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July 7, 2015

Triumph of Triumphs: Bikkurim 1st Session 2015

Written By: Camp Judaea

Triumph of Triumphs: Bikkurim 1st Session 2015

Yesterday was finally Bikkurim, and everyone can agree that it was well-worth the wait. The Va’ad (group of four staff members who planned, led, and judged the competition) chose the theme “Israeli Triumphs” and assigned each of the four teams wars that resulted in victories for Israel. Blue Team: Independence War, White Team: Yom Kippur War, Red Team: Six Day War, and Green Team: 1st Lebanon War. The captains researched the history of the wars and wrote cheers, skits, and songs that related to their research so that the chanichim would have a deeper understanding of what each war meant and earned for Israel.u1302754_p15591582

The events of the day included: flagpole skits, cheers at meals, walking cheers, captains’ challenges, Water Maintenance challenges, pool events like funny dive and synchronized swimming, silent meals, sports, a giant relay race around camp, human Jenga, team songs, and plaque painting.u1302754_p15531285

This Bikkurim, we added a new position and new element to the competition. We are lucky enough this summer to have four consecutive winning Bikkurim captains on our staff. Rachel Cohen (White Team, 1st Session 2013), Jonathan Burger (Red Team, 2nd Session 2013), Sydney Levy (Red Team, 1st Session 2014), and Blake Mars (White Team, 2nd Session 2014). A “Mefaked,” meaning commander, was assigned to each team to assist and advise the captains as well as to find out who the ultimate Bikkurim champion would be…u1302754_p15522796

At the end of the night, the Red Team (Six Day War) was crowned the winner. They were led by Tal Shmuel and Haley Kaplan. Their Mefaked was Blake Mars. They wow’ed the Va’ad and the audience with their upbeat song, original cheers, and good sportsmanship.

BIKKURIM EDITION OF CJ – NEWS … ENJOY!

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“I hope that the campers understand the deeper history of Israel and appreciate how we got the land and State of Israel. Many of our CJ community call Israel home or a second home, so I hope that in learning about these individual war triumphs, they realize just how special of a place it is.
Even I learned some new historical information from the research and cheers. Until yesterday, I hadn’t heard of the Four Mothers movement which persuaded Israeli public opinion and ultimately the IDF to withdraw from Southern Lebanon.
A “MENSCHionable moment” I witnessed was during the campwide relay race. At one point, the teams had to start a fire. All of the other teams had already moved on and finished the race, but the red team was stuck. What was so nice was that the team never stopped cheering for each other and supported their teammates until they were able to complete the task. Even though they came in last for the event, they were still proud to have finished it.”
Avi Kessler, Va’ad

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“It was important to me that the campers, especially on my team, understand the importance of the Holy Land and how hard Israel fought to earn its territory. I hope that they were able to see and implement the middot (character traits and values) that we’ve been teaching from the Making Mensches Periodic Table. I also, more than anything, hope that they had fun throughout the whole day. My team stood for the triumph during the Six Day War…and honestly, I knew very little about that war before starting to plan and research for Bikkurim. I learned that Israel grew three times in size and fought to get the Old City. It was beautiful to see the Bogrim campers acting like leaders and mensches when they talked to the campers in younger edot. They spoke with such passion and excitement, which everyone was able to see. The younger kids were in awe, and the staff was very proud. It was an incredible experience to lead this team and to see how happy we were able to make this group of kids. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity— and now I’m going to Disneyland!” Haley Kaplan, Red Team Captain

The captains, Water Maintenance, Va'ad, and Mefakdim pose with the beautiful plaques their campers made.
The captains, Water Maintenance, Va’ad, and Mefakdim pose with the beautiful plaques their campers made.

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