Today was the second to last day of GIVE West. We started off the day by saying goodbye to our advisor Avital, as she left to her sister’s wedding (Mazal Tov!). We miss her a lot but hope she has the best time. When we got to Seattle, we ate a delicious lunch of hot pizza. Afterward, we were greeted with huge smiles by the staff of Washington University, where we are staying. Go Huskies!! We got an informative and interesting tour around the campus. After we settled in the dorm rooms, we left to go sightseeing in the beautiful Seattle. We saw the stunning Space Needle and then went down to the infamous Pike’s Place Market. It was beautiful and super fun, and we even got to visit the first Starbucks! After an action-packed afternoon, we got back on the bus, expecting a regular night on GIVE West. Little did we know that it was COLOR WAR!!! With teams: red, blue, and white, we had the greatest night ever. Red for Torah, blue for Chesed, and white for Avodah! We ran back to our rooms to get ready and then we had relay races, organized by our creative advisors, including bobbing apples, egg and spoon races, and potato sack races. After relays, the teams were pretty much tied up. We had some team time and then a meaningful Mincha and a delicious dinner provided by the incredible Meira Spivak. At dinner, we were treated to insightful Divrei Torah by each team, and then an interactive spelling bee. Then we had an additional team time to work on our presentations. By 10:00 we presented!! Starting off with dances and ending off with songