excellent foot with enthusiastic trips to the town of Woodbourne, NY and a visit to Camp Morasha. The teens openly engaged with their orthodox peers, grappling with difficult and relevant issues. This week also marks the beginning of the specialists' specialty series. Each camper can choose three specialty electives in which they'd like to participate. I had a terrific group of kids today who were eager to explore, listen and create theatre. Working within a very specific set of rules, I divided them into smaller groups of five and asked them to create a snapshot montage of a story about Love, Loss and Reunion. The compositions were diverse and compelling. I have no doubt that tomorrow, their longer and more complex compositions will be equally entertaining. At the close of the day I had the opportunity to sit in on a Shabbat planning session. Some of the kids expressed an interest in hosting a more traditional style Torah service, while others were more drawn to an abstract approach. I offered up the medium of Dance midrash as a gateway to exploring the larger ideas in the Parsha without losing the Hebrew text. Whatever the group decides, their commitment will be wholehearted and their experience will be meaningful. These are just some of the wonderful things happening at Kallah today that I have had the occasion to witness. BBYO veterans surround me here and will casually remark that this general 'awesomeness' floating around in the air is nothing new. I still believe that it is unique to wake up every day and work in the company of kind, educated and talented individuals.
By Valerie Issembert, Drama Instructor
Message from Dan Weissman (NSR) - CLTC 6
Posted on 07/21/2011 @ 04:40 PM
Hi, my name is Dan Weissman and I'm here at CLTC 6 2011 in Bethany, West Virginia! So far this CLTC has been amazing! We have teens from over 20 different regions including several teens from Canada! So far our teens have been participating in a variety of programs such as AZA/BBG Education programs, ISraeli dancing, song sessions, public speaking and more! All of our participants are having a great time and i can't wait to see what happens in the next few days!
PDI Cohort 2
Posted on 07/21/2011 @ 11:15 AM
Israel Seminar 2011 Blog
Tuesday, July 20, 2011
As a member of the second cohort for PDI, I have been looking forward to this seminar pretty much since I started this program. For the first official day of the seminar, this was terrific. It was so meaningful to start the entire seminar in Jerusalem; the city almost every visitor to Israel looks forward to seeing. The day started off with a great pedagogical experience. Roberta Bell -Kligler (one of our faculty )facilitated a program in which we looked at about 20 different pictures taken by a famous Israeli photographer ( Alex Levac) and all his photos portrayed different aspects of Israeli society. We all had to choose a picture that stood out for us. This was a great beginning program because the conversations were interesting and we all learned a bit more about Israeli society.
The day went on with us having a great discussion about what the land of Israel meant for us based on several articles we read. The discussion took place at Hebrew University on Mt. Scopus overlooking the Old City. The most meaningful discussion for me took place after lunch. We discussed the concept of the “holy” and why we consider places to be “holy”. This was quite a controversial question to ask; especially on the first day. The group seemed hesitant to answer. I believe it was because we didn’t know how to answer or some people didn’t feel comfortable answering the question. But I can for certain say it got me thinking a lot about the concept of holiness and how I view things as holy. For example, I wear a kippa when I am in Jerusalem as a sign of respect because I believe Jerusalem is a holy city. After the discussion today though, I started thinking if Jerusalem is not inherently holy, but was designated holy by man many, many years ago, then why should I wear the kippa. Although this thought scared me a bit, it also made me look forward to other great discussions later in the trip.
This truly was a great start to the seminar and I cannot wait for the next 13 days. I sincerely hope it doesn’t go by too fast.
- Ben Kozberg
Our Time At Kallah
Posted on 07/21/2011 @ 07:00 AM
Rapping about Biblical topics
Here at Kallah we’re learning to appreciate a lot of the things we take for granted in our daily home lives. For instance we love pasta; So much so that we’ve eaten it every day for the past five. We’d like to take this opportunity to tell all of our mothers how much we appreciate their cooking as well as the kitchen staff here at Perlman. What else does Perlman make us appreciate? Here’s the short list: Rain boots, air conditioning, the importance of waking up an hour early to pray, the importance of sleeping an extra hour to not get sick, mouse traps, cracking eggs to make scrambled eggs, and carbs. Lots and lots of carbs.
We’ve been encountering lots of new experiences thanks to Kallah. Yesterday we had the chance to meet kids from two orthodox camps in the area. It was a really enriching field trip for both sides because we got to learn firsthand about each other’s lives. One of the highlights for the Kallah kids was hearing the orthodox kids talk about their choice to be shomer ngiya. Imagine a life where the only person of the opposite gender you ever touched was your spouse! Yeah… we thought so.
So that’s what’s up in PA. If you’d like to respond to this post please give us a call or shoot us an email during chofesh. Just kidding we don’t really have any, but that’s okay. We love our classes, chugim and creative arts electives! That’s all for now folks!
Submitted with Undying Love for Ka11ah, Zach Singer, Kolbo, Katz, 3, ½, Library, Big tree, PA, Large Quad, Small Quad, Ampitheater, Leadership Village, A lodge, Canteen, and dorms 1-9 (except 6 ‘cause there’s a tree growing in there), You, me, and Sam and Bobby
Judith Ilana Cohen, Eastern Region, North Carolina Council
Alana Calen Ben-Zeev, North Florida Region
Jaclyn Nicole Pavlofksy, Kentucky Indiana Ohio Region
CLTC 5 Harry Potter Motion
Posted on 07/20/2011 @ 11:28 PM
Motion to See Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II Maker: Diagon Alley Region #1942 Second: Godric’s Hollow Region #7 Background: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II was shown in theaters on July 15, 2011 across the world and many of the CLTC 5 Participants friends from home have already seen Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II. This movie is shown in movies across Wisconsin including the city of New Berlin. The movie has a running time of 130 minutes. (1) WHEREAS: CLTC 5 2011, including the Staff and Coordinators, would thoroughly enjoy seeing this amazing picture. AND (2) WHEREAS: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II could be one of the most amazing movies ever created. AND (3) WHEREAS: Watching Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II would greatly benefit the CLTC 5 community as they travel together on a field trip. AND (4) WHEREAS: As a result of watching Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II, the CLTC 5 participants will learn about mysticism and wizardry. AND (5) WHEREAS: Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermoine Granger will exemplify great leadership skills that can be transferred to not only CLTC but also to chapters back at home. AND (6) WHEREAS: CLTC 5 2011 is the best CLTC ever and deserves to go on a great field trip such as this. AND (7) WHEREAS: Sherrie Stalarow, the CLTC Director, has the ability to make anything possible so she should be able to make it feasible. AND BE IT HEREBY AMENDED that as of July 17, 2011 CLTC 5 2011 re-arrange their schedule to go see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II at some point during the rest of the session. CLTC participants and staff will attend the movie together and enjoy.
Comments
Leave a Comment