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<![CDATA[ - Blog]]>Mon, 16 Apr 2012 10:29:42 -0500Weebly<![CDATA[Katoomba, Sydney and Tisha B'av]]>Wed, 10 Aug 2011 04:14:48 -0500http://www.kanfei.com/1/post/2011/08/katoomba-sydeny-and-tisha-bav.htmlHi again all,
Not going to apologize any more..suffice it to say that there is no internet access in the mountains of Australia..
Anyway..wanted to update you on soem of the most amazing days of our Kanfei trip...I am skipping to last Friday through today Wedensday our last day in Asutralia...
We arrived in Katoomba, a mountain top town at the cente rof ther Blue Mountains of Asutralia and settled in to our new home for the next six nights..
On friday morning we all went on an amazingly beautiful hike down the rock formations known as t"The Three Sisters' . In was a breathtaking clinb down and up..breathtaking in more ways thatn one!..very tiring..some of us did a regorous hike through the forest calley and climbed up the other side while others took a more leisurely pace..all had an amazing time..
Shabat in the Blue Mountan was focused on Israel , our connection towards it and the issues it faces with regards to religiond and state..After the measl Friday night we ran a program on the issue and campers end up coninuing the disscussion well into the night..
Shabbat day we had shiur focused on Hichot Shabbat abd a beautiful meal and singing as shabbat ended as asusal..
saturday night we had Israeli army night which was a ral adventure as it began to rain during our "training"//still it was fun and gave us a bit of a feel of waht it must be like o be in the army..

Sunday was the day we had all been waiting for as we awoke early and ventured into the wolds most beuatiful city..SYDNEY, Australia..

Our frist stop after our busride into the city was an overlook and picture spot with the most gloorious veiw of the world famousn Syudney Opera house. The day was perfect and the excitemntment of the iew and the lacation was palpaple among all of the Kanfei'ers..
We then took a walk along the coast to the Opera House and vivsiting a Kosher Baskin Robbins (our first kosher ice cream chain of the summer!

We then drove to a suburb of Sydney knonw as manly and took a ferry towars the city for an amazing view and perspective of the entire city of Sydeny and it gorgeuos skyline and suburbs along the coast..We then visited enchanting Darling harbor for some great shopping and city views andattractions. it is THEE most beautiful wateeside shopping area int he world..South Street eaport on steroids!

The day aended with a Kanfei treat of a restaurant dinner in Sydney..it was a bot hectic as there is not restaurant in asurtalia that can handle 70 hungry teenagers on demand but eventually we all recieved great food and were very satisfied..We returned home laste that night to begin to prepare for tisha B'av..
Monday AM after a realtively late wake up by Kanfei standars (8;00 AM) we all boarded a bus to visit the Featherdale Wildlife Park to see kangaroos and Koala up close and take photographs holding them..It was so great and capped off our asutralia immersion..We even stopped off at an UGG factory on the way back ( if you dont know waht that is then explaing wont help anyway)
We then ate a great pre fast meal follwoed by our egg, bred and ashes and prepared for the fast..
I wish I could desribe to you adequately how special tisdha B'av was on kanfei this year..In my most far fetched deasm I could not have been prepared for waht we experinced.
it started with maariv and an Ontroduction to tisha B'Av and Eicha that was given by our wonderful counselor benjy Gold smidt and then continued with the kinot being each intorduced menaingfully by a counsleor or camoer..
then afte a small break the counselors put on a few skirts depicting the challenges and Misirat nefeshthat jews faced throughtout the ages..each skit was powerful and ended asking jashem Ad matai..how much longer must this suffering go on.Something happened ot all the campers and staff whle watching the skits..somehow eveyone began to reall yfeel waht Tisha ba;av was all about and turly got n touch with te suffering of AM Yisral abd the yearning for Hashem ..after the skits we hd a kumsiz where afew campers and counselors shared their thoughts on waht tisha B'av meant to them..that started at about 8:20 in the eening..it goes soemtines for 45 minutes if it goes well..as other peole moved to sdahre choose to speak as well interispersed with songs..this year...at 11:30 PM (over 3 hours later ) we decided to take a break and go to sleep..we 3 hours camper s and counselors sat riveted to hearing each others thoughts on tisha B'av and learning from the earts and thoughts of the group..People literral broke down crying when they spoke about Gilad Shlit or other suffering of Jews or even personal stories that tied in with the existensial sense of not knowing why there is uffering or pain in the world and the distance one feels from ahsem duirng those times or the closeness.

it was just soo special.One boy who had a previous medical confition and was debating about fasting all day got uo and decided right there that he will certianly fast and many campers commented to rabbi Scheinfeld that it was the most meaningful tisha B'ac they had eer expeined..
I agree..

today , our last day inAustralia we took a beautiful walk on Bondi Beach Coast and after Chatzot celebrated the official ending of the tisha B'av mourning period with an delicious meat restaurant meal at the famus katzys on Bondi beach..
We are just about to board our lane back to the US Hawaii..
We are all ofcourse so excited about hawaii but will miss the unique feeling and perspective that a bit if distance from our regualr lives and emails and phones gives us..tomorow according to rabbi scheinfeld we aer alowed to use our phones again..Grat news but truthfully it was so great to be iothout them until now and experince life that way..

