After a strenuos and exciting first week, MBI spent Shabbat relaxing at the beautiful Tel Hai youth hostel. On Saturday after breakfast the MBIers split up by machaneh (camp) and spent a few hours checking in and talking about their week. This was a really meaningful time for the chanichim to come together with their camp friends and share their experiences and their feelings about the trip so far.
After lunch, each small kvutzah (small group) sat together and had a peulah called Beit Cafe (coffee house). This was a time for the MBIers to sit in small groups and get to know their kvutzah better. This was a time for them to talk about their interests, home life, school and camp experiences. After Beit Cafe until dinner everyone enjoyed some free time. This was unstructured time for MBIers to hangout, meet new people and nap.
After dinner they had the traditonal camp saturday night activities of Havdallah, a ceremony in which we say goodbye to Shabbat and welcome the new week. They also had Musicale and Medura, two acitivities where the kids are able to show off their talents through singing, musical and comedic acts.
After a restful Shabbat, MBI headed off for their first hike. They went to a stream called the Hatzbani. This is one of Israel's 3 main water sources that lead to the Jordan River. Its sits at the foot of the picturesque Hermon Mountain. This is a great hike due its beauty and was a nice break from the heat as they had the opportunity to go in the water.
After a morning hike MBI traveled into the Golan to an area called Har Ben-Tal. This is an old IDF lookout point with a great view of Syria. Here the chanichim learned about the Yom Kippur war and the long and difficult battle that the IDF faced. They learned about the tradegy of the Yom Kippur war and the political complexities of the Golan Heights today. Since the military bunkers are still there the kids also got to briefly see what it would have been like to be a soldier at this lookout. The group then went to the Golan Heights Visitors Center where they watched an audio-visual light show called Kesem Hagolan about the history and importance of the Golan Heights.
MBI then travelled back to the hostel, enjoyed dinner and a bit of rest time and then had a peulah (educational activity) about chalutziut (pioneering) in preparation for tomorrow activities where they will learn about Israel's early pioneering movement.
