Thursday 7th August

After waking up and Davening Shacharit (morning prayers), the participants headed to breakfast. Following this the group jumped on the coaches, packed lunch in hand for the short journey to ALTON TOWERS!!!!! The atmosphere on the coaches was wonderful, with everyone buzzing with excitement as they approached one of the biggest theme parks in the whole of Europe. 

As we pulled up to the theme park car park, gasps were heard as the group saw the size of the rides. For the more daring, they were soon to dive into the splash of The Flume and face the breath-taking Nemesis. For those less fond of rides, they were able to enjoy dozens of other attractions and the surrounding nature

Alton Towers was a perfect end to a fabulous camp, and after an exciting day at Alton Towers it was time to head home. The group boarded the coaches and began their journey home, everyone excited to see their families .

Arriving at Toys R' Us the participants jumped off the coaches and ran to greet their parents. 

On behalf of the Tribe Team, we thank you for your constant support and cooperation. We loved having your children with us and we hope to see each and every participant next year.

The Tribe Team

Wednesday 6th August

Today (the last full day) at Camp Gad a lot of fun was had by all, with a range of programmes and activities for everyone to enjoy. 

The day started with wake up and then breakfast, the atmosphere was wonderful and the participants were buzzing as they waited to find out what the day ahead had in store for them. The day began with  Colour War. Colour War is where the camp are spit into groups, which are each allocated a colour. The groups dress in that colour, make songs and posters for their colour, and take part in different games and activities competing against the other colour teams. Colour War went on for most of the morning, everyone got very involved and had a wonderful time. 

This was followed by a fantastic surprise of inflatables, the participants were given time to run around on different inflatables, including a bouncy castle. The participants jumped around throughout the afternoon, laughing and chatting. 

The evening activity was a 'movie night'. The participants got comfortable, sat back and relaxed as they enjoyed a movie, after a long and exciting day.

Everyone went to bed on a high, looking forward to seeing their families tomorrow.

The Tribe Team

Tuesday 5th August

This morning at Camp Gad we looked in the Torah at the way Avraham treated his guests when they came to visit him just after he had had his Brit Milah. We looked carefully at the text and discussed his actions.

After that, we went to the beautiful grounds outside and, in teams, made a 21^st century hospitality experience for our guest – Simon (the head of camp) – taking inspiration from the actions of Avraham. This competition saw the team could give Simon the best experience saw our groups providing foot spas, massages, gymnastic displays, flowers, choirs, bands, dances and even a wifi station on top of one tent! One group provided entertainment with a hula hoop display, and another with yo-yo’s.

After lunch we studied the story of Kamtza and Bar Kamtza which is written in the Talmud and which we are told led to the destruction of the Second Temple. In their groups the children put on amazing productions of this true story, with hidden words in each play. We had a modern day version of the story where the participants dressed up and acted, we have some fabulous actors here at camp. Each play contained a hidden word which the audience had to guess. At the end all the hidden words made the sentence 'Love your neighbour as yourself'', which is the antidote to the baseless hatred which happened in the story of Kamtza and Bar Kamtza.

After the plays we had a station rotation actiivty with five activities linked to the idea of chesed as the opposite of sinat chinam (baseless hatred). The participants made a spider's web of string through giving and receiving compliments, passing the ball of string each time they did so. It was amazing to see the smiles spread across each participants face as they gave compliments to one another. This was followed by other activities following the same theme. 

The participants had a really tasty dinner before gathering round a bonfire with Rabbi Binstock and had a beautiful singing session of slow songs, accompanied by guitar and banjo! Stories were also told, including a special story about the shema prayer. As it got dark and the fast went out, the tempo went from sombre and slow, to fast, happy songs with dancing. 

After a long day, everyone went to bed on a high, excited for what the next day would have in store!

Until tomorrow,

The Tribe Team

Monday 4th August

The participants started the day with a buzz of excitement as they waved goodbye to their parents and boarded the coaches. By the time the coaches reached the campsite, the level of laughter and chatter could be heard louder than ever. 

Camp really began when the participants listened quietly as the dorms were read out, following this the rules were read and the health and safety measures were explained, there was also a practice fire drill. This was followed by our first delicious and nutritious lunch at camp. 

There was then an opening session where the Madrichim (leaders) introduced themselves and the group got to know the leaders and each other. This was followed by a fun and active programme and then a Challenge session. Challenge is an extremely unique program, which we value immensely on Tribe Summer Camp.  Each participant is given a group which  they will meet with every day of camp to discuss interesting, engaging and important topics, relating to theme of summer camp. Today at Challenge, the groups discussed Tisha B'Av (the fast of Av). They learnt about the calamities which occurred on this day, including the destruction of the First and Second Temples. The participants responded maturely and took part in the activity linked to the teachings of Tisha B'Av. 

It was time for dinner, so everyone headed to the dining room and filled the room with their energy. After a long day the participants enjoyed some free time with their friends, where they could finish unpacking and continue to enjoy each other’s company. 

After a long day the group headed to bed excited by the thought of what the next days on camp have in store!

Until tomorrow,

The Tribe Team