Month: July 2004 – ט״ו בתמוז ה׳תשס״ד

Today 92 campers showed up to Cocoa Club. The numbers keep getting bigger, and our MPB Director, Moshe Frank, says they won’t stop growing until all 285 campers of CGI show up!

Today was the first official day of LEAGUES!! This means that for selected activities the campers are not divided by bunk but rather by team. Each team is made up of campers from many different bunks. The wins and losses are recorded, thus adding a lot more excitement and involvement. The league is divided into three divisions, based on age.

Division One’s theme is “Tzadikim Nistarim.” The names of the teams are as follows: Vaser Tregers (Water Carriers), Holtz Hakers (Wood Choppers), Oiven Macheres (Oven Makers), Shneiders (Tailors), Handlers (Merchants), Shusters (Shoe Makers), Shmidn (Smiths), Bekers (Bakers). The idea here is, that many Tzadikim Nistarim hid their greatness by engaging in simple trades.

Division Two’s theme is “Foreign Chasidim” each team is named after a different Chasidic Dynasty. The names are: Chernoblers, Premishlaners, Karleners, Hanipolers, Kaliskers, Lubliners and Tzanzers.

The Third Division’s theme is “Chasid…dish.” Their names are: Farbrengeners, Miki Dippers, Tefilin Wrappers, Yesh-less-ers, Bitul Boasters, Rak Smilers and Baal “T”ers.

Tonight during night activity, Night Activity Dovid Taub introduced the… Malafaphone Card!! For those of you who don’t know, every night, before Dovid begins that night’s night activity he speaks to his malafaphone (cucumber in English) to get information on that night’s activity. Campers can obtain a Malafaphone Card by attending Cocoa Club every Malafaphone Monday. In order for a camper to be a volunteer for night activity, he must present his Malafaphone Card, so we look forward to seeing even more campers at Cocoa Club tomorrow!

Friday morning, all MPB staff were amazed when the campers of CGI 5764 broke the record again when a whopping 90 campers showed up to Cocoa Club! We hope to see even more campers at Sunday’s Cocoa Club.

Friday night the entire camp really got into the CGI Shabbos spirit. Counselors, learning teachers, as well as general staff sang and davened out loud together with the campers. The chayusdike davening continued long into the night. Meanwhile Division #1 (bunks Alef through Daled) davened in the Bar Mitzvah Division Zal together with their Counselors and Learning Teachers.

During the Seudas Shabbos, Head Counselor Yudi Steiner spoke with great feeling how a true connection to the Rebbe can be developed in Gan Yisroel. “Gan Yiroel is the place we kids become Chassidim!” he said emphatically. He also spoke at length how the staff of Gan Yisroel would always make sure to get the Rebbe’s blessing and dollar before traveling to camp. Now we must receive the Rebe’s help through different channels. Yudi’s Heartfelt words before and after every one the songs made the singing extremely meaningful and vibrant. It is also noteworthy to mention that at the meal Yudi read an email from a camper who attended camp in 1972-73. The camper describes how he stumbled across CampGanIsrael.com and was reminded of the good times in Gan Yisroel. He even took a trip up to Parksville to see the camp. After the singing and a spirited bentching, approximately 80 campers chose to stay for a farbrengen. Head Counselor Shaya Goupin described at length what the Frierdiker Rebbe and his Chassidim went through in Russia, and what great accomplishments they made despite the hardships.

Shabbos morning the campers woke up early, ate snacks and then began davening. Like the night before, They Davened for many hours, interspersed with much singing. Following davening, again, the Seudas Shabbos was filled with singing. Head Counselor Shaya Goupin told a story about some small children in Russia who, despite the hardships, went to cheder every day. He then told how their teacher, and some of the children were caught, but one of them, R. Yechezkel Brod, survived, and eventually emigrated to America were he raised a Chasidishe family.

After rest period and learning classes, it was time for MIHNAYOS BAAL PEH!!!! Excited campers ran back and forth to and from their learning teacher to get tested on the Mishnayos, Tanya, Gemara, Hayom Yom, 12 Pesukim and Siddur. They then ran to spend the MPB Cash the had earned, for nosh, at the store (running out of the P.A. Office.) We will Iy”h post statistics of this week’s MPB tomorrow, but we have already been informed that the entire Kevutzah Chof-Alef (taught by Menachem Ben-Shimon) learned by heart all the Gemara they learned this past week. Keep up the good work.

After MPB Mincha was davened with the same enthusiasm as the other tefilos. Following Mincha, Shalosh Seudos was served. During Shalosh Seudos there was again much singing. Camper Yisroel Abba Batt, of Bunk Aleph, celebrated his birthday today! He was presented a cake, which he shared with his bunkmates. We then Bentched the last Bentching of the Shabbos, and went off to Daven Maariv. After Maariv the winners of Shabbos Competition were announced. The winners were (drum roll please…) Bunks Ches, Yud-Bais and Chof-Aleph!! The runners-up were (another drum roll…) Yud, Yud-Aleph, Yud-Zayin and Chof-Daled!! Mazal Tov to all to winners and keep up the good work!

