Greetings from Camp!

Each summer at camp, once a session, we pause our normal camp programming and schedule to celebrate a day near and dear to us – that day is Israel Day! Actually, we like to call it Yom Yom Yisrael and by call it that I mean loudly chant it everywhere we go, all day long. This year we took our Israel Day from a half day event to a full day of celebrations, and it went off without a hitch!

Our morning started with a dining hall decorated full of blue streamers, Israeli music blasting through the speakers, and dancing around. We ventured over to the flagpole to get pumped up for our day and then gave our campers the chance to go back to cabins and get ready for the first part of the day – a morning full of activities run by our 23 different Israeli staff!

Decked out in blue and white our campers traveled by unit to 4 different activities throughout the morning that were thoughtfully designed, planned, and executed by our Israeli mishlachat here at camp. They’ve worked since arriving at camp to plan out how they would showcase all that Israel has to offer to our campers and staff and they delivered. Our campers made family recipes from our Israeli staff’s families, experienced a simulated IDF boot camp, played an Israeli game show trivia game, got the chance to ask our Israeli staff pressing questions they had about what living in Israel is really like, and so much more. With each rotating activity they got to build better and deeper connections with our Israeli staff at camp and learn their stories and lived experiences.

Our afternoon involved the entirety of camp gathered together up top at our upper ball fields. There were activities galore for us to do up top. We had our open pools with a Tel Aviv themed beach party, pita making at our fire pit, Israelopoly (Israel themed Monopoly), a slip ‘n slide, snow cones, an Israel themed art project, and even a DJ! Our campers got the chance to run around experiencing all the different activities we had to offer, bopping from one to another, learning about Israel all while having a blast. You could feel the excitement in the air as people came together to celebrate a place that our camp is inherently connected to.

Yom Yom Yisrael continues to be a time honored tradition here at EKC, and one that we are so happy we are able to provide. The best part of it all is having so many Israelis here at camp who make this such a special and authentic experience for our campers and other staff.

Jordyn Kay

EKC Assistant Director