Sunday night the whole camp came together for the first big event of the summer–the Zimriyah! It was an evening of song, ruach (spirit) and fun as each aidah shared their own aidah song and a song based on this year’s theme “Welcome Home Gilad Shalit.” Gilad was a soldier in the Israeli Army who was abducted by Hamas in June 2006. Every summer we have commemorated June 25, the day Gilad was abducted, with prayers and sad songs, in hopes that one day Gilad would come home. Our prayers came true on October 18, 2011 when Gilad was finally released.
So, this summer, instead of a mournful Gilad Shalit day, we celebrated his homecoming. And what better way to celebrate than a room full of over 700 Jewish campers and staff members happily singing Jewish and Israeli songs?
It truly was an amazing celebration. From the first day of camp, campers have been hard at work learning their songs. With the Zimriyah being the first all-camp event (besides Kabbalat Shabbat), it’s a time for each aidah to show the camp what they’re all about. From the smallest campers in Kochavim to the oldest in Nivonim, each aidah showed that they were about fun, friendship, teamwork and ruach!
Click below to see videos from the Zimriyah:
