Kallah Blog Group Part II

By Kallah 2010 Bloggers on 07/24/2010 @ 11:05 AM

Kallah

Meet our Kallah bloggers:
Gabby Lewis, Jaime Maxwell, Yarden Arber, Peri Novick, Sam Schatzman, Joey Ben-Ami, Renee Fredrick, Paige Freeman, Sammie Hershorn, and Talia Katz.

They like to express their creative sides and salute Kallah in various ways...

Top Ten Top Things To Do In The Rain
10. Wear Rainboots
9. Wear raincoats
8. Get soaking wet
7. Play Frisbee
6. Stay inside
5. Use your water-proof camera
4. Jump in puddles
3. Trek mud inside
2. Scream/Freakout/Dance
1. Act like it has never happened before

Top Ten Reasons why We love Shabbat
10. Eat cinnamon rolls and challah
9. 3.5 hours of chofesh (free time)
8. Sleeping late
7. So much protein
6. Pictures for facebook!
5. Experiencing new kinds of services (especially with eric and zach)
4. Shabbat programming groups teach us leadership skills
3. Getting dressed up is fun
2. Chance to RELAX!
1. The atmosphere of Shabbat is so welcoming and exciting

Keeping it real
Always on time
Laxin’ in the large quad
Lots of laughs
Awesome educators
Hot hot hot (lol jk the weather changes all the time)

Kallah Blog Group!

By Kallah 2010 Bloggers on 07/23/2010 @ 12:05 PM

Kallah

Tisha B’Av
Tuesday the 20th was Tisha B’Av. For those of you who don’t know, the 9th of Av is a major fast day which commemorates the destruction of the two temples as well as other catastrophic events. A large amount of Kallah participants chose to take part in the fast, many for the first time. To set the tone for the day, a program was held the night before about the Holocaust in which participants got the chance to express their feelings in a variety of ways (i.e. drawing, writing). Everyone attended Shacharit the next day and had the opportunity to hear Eikha (the Tisha B’Av lamentations) read. Participants then watched the “Paperclips” documentary and instead of lunch, those who fasted had guided meditation. “Rising from Tragedy” rotations filled the rest of the day before a long rest time. Finally, the fast was broken with delicious pizza.

Israel Night Like American Nights, But Cooler
On Wednesday, July 21st, in the midst of the pouring rain, a certain excitement could be felt through Kallah; Israel night was approaching, and no one could wait. Rumors were circling that Yoni would make his world-famous pita. The Israeli delegation was busy planning crazy songs and programs.

Other highlights included:
-Learning how to make bracelets with our Hebrew names
-Drinking Bedouin tea with Dan and Brian
-Rocking out to Israeli dances with Shir and Hadar, the dance instructors
-hearing from educators and Israelis about their most inspiring Israeli experiences
-Admiring fashionable hairwraps by Amanda
Everyone returned to their dorm covered in arts and crafts jewelry with full bellies of pita!

Mora-So Much Fun!
Yesterday we went to visit Camp Morasha along with Camp Moshava, two Orthodox Jewish summer camps. We had the opportunity to split up into small groups and discuss the differences between our lives and theirs. Afterwards we danced with a Mechitza separating boys and girls. From this experience we learned a lot about the Orthodox denomination and can’t wait for them to come visit us next week!

Shabbat Shalom from Kallah!

Posted on 07/23/2010 @ 11:19 AM

Kallah

Dear Parents,

We’ve had an eventful couple of days here at camp. Today, it’s raining cats and dogs, so there’s a lot of running from one sheltered space to another. We’ve just about come to the end of our Shabbat planning, and our second week here at camp! Yesterday, participants began their elective sessions, where they selected which educator they wanted to learn with, and we’ve also immersed ourselves deep into the creative arts experience. Some participants will be working on a video yearbook for the program, some are creating art projects, others are singing in our “Kallahcapella” group, and more. All will present at Café Kallah, our end of program ceremony and show.

On an administrative note, we are still missing departure information for 48 participants. We’d really appreciate getting the information from all of you; please input it on b-linked, or send it to our office manager here at camp, Christine (ctran@bbyo.org). We know that we have the teens here for another week or so, but we’d prefer not to be calling all of you at the last minute – we’re trying to stay organized – so please send this information along as soon as you can.

Last night, participants went to visit Camp Morasha, an Orthodox overnight camp just down the road from us. We were joined by Camp Moshava as well, another Orthodox camp in the area. Overall, about 250 teens gathered together. We began the evening with a bunch of icebreaking questions about experience and observance and led into a general dialogue about religion and how we all experience it differently. Teens from different backgrounds shared their opinions and learned about one another’s choices. Then, we all convened together for some dancing, with the help of the Morasha band! Overall, the participants from all of our groups had a great time and everyone had a chance to make some new friends. We all said, “L’hitraot” (See you soon) because Morasha will be coming over to Perlman Camp to visit us next week!

