Theme: God is Israel’s True King 

Psalm 95:3 “For the Lord is the great God, the great King above all gods” 

By: Daniela M. | Age: 11
Tribe: Gad
On the first day of Camp Gilgal I had a lot of fun. There are so many things to do, and so many places to be. I remember that at first you would play so many hand games. Then you could pick the top or bottom bunk. You would always have amazing friends and be very happy there. After a long day, you would eat dinner and make a lot of announcements. Lastly, you go up a mountain to sing many songs, watch the sunset, and go to bed.

By: Hannah R. | Age:10
Tribe: Naphtali
The food at Camp Gilgal is healthy delicious and has amazing taste. In my opinion it’s just amazing so you should come and take a taste of Camp Gilgal. And I really like their ice cream and the pasta is so good with the sauce and if you try their taco you will crave it all the time and their waffles are sooooo good. And the chicken tenders, delish. And whatever you do eat the baked potatoes, they’re too good to miss. And if that’s not enough to make you drool, I don’t know what is! Well, have you heard of the amazing macaroni? It is soooooooooo delicious, it is beyond amazing! Now is that enough for you and if you go we hope you have a good time. See you there! 

By: Chloe S. | Age: 12
Tribe: Reuben
Do you like working with your hands? Well, I do. This year at Camp Gilgal we made challah plates for Shabbat. We used a wood burner but first let me fill you in on the steps. First, we drew a design on a piece of paper. Second, we had to enlarge the design with a little bit of help from the craft teacher named Shark-bait. We had to enlarge the design so it could fit on the plate. Third, we had to do the painful job of sandpapering the challah plate, which was to me like death to my ears, but after that was pretty fun. Fourth, we had to draw the enlarged design on the sanded plate which was hard because you can’t press hard with the pencil, but after that we started the real challenge of burning the wood. Fifth, we had to burn the wood and that was fun but the two downsides where we had to wear gloves that that where heat protected, and the wood burner was hot and I mean hot like if you burn yourself you should see the camp nurse. Finally, sixth after all of that hard work, we got to put the last thing on your plate, and that was oil we had to put oil because it would be the sealer and after the oil dries you can take it home to put challah bread on your plate I hope you like craft as much as me!

By: Emanuela K. | Age: 9
Tribe: Naphtali
If you want to learn about pool time, then read my article, it is about the pool. So, the pool is awesome. You can play games in the pool for example, you can play Marco Polo, Sharks and Minnows, Catch, Monkey in the Middle, Race and all of the fun games. Pool time is about one hour long after lunch. But at the very first day you need to take a swimming test. The swimming test is really quick. These are three levels. The first level is the shallow water. The shallow water is 1-5 ft. Next is the middle section. The middle section is 4-6 ft. Lastly there is the deep end. The deep end is 7-9 ft. The pool is awesome, please come to Camp Gilgal and have fun at the pool!

By: Meaghan S. | Age: 12
Tribe: Gad
FOB is a time to relax after a long swim in the pool, it is close to an hour (should honestly be two hours though). You can do anything you want during FOB as long as its silent and you stay on your bunk. During FOB you can sleep, read, daydream or be yourself. FOB is a good time to regain energy because of the fun activities they offer at camp. In my opinion I love FOB and think it’s a great way to relax when you’re tired.

By: Ariel K. | Age: 11
Tribe: Issachar
My favorite part of camp was Camp Out Night. At camp out night we get to cook our own dinner on a fire and enjoy helping our tribe leaders set up a wonderful tent. Since sunset, which was the boys camping ground, was on a mountain, all the other wonderful sights and things below sunset are visible. After we eat dinner, we go out into the woods to look for a nice long fresh stick for roasting crunchy and soft marshmallows for extremely tasty s’mores with chocolate and graham crackers. After this the daylight goes away so both boy tribes enjoy telling stories, laughing and even playing with sticks under the starlight. Finally, we set up our sleeping bags in the tent and have a beautiful cozy rest overnight.