This morning Cocoa Club Started off with a bang! A record breaking 73 campers showed up this morning at 6:45 to learn mishnayos baal peh. Some were even in middle of an early morning baseball game (!) and decided to stop, to learn mishnayos baal peh. Most children memorized mishnayos from Pirkei Avos. Some learned Mesechos Megillah and Berachos. At the end of the session the children were asked who would like to come tomorrow. All 73 of the campers (and also some more) said they will come back tomorrow, so we are looking forward to an even better attendance tomorrow!

Today, Sholom Ber Dubinsky from Bunk Yud memorized the most Mishnayos and Yehudah Gurevitch from Bunk Hey wowed everybody by memorizing two p’rakim of Tanya! Yasher Koach and keep up the good work!

Five of the attendees were awarded each with a stainless steel coffee mug. The winners were: Dovid Posner, Bunk Yud-Gimmel; Shneur Nagar, Bunk Daled; Steven Kalish, Bunk Bais; Mendy Brafman, Bunk Tes-vov and Yisroel Slonin from Bunk Alef. Every week a ten speed bike will be raffled of among the attendees of Cocoa Club. There are plans that every Wednesday should be “Whipped Cream Wednesday”, however this past Wednesday, there was no Cocoa Club, so tomorrow will be “Whipped Cream Friday.”

Today during lunch camper Yiroel Slonin was the first camper to raise his hand when Head Counselor Yudi Steiner asked for quiet, he also encouraged his bunkmates to be quiet. He was awarded with being able to choose anything he wanted from the canteen! Keep up the good work Yisroel!

This week was Yossi Sharfstein’s birthday, and today was the birthday of Yitzi Zakon. Happy Birthday!

Rabbi Bentzion Korf, of Florida, Farbrenged with the Bar Mitzvah Division and the Masmidim during the time of the afternoon learning class.

Tonight, in honor of Yud-bais Tammuz, the campers enjoyed the first bonfire of the summer. As the children sat on the hill waiting for the fire to be lit, they were surprised when several fire works were set off. We then sang a couple of camp songs. Rain threatened to ruin our bonfire, but Head Counselor Yudi Steiner instructed all the campers to point their flash lights to the sky and to repeat word for word the following prayer: “Hashem, Please help us enjoy the Rebbe’s bonfire tonight; indeed, here we sit poised and prepared to light the fire.” And what do you know? Miracle of miracles the fire caught! As the fire cackled loudly, and thousands of sparks flew into the air Yudi related the following story, “365 days ago campers of Camp Gan Yisrael sat here on this same hill, facing this same wood and tried to light a bonfire. But Hashem said no. Today, 365 days later, the time has come.” Marshmallows were distributed among the children. Meanwhile, Rabbi Baris told the children the story of the rise of communism and the frerdiker Rebbe’s arrest. As the campers were dismissed to maariv several more fire works were set off.

Tonight Rabbi Efriam Pikarski, Menahel of Oholei Torah came to farbreng with the staff.

Today was the first day of camp following the usual schedule. The campers woke up at 7:00, cleaned up, ate snacks and then lined up by the flag pole for the morning line up. Afterwards we davened shachris with the enthusiasm and chayus that characterizes all CGI tefilos.

After davening the campers went down to breakfast, after which the Learning Directors, Mendel Chaikin and Asher Hecht informed the campers of the structure and rules of the learning classes. In addition to the usual incentives, of selecting one talmid hashavuah from each class, every week, and one “kevutzah” (learning class) to win “kevutzah competition” at the end of each month, this year our learning directors are introducing several new programs; including a weekly raffle from tickets earned by good behavior. If a camper doesn’t win any of the raffles, the tickets can be used for to buy prizes from the CGI store. Camp will be providing the learning teachers with prizes and pictures of the Rebbe to give to their students. The youngest children will be learning Parshas Shelach. The older children will be learning Mishnaios Mesechtos Megillah and Chagigah. The oldest children will be learning Gemara Mesches Menachos, beginning Daf 29b (which deals with safrus). We will also be learning Inyonei Geulah U’Moshiach, and a collection of sichos about the various MIvtzoim.

At 12:40 everybody lined up to eat lunch – but only after washing their hands to maintain hygiene. After lunch there was a 15 minute rest period, followed by ACTIVITIES!!!! Each bunk was assigned an activity, including baseball, basketball, Frisbee football swimming and outdoor survival! After each bunk went through their three activities, the children davened Mincha, arranged by kevutzah, together with their learning teachers. During the afternoon learning class we will be learning the laws of tefilah, and a special booklet of sichos and letters about hiskashrus. Today, in honor of Yud-Bais Tammuz, we learned a bit of the history of this special day.After learning class the flag was lowered and the campers ate supper.

For night activity, we played the exciting game of “Who is That Guy?” The entire camp was shown slightly distorted video clips of various staff members. Three campers were selected to geuss who these guys might be. The accuracy rate was approximately 5/6. After maariv the Mishnios Baal Peh Director, Moshe Frank, explained the system for mishnayos baal peh for this year. It really well worked-out and exciting, so make sure to check out this spot in the future to read the news as it happens!!