And now, we move into our second Shabbat together as a community. All rain aside, there’s a new vibe here at Kallah – it’s obvious that these teens are becoming a community, and we are all looking forward to spending Shabbat together. We’re excited to see what all of our planning groups have come up with and seeing how the teens choose to share in the day with one another.

We’ll be in touch again once Shabbat is over.

Shabbat Shalom from all of us at Kallah!

Shabbat at Kallah!

Posted on 07/19/2010 @ 12:05 PM

Kallah

We hope you all had a wonderful, restful Shabbat and weekend. Our Shabbat at Kallah was a wonderful community-building experience. We held both traditional and creative services, which teens had the opportunity to plan, as well as a beautiful teen-led Menorah-lighting service, and a meaningful Havdallah experience. On Friday night, one of our Rabbis led some participants in a Tish – a traditional Friday night Shabbat singing and learning experience, while others had Shabbat Shira – a sing-a-long with our song leaders. Shabbat is a very restful time at Kallah, so many participants spent the day “just hanging out”, engaging in some Shabbat Chofesh activities, or having a good old fashioned nap. Saturday night, our educators took the stage in our first of two educator panels, where it was an “ask anything” opportunity for our participants; the educators gave different perspectives and opinions on the various subjects that came up. We ended the night with a rousing Shira (song) and Rikkudim (dance) session, a wonderful way to start our second week here together.

Today, we were back at it en force – it was a FULL day of programming! Our participants engaged in sessions all day on subjects ranging from Jewish Philosophy to Pluralism to the Jewish take on Relationships, and more. We took our all-Kallah photo, which you’ll find posted on our smugmug page really soon, and tonight, our participants engaged in a program planned by our phenomenal teen coordinators on the subject of prayer. We discussed our relationship with G-d, if we even have one, and our connection to the various communal prayers with which we engage each day.

This week, we have a whole lot in store; in addition to our usual sessions, we’ll be starting our Creative Arts electives, celebrating “Israel Night”, visiting with a local Orthodox camp, Camp Morasha, commemorating Tisha B’Av together, and celebrating yet another wonderful Shabbat.

Keep watch for more pictures, more news, and some messages from your teens that we look forward to sharing with you!

All the best,

Jill

First Day at Kallah!

Posted on 07/16/2010 @ 11:25 AM

Kallah

What a phenomenal first full day we had!

Before we tell you all about it, a few administrative details:

1. We sincerely apologize for the challenges you may have had trying to reach us at camp. Our phone lines were down yesterday, but they are back up and running. You can reach us here at camp – there will be someone in the office from 8a – 6p every day, except for Shabbat. On Shabbat (Friday evening  Saturday evening), we do not answer the phones at Kallah. We will contact you in case of emergency, and we will check messages when Havdallah ends, at 9:30p Saturday night.

a. Please also note that any messages left for us prior to this morning were not received, and unfortunately were erased when the phone company was completing repairs.

2. We know you want to see pictures of your teens. The internet here is pretty slow, and we’re having some major challenges getting the photos uploaded. Please know we’re doing what we can, and we hope to have pictures up for you soon.

3. For sending packages: please note – your teens MAY NOT receive food at camp. Food in the dorms leads to mice in the dorms, which leads to unhappy participants. Any food received will be donated to a local food bank. If it’s your teen’s birthday, don’t worry! We will celebrate here together with them, and we provide cake!

So, on to the good stuff. Today, our participants had their first Shacharit together, and a full orientation to the Kallah program. First, they toured camp, then they learned about creative arts, and last, they got a chance to meet all of our educators and get to know them a little. The day culminated with “Tribal Challenge!” a program by our friends with Bible Raps that focused on teaching Pirkei Avot (Ethics of the Fathers – a book of Proverbs and important teachings) by contrasting Jewish wisdom with non-Jewish philosophical thinkers. In the end, our participants recorded the raps they wrote, and we’ll be showing the videos at the end of the program, as well as posting them on the blog and YouTube for you all to be able to see. Right before bed, we were treated to our first song session by our fabulous songleaders (or song bringers, as they prefer to be called), Zach and Eric.

All in all, it was a phenomenal day, and we are really looking forward to our first Shabbat together at camp.

We will send our next update after Motzei Shabbat (end of Shabbat).

Shabbat Shalom from all of us at Kallah!