By: Cole K. | Age: 9
Tribe: Issachar
Nukem is my favorite outdoor game at camp. I like it because it is fun. We play it in the field with the volleyball net. Nukem is like volleyball but you catch the ball instead of hitting it. I played Nukemin field sports and as an all camp activity. My favorite number of people in Nukem is six on each team because it’s not that fast as a game (the game takes longer). My favorite thing to do when playing Nukem is catching it with one hand because it’s just so fun. Nukem seems like a game camps like because I play at my other camp too, but nowhere else. That’s all about Nukem.

By: Emma R. | Age: 13
Tribe: Gad
My name is Emma and I am a first-year camper at Camp Gilgal East. I have been to Camp Gilgal Midwest before and both have many things in common. One thing in common is that the Camp Gilgal staff have “camp names.” So, I decided to ask some of the staff why their names are what they are. One of the staff that I interviewed is named Freckle. Freckle chose her name for three main reasons. First, she has freckles, which makes sense to me. Second, she likes the sound of Freckle. And, last but not least, the sun gives you freckles, and she likes the sun. The next staff I interviewed is named Shark-bait. Some main reasons that she chose her name to be Shark-bait is that she really likes the ocean and water. She also likes swimming. One of her favorite movies is “Finding Nemo.” In the movie “Finding Nemo,” Nemo is called Shark-bait. And the last reason is that she connects water with her faith. For example, she connects floating with worship. You let the water hold you when you float, and you let God hold you when you worship. The last staff member I interviewed is named Skidoo. A skidoo is a brand of snow mobile. Skidoo is from Canada and Canada has a lot of snow. Skidoo has been on a skidoo and thought it was really fun. The last reason is that she likes the sound of Skidoo. Those are the main reasons why Freckle, Shark-bait, and Skidoo chose their names to be what they are.

By: Levi W. | Age: 12
Tribe: Judah
Every day after lunch we head down to the game room. As you stroll through the door the sound of games and lively chatter enter your ears. Once inside, immediately to your right is a foosball table. People are shouting words of encouragement to the players while they maneuver the little men on the mini soccer field. Next, as you around the corner there is an air hockey. Players hit the puck across the table leaping with joy whenever they score a point. Right beside is the pool table. My friends and I like to play tournaments. Pool is my favorite game. To your right campers and staff lounge in couches, play cards and have fun. The game room is my favorite part of camp.

By: Halye G. | Age: 11
Tribe: Naphtali
Camp Out Night is an activity where you camp outside of your cabin or shelter. This year my tribe camped near the basketball courts. Once we got there, we dropped all our bags on the grass and ran to collect sticks for the campfire. When we were done, we played gaga and basketball for about 1 ½ hours. After playing we started to set up a tent. Our tribe was too many people, so we decided to split us up. I was with Lilly and Raven, while in the other tent was Emanuela, Naomi, Hannah, and Sunshine. When we finished setting up our tent, we continued to play games. After a while we headed over to the dining hall and brushed our teeth and got into our PJ’s. when we got back the fire was going, and it was dark. We paused playing gaga and ate dinner. For dinner we had a choice of hotdogs and hamburgers freshly cooked form the fire. I got a hotdog with chips and carrots on the side. It was very delicious. After that our tribe started to set our sleeping bags I the tent. I placed my sleeping bag on the left side, Lilly placed hers in the middle, and Raven placed hers on the right side. When we were done setting up our tent it became dark. Everyone gathered around the campfire and took a stick to burn our marshmallow with. Everyone got one marshmallow each. Once we were done, we made a s’more out of it. The s’mores tasted amazing. Once we were done, we went to sleep at 11:20 pm. when we woke up, we took down the tent and headed to the dining hall for breakfast. For breakfast I had a bagel. Breakfast was good. All in all the camp out was great, amazing and Fab-maz-ful!

By: Chloe S. | Age: 12
Tribe: Reuben
Have you ever wanted to have a bow and arrow in your hands? Well this year at Camp Gilgal, we had archery as one activity. You might be thinking how do you do archery? Well let me guide you on all the helpful tips. First when you get to the archery area you would like to be wearing closed toed shoes. Second you should get a bow that works for you, and if you’re right-handed get the right-handed bow, an if you’re left-handed, well you’re there are left-handed bows. Third, the staff member will give you a good amount of arrows so that everyone has the same amount. Fourth, when they say, “you can shoot now” you can see how your archery skills are. Fifth, when you have run out of arrows and everyone else has run out of arrows you may go and fetch your arrows. Well that is the end of my helpful tips. I hope if you come to camp you will like archery!

