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Dear NCSY Michlelet Parents, amush
What a whirlwind of a week! Although it has definitely been challenging on this end, rearranging all our itinerary and plans, we are happy to say that considering all, things have really been flowing quite smoothly here! Although not yet being in their permanent rooms for the summer and not knowing how long their stay will be here is a bit unsettling, the girls are doing beautifully under the circumstances. Knowing that their safety is our top priority, as well, is calming for them all.
The truth is, though, that even with all our changes, if one did not know we had initially had other plans, it would really look like these were our initial plans and like a normal Michlelet start. We are having a wonderful time and the program is really going incredible so far. As I told the girls, you can take Michlelet to a different place, but you can’t take Michlelet out of our program, or Michlelet out of a Michlelet NCSYer, no matter where we are! And you really feel that. It has really been a great first few days.
I want to thank, as well, the many parents who have reached out to us, with your kind words, thanks and encouragement.
When the Michlelet NCSYers arrived a the airport, they were greeted by myself, Mrs. Shanie Warman, our phenomenal Assistan Director and Tamar Sharfman, our dedicated Camp Mom. They then got their phones, gave their luggage to our porters, and we went to a shady spot, under the palm trees in the airport to eat a delicious Holy Bagel lunch. On the busses, I told the girls of our change of plans to head North and the girls excitedly cheered for their Best Summer Ever! We drove to the North, and arrived in the beautiful King Solomon Hotel at Tiveriah. From there, we went to the Tayelet, boardwalk, in Tevariah, overlooking the magnificent Kineret, and had a delicious dinner at a restaurant. We sat there, eating our dinner on the waterfront, while looking at the gorgeous Kineret, with the fresh, delicious breeze on our faces, as the sun set. When we got back to the hotel, we had a great getting to know you game, which was a lot of fun. Then, we had a cute getting to know the madrichot presentation. A great time was had by all. From there, we went our rooms, and had a good night’s sleep.
Thursday, after davening and breakfast, we had our Michlelet NCSY 2014 Orientation. The girls heard about our exciting program. The girls heard from myself, Mrs. Shanie Warman; Assistant Director, Tamar Sharman, our Camp Mom, Ora Laufer and Racheli Schwartz, our Head Madrichot, Atara Starr and Chani Cooper, our Activities Coordinators and Miriam Khukashvili, extra programming. The girls are really so excited and enthusiastic about our summer ahead.
After orientation, we boarded the buses and headed to the Kever of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai. How special it was, to spend their first full day here in Eretz Yisroel, and be able to visit and pray at such a holy site. We then went to eat our yummy lunch from Café Neeman. After that, we headed to the Majrisah water hike. We had an absolute blast. The singing and cheering, splashing and dancing in the cool waters was a great bonding time as we got to know each other and come together as a unit. We really enjoyed! From there, we headed to Chispin and got to our absolutely beautiful grounds, overlooking the Kineret. The view, the air and the grounds are so peaceful, beautiful and magnificent. We had an incredible Night Activity that promoted team building. The girls were broken into groups, chose team names and made up a cheer to represent themselves. Each team was then faced with a series of challenges that promoted working together. The girls were very enthusiastic and there was a lot of excitement and cheering in the room!
This morning, after davening and breakfast, the Michlelet NCSYers had the opportunity to divide up into their small groups with their homeroom Madrichot. They got to know each other, and hear about what they would be learning about this summer with their Madrichot. It was really nice to start learning a bit and get to know the madrichot. Then, everyone did a chessed project together, to try and feel for the pain so many in Israel are going through. We wrote letters of love and encouragement to the people in the South, going through so much now, and to our soldiers, so dedicated and going through such difficult times. We then split up the entire Sefer Tehillim and completed it with the saftery of Israel in mind. The girls really enjoyed the one on one time with their madrichot and really felt productive taking part in a chessed.
After our program, we got on the busses and headed off, our first stop being at a local supermarket in case the girls wanted anything. Afterwards, we visited the gorgeous Maayanei Eden natural water springs. The girls had an unbelievable time singing, dancing, cheering, and splashing in the cool water. We even did a round of Zumba led by madricha Talia Molotsky, a certified Zumba instructor, played an exhillarating round of elbow tag, and a few girls and madrichot surprised us with water shooters they had just bought! Everyone had an incredible time cooling down and enjoying the water. After we dried off we went to nearby camping spot where we treated to a pizza cookout with fresh delicious pizzas prepared for us on the spot with tons of toppings! We finished up with salad, watermelon and drinks and headed back to Chispin to prepare for shabbos.
We are all preparing for Shabbos now, and really excited about our first Shabbos here at Michlelet NCSY 2014. The girls are really pumped and excited. We are looking forward to a beautiful first Shabbos filled with unity, singing, laughter and meaning and we have special programs planned for the girls (including more “getting-to-know-you” activities) as well as Melave Malka for Motzei Shabbat (Saturday night.)
Please remember to check our website for updated blog, pictures, shiurim and more at michlelet.ncsy.org Our weekly pre-Shabbos recap video can be viewed there as well. Enjoy!
Please feel free to be in touch throughout the summer with any feedback, comments, questions or concerns you may have. My email address is yudinr@ncsy.org On a personal note, I am looking forward to getting to know better each and every one of your daughters.
I join you all in praying for peace and safety for all of Am Yisroel.
Good Shabbos,
Mrs. Rivka Yudin
Director
Michlelet NCSY
yudinr@ncsy.org
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