I must mention that every day we have thoughs of the day at tefiillah and over this past week we have 3 truly precious ones..
In one , rabbi Scheinfedl read for the first time a letter he has=d received from a gift of Life Recipient of his stem cells..ift was amazing to hear from the oerson whose life was a=saved and see how s=a simpe cheeek swab by rabbi Scheinfeld ended up saving someones life

another was by Michelle Litton who shared her personalstory about what it is like to live with Diabetes..her attitude and Emuna was amazingly inspirational and Zoe Barth our counselor shared on erev tisha b'v the story of survival of her grand father...her emotion and sincerity focused us all on tisha b 'av

Well thas all for now..next blog will b from Hawaii!
Still exciting but it is the USA so may not be as cool to write..
Hope your fats well meaningful..
Good day, mahalo! ]]><![CDATA[Pictures!!]]>Sat, 06 Aug 2011 11:36:49 -0500http://www.kanfei.com/1/post/2011/08/pictures.html

]]><![CDATA[Kanfei 2011 in Australia]]>Thu, 04 Aug 2011 11:06:53 -0500http://www.kanfei.com/1/post/2011/08/kanfei-2011-in-australia.htmlOK..Time to catch you up on our stay in Australia so far....It has been hectic and internet access was scarce but finally we are near Sydney and connecing should be easier..
We arrived last thursday n Melbourne after an early wake up and flight direct from Queenstwon to Melbourne. Melbourne was back to civilization for us. the whole environment was different than small town New Zealand. We missed the amazing scenery of ne wZealand but felt a bit at home back n a big city. We had a picnic lunch upon arrival, a detour for some needed medical attention for one of our campers and finally arrived in Mizrachi Synagogue in Caulfield for an amazing (for us since it was our frist in 2 weeks) pizza dinner from a local pizza establishment. After Maariv and a breif shiurthe moment finally came, when we would all meet our hosts and go to their homes for our first home sleep in many weeks. there was a bit of nervous apprehension in the air as each hosts cqme to gather their guests. But very soon the apprehension turned to relief and warmth as the Melbourne hosts were all caring special people and each cameper felt excited to meet new jews across the world and relax in aq quiet envirinement for a night or two. It was beautiful to see the hacnasat orchim of the Melboune Community and the transformation of our campers from kids to guests as theyleft with their hosts. All had a great night sleep.
FridayAM we all met at Mizrachi for a Bagel breakfast and Tefillah and then went to the Cental Park of Melbourne to glimpse the city. We got there througha quintessential Meobourne experinece , the Tram! If was a great way of feling the spoirit if the locals. the highlight (for the campers at least) was when we finally got to the Kosher shops nd campers frantically vied for burgers or pizzas or bakery items or sweets from the local shops. Many campers stopped t but their host a small thank you gift of flowers of bakeriy items to show their appreciation.

Friday night campers davend and ate with their hosts and almost all camoers had just amazing 5 course dinnes as melbourne Jew hae famouly elaborte Shabbos meals. Shabbt day we all ate at Mizrachi shul. Campers met Australian kids their own age at the Beni Akiva Minyanim over Shabbos. Before Shabbt ended our special camper Alec feintuch shared his stroy of survival from cancer with the camp. It was a riveting presentation and we want to thnk Alec for having the couragwe and talent to share his story so powerfully.
Saturday night we took a city walk to the Crown Hotel Complex and campers got a first hand veiw of vibrant Melbourne night life and the beuatuful city at night.
Sunday, after a late wake up, campers visited Victoria Market for the best suvenier shopping fo the summer adn then made ther way hru the city ti federatuon Sqaure , the times Sqaure of Melbourne. We wer all surrosed to find a koshe french Frie chain in the center of the city and many of us got a bit distracted by the kosher fries.
We then went back to our hosts home to pck up and prepare for our overnight journey to the Snowy Mountains in between melbounre and Sydeny