By: Stuart S. | Age:11
Tribe: Judah
One of my favorite activities every year is boating. Why? Because I like looking at the fish. When getting there a staff member crosses the road and does road procedure by saying, “everybody look left, right. Is it clear?” then we cross if it is clear. After a one-minute walk we’re there at the pond. We have to put on a lifejacket, get a partner and paddle to get into the boat. After that the camp staff push your boat in, and you row with the t-grip. You row in the pond with other campers. Once I crashed into two other boats and the reeds. After about 20 minutes you come back to the dock. Now that is why I love boating. The end!

By: Aylo L. | Age: 11
Tribe: Reuben
Hello, my name is Aylo and I’m in the tribe of Reuben. During camp we have cabin inspection. Cabin inspection is where your tribe cleans the cabin and the cabin inspectors check to see if your tribe got a lot of infractions. We clean our cabins after breakfast and before Tabernacle. After we get our lunch, we hear the inspection scores. If your tribe does really good, you will get one infraction or no infractions. The cabin inspectors always say, “You did pretty good, however there were some infractions.” Most of the time, either shoes are “askew”, or blankets are “tossed like salad.” I wrote about cabin inspection because it keeps the cabins clean and helps each tribe work together. This year, my tribe didn’t do so good in the beginning but got better and better. That is all I have to say about cabin inspection.

By: Jude B.| Age: 7 ½
Tribe: Issachar
An hour after the hour Shabbat service was done I was about to leave when RedSox announced, “It’s movie night.” Everyone cheered and I screamed of happiness. I went to my cabin and got my sleeping bag from the top bunk. We played Uno until it was time for movie night. I was very excited and when we got to movie night, they announced the movie was my favorite movie, “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.” We sat down on our sleeping bags and watched the movie. I fell asleep in the middle but that didn’t matter because I already watched it seven times. Now you don’t think I’ll finish this without telling you about the snacks. In every 20 minutes they’ll pause the movie and ask you to go for snacks. You stand in line and pick your crunchy food, chips, Doritos, pretzels, etcetera. Then you go to your dessert. You can either have four of one dessert or two of two desserts. You can only have one soda, but you can get seconds on other drinks, orange juice, apple juice, water, etcetera. The movie, well I can’t tell you which date it is, because they never tell you!
Your ambidextrous friend, Jude
See you later alligator

By: Samantha O. | Age: 10
Tribe: Reuben
Today I rode on a horse for the first time. I expected the horses to be beautiful, but I didn’t expect to go through a forest. His name was Kemo. He had a black mane and brown fur. As we rode on the trail, I saw many yellow and purple flowers, and we were as high as the tree-branches! I felt very important and royal as I trotted through the forest. If this reader is interested in horseback riding, then you must wear long pants, close-toed shoes, and bug spray is recommended but optional.

By: Lilly M. | Age:10
Tribe: Naphtali
Boker Tov, at camp, breakfast is fantastic! First, everyone lines up in five lines. We have to be there by 7:45. Then everybody walks to the dining hall. Things for breakfast on some mornings are breakfast sandwiches, waffles, eggs with turkey bacon, French toast sticks, pancakes and more! If you don’t like what there is to eat that morning, you can get cereal. Breakfast is delicious! I love starting the day at Camp Gilgal!

By: Ezra L. | Age: 12
Tribe: Judah
My favorite activity is field sports. We play all sports of games in the main field. One of my favorite games is called Nukem. Everyone likes playing Nukem. Cole, Levi and I enjoy playing boys vs. girls. Another game I enjoy playing is kickball. It’s like baseball except we kick a dodgeball. My favorite memory is when I kicked the ball so hard that we got a grand slam. A grand slam is when you kick a ball so hard that everyone that are on all bases can run home. I felt so happy when that happened because we were losing. The staff call water break when they think necessary. Field sports is my favorite activity because of the awesome staff and of the super fun games we play.