]]><![CDATA[Post Title.]]>Sun, 31 Jul 2011 18:38:13 -0500http://www.kanfei.com/1/post/2011/07/post-title-click-and-type-to-edit1.htmlHi All,
It has been quite a while since our last blog and we apologize for that. Between the limited internet and the movements of the past week it has been almost impossible to find the time..
But here goes a brief update of the past week as I write from a wifi spot we created on the over night bus ride to the Snowy mountains...
Last Monday the snow finally stoped...It was the heaviest snowfall in Queenstwon proper in 16 years and we had a absolute dream ski day in Coronet Peak. Fresh powder , unbeleiveable views and crisp weather made for a perfect ski day. The bus had a hard time making it up the hill due to the snow but we did make it and had a great day.
Monday night we had a special shiur discussion based on an episode of Everyone Loves Raymond. Although comical, in the episode Raymond is trying to explain to explain why "we are here" (created by G-d ) to his daughter. What is the purpose of creation? We used that as a springboard for some intense discussions on the topic. Tuesday we again tried to get to Milford Sound and the road ended up being closed on the way down there. A bit frustrating!
Some of us ended up making an alternate boat trip to see the Glow Worm caves which was really fascinating.
Thank G-d Wednesday, our final day in New Zealand was just a dream come true. We travelled to "Treble Cone", the highest , coolest, steepest ski mountain in New Zealand based outside the beautiful town of Wanaka. It was quite the journey to get there but once there we witnessed the most beautiful views possibly in all of New Zealand and another perfect powder day. Rabbi Scheinfeld mentioned that in 18 years of visiting New Zealand he cannot recall a more perfect ski day. It was a great day to end our New Zealand trip on and a relief after the difficulty in travelling the past few days.
Wednesday night we spent packing as preparing for our flight early Thursday morning to Melbourne Australia. We heard an orientation about our upcoming experience in Melbourne and said goodbye to our special New Zealand busdrivers Robin and Larry.and off we were to ..
Australia!!!!
Tonight we will publish a New Zealand photo album and begin to describe our Melbourne experiences. ]]><![CDATA[whew, another week!]]>Sun, 24 Jul 2011 16:11:17 -0500http://www.kanfei.com/1/post/2011/07/whew-another-week.htmlIt's crazy that another week has flown by. I'm sorry for the delay in my posts but we've just been doing so much that I haven't really found the time. The fast went really well for all that were fasting and even for those who weren't, it was a lovely day. We drove into Queenstown for the traveling Anne Frank Exhibit at the museum there and then went on a light walk through a park right there. We walked around the scenic Queenstown beach for a little and then went back on the buses to go back to camp and break our fasts.

On Wednesday we had a really relaxing day with horszeback riding along a gorfgeous mountainous view that New Zealand is great for. Theses views are UNBELIEVABLE. I wish you guys could be here to see it for yourselves. (Don't worry, I will be posting pictures later). Later on, some kids went swimming at the local gym's beautiful pool. It was a really nice relaxing day.

Thursday we went skiing at the Remarkables, a small but nonetheless beautiful mountain. It could not have been a more perfect day for skiing. People took their jackets off and we even had to remind everyone to put sunscreen on! ....a little taste of home for everyone :) The mountain was a little rocky but the kids are professional skiiers by now so it was nothing they couldn't handle.

Friday was an exhilirating day. We started off the morning with bungy jumpingggg!!! There are no words to describe the feeling of jumoping off a building...the pictures and videos i post later on today will just have to suffice.

We brought in shabbos again together. The theme for Friday night was Passion Play. We gave each shiur group 6 index cards with different passions on each; for example: Jewish identity, keeping the mitzvot, being a good person. We asked each of them to prioritize them.. It was so interesting and wonderful to hear the campers discuss and exchange their ideas and to see them really think about what's important to them. We ended the night off with a short panel with our counselors portraying various Jewish figures and how their priorities manifested in the world. We had Natan Sharansky, a guy who was imprisponed in a Siberian prison for nine years for his belief in a Jewish state, a fictionalo character Rachel Shwartz from Long Island who's main priority is raising a nice religious family. At the end of the panel the kids voted for one of the five characters who'm they thought had the most passion.

Shabbat day was nice and relaxing. The weather was beautiful and sunny. On motzei shabbat, the whole camp went ice skating which was a great night activity! smile and laughter by all who knew how to skate, and even those who were falling all over the place because they didn't. The kids came back to another night of scrumptious pancakes and then we called it a night.

Yesterday was a strange day as a heavy snowstrom sommenced on the bus ride to trebbelkone mountain. The roads were covered in thick snow and the conditions weren't safe to continue the drive. Fun Fact: New Zealand doesn't use salt on their roads because it causes extreme rust on their cars. So we had to turn around. We spent some time playing in the snow in a park along the way. A crazy snowball fight broke out in which the counselors somehow became the main targets....hmmm. We all went to see the last installment of Hrry Potter to end off our day. Definitely not as good as it could've been but it was sad to see it end. Today we're going to attempt getting to a mountain for skiing. From the looks of the weather right now, it doesn't look like we'll be making it to Trebblekone today :( but hopefully we'll be able to get to a ddifferent mountain.

Hope all is well with you all! all is definitely well here :)

Again, I will be posting a whole slew of pictures later on today. I apologize for the wait!

Shout out to Mrs. Weichsellbaum. Tamar syas hi and that she really misses you! She will try to call you as soon as she gets the chance. Also, to the paents of Yifat Pearlman: I am happy to announce that almost everyone has stopeed calling her yafit and she also says hello and miss you guys!

have a wonderful sunny day as we have a splendid snow day here in Queenstown.

Jenny

]]><![CDATA[Jenny and the blog]]>Mon, 18 Jul 2011 08:26:45 -0500http://www.kanfei.com/1/post/2011/07/jenny-and-the-blog.htmlWow! Time definitely flies by when you're having fun. I can't believe it's almost a full week since we left on Kanfei. It's been such a kiwi- filled week. (Fun fact #1: New Zealand natives are called "kiwis", but they also have the most delicious kiwis I have ever tasted in my entire life. I have about five a day, but who's counting- except Chanan).

On Motzei shabbat the kids enjoyed a night activity of bowling and a pancake filled melava malka (shout out to our kitchen staff Sara, Gavi, and Yontan for cooking all those scrumptious fluffy pancakes.) It was a small alley in Queenstown and we had the place to ourselves which was really nice. The kids bowled, played some pool, and got to know each other a little better. All in all, it was a great first shabbat on camp.

Sunday and Monday we went skiing at the Cardrona mountain about an hour and a half away. On the drive up to the mountain we were so high up that you could see clouds right below us! It was unreal. Over the last two days many kids perfected their ski form while others tried their hand (or should i say feet) at snowboarding, myself included; definitely harder than it looks, as many campers came to realize. Alot of kids have also benefitted from lessons from our very own Rabbi Scheinfeld.

With all the fun we've been having, we've also made time for religious, spiritual, and personal growth with shiur groups that meet for 45 minutes every day. We will be discussing topics ranging from what the mitzvah of bein adam le'chaveiro means to each camper to how having our own country for Jews affects them. We started off with an intorduction to the mitzvah of bein adam le'chaveiro and split off into five groups with twothoughful and learned counselors leading each discussion Some groups touched on what the Torah meant exactly by "love your neighbor like yourself" while others delved into whether that pasuk is telling us what one should do when stuck in the desert with someone and they have very little water. We will be wrapping up this topic tomorrow with a discussion about the inspiring movie Freedom Writers that we all watched together tonight. It was a deeply moving movie whose message seemed to really resonate with the campers so I really can't wait to hear what they all share. Now, we are all preparing for what will be the shortest fast we will ever have! (This side of the equator is pretty cool in that way). I wish you all an easy and meaningful fast.

Until next time,
Jenny

On our way up to Cardrona mountain. Our first group picture!

]]><![CDATA[We Have Arrived!!]]>Sat, 16 Jul 2011 03:59:28 -0500http://www.kanfei.com/1/post/2011/07/we-have-arrived.htmlAfter over twenty hours of traveling and three fights, Camp Kanfei finally arrived safely in Queenstown, NZ; population 27, 800. The air is crisp and the ground covered with fresh fluffy snow- perfect for our first day of skiing on Friday. In the words of one our male counselors, Chanan Kupietsky, "It was a short ski day, but it was amazing!" What a great way to start the program.

We then prepared for our first Shabbat together at the Lakeland Christian Camp, where we will be sleeping for the duration of our stay in New Zealand. On Friday night, we had a beautiful shabbat meal together along with around 15 locals from around Queenstown. For some of them, Camp Kanfei Jews are the only Jews these New Zealnders have ever met. It was so nice to share our shabbat tradition with them and hear from them the positive impact spending time with Camp Kanfei has had on their impressions of the Jewish people. We ended off the night with a delightful tisch in which the kids socialized and played a great game of charades.

Shabbat day was filled with a meaningful shacharit followed by a skit put on by our ounselors stressing the importance of shmira haloshon. We had a delicious lunch together and then menucha for the rest of the day until havdallah. This shabbat was filled with so much ruach from the campers that i was so sad to see it end. But it doesn't have to! Tonight we will have a music, food, and fun filled melava malka where i'm sure the ruach will continue on through the night and then a surprise night activity! (I think it's bowling....but even I wasn't told so don't say anything!) That's all for now.
Yummy pancakes are calling my name :)

Hope you all had a wonderful shabbos!
Jenny

]]><![CDATA[We havent left yet!!]]>Wed, 22 Jun 2011 03:00:00 -0500http://www.kanfei.com/1/post/2011/06/first-post.htmlStart blogging by creating a new post. You can edit or delete me by clicking under the comments. You can also customize your sidebar by dragging in elements from the top bar. ]]>