By: Vivian K. | Age: 11
Tribe: Reuben
Hello there! Before I tell you about Shark-bait. Let me introduce myself. My name is Vivian, I’m 11 and in the tribe of Reuben. Ok, now that I’ve introduced myself, let me tell you a little bit about Shark-bait. In case you were wondering Shark-bait is the Camp Gilgal intern. First, I asked her, “How did you find out about Camp Gilgal?” She said, “I found out about it from my dad, because he worked with Jews for Jesus.” Then I asked, “What’s your favorite part of camp?” she said, “TAWG (time alone with God).” After that I asked, “What’s your favorite verse in the whole Bible?” then she said, “Philippians 4:13” which says, “I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me.” Then I asked her, “Why did you choose to make your camp name Shark-bait?” she said, “Because I love to swim, and I really like the movie Finding Nemo.” Then I asked, “What’s your favorite all-camp activity?” she said, “Probably milling games.” Lastly, I asked, “What’s your favorite book of the Bible?” she said, “Hosea.” Well, that’s it. I hope you enjoyed learning about Shark-bait.

By: Halie F. | Age: 12
Tribe: Gad
Today I will be writing about a camp leader named Hiccup. Hiccup was also a camper at Camp Gilgal. He has spent six years incorporated into camp. His favorite thing to do as a camper was rock wall. His favorite thing to do as camp staff is getting to know and hanging out with the campers. Hiccup’s favorite member of the Camp Gilgal staff when he was a camper was Twister. Hiccup is a whimsical mac & cheese lover and he is a God lover. Hiccup’s favorite bible verse is Philippians 4:7, “And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus” because, he has a lot of change in his life and needs to remember peace. Hiccup also likes to play volleyball in his free time.

By: Ava G. | Age: 11
Tribe: Reuben
Hello, my name is Ava and I’m interviewing my tribe leader. Her name is Freckle and she is in the tribe of Reuben. This is her first year as a Camp Gilgal staff. My first question is, “What is your favorite activity?” She said, “All camp activities.” Freckle is very energetic, does track and cross country. On her free time, she reads the Bible and writes in her journal. Freckle is a great influence towards God for all of our tribe. Her favorite in cabin activity is FOB which means flat on bunk. Her favorite foods at camp are quesadillas and cookies. She is very positive and very caring. She also enjoys helping us get closer to God and teaching us about Him in many different ways.

By: Naomi W. | Age: 9
Tribe: Naphtali
Sunshine likes being part of the Camp Gilgal staff better than a camper because she says that it is encouraging and exciting to see how campers grow in the Lord and how camp works overall. We may never know what she does on her breaks, but we do know that it always involves food. She wants to come back next year for sure. Her favorite food at camp so far has been pasta night. Her favorite activity she has helped out with is artsy fun, she likes “seeing the campers unleash the wild creative genius inside of them.” Her favorite camp worship camp song is “Take Me In.” Her name is Sunshine because her parents named her that when they saw that she smiled at every one when she was a baby. She wouldn’t choose any other name but Sunshine because she feels like she was meant to be Sunshine all along.

By: Malka M. | Age: 13
Tribe: Gad
Hi, my name is Malka and I’m going to be talking about the pool. First of all, the pool is one hour. I enjoy the pool very especially since we get FOB which stands for flat on bunk. The pool is also cold at first, but its great if it’s really hot outside. It is also very clean and it’s also a nice blue color. There is a swim test on the second day of camp, and it goes pretty well for the most part. For me, I was really scared and nervous when I took it, but I ended up getting a green band. We also have this thing called the buddy board and that when you pick a partner to be with in the pool. You can also play a lot of fun games like Marco Polo and so on. Overall, I really liked talking about pool at Camp Gilgal.

By: Samantha O. | Age: 10
Tribe: Reuben
As the stingrays swam around, Two in-love sand sharks slept on the ground, We all gathered there in groups, But the friendly stingray just skipped hoops. The fish were very slimy, And the starfish were to grimy, But I was very pleased to see, A stingray coming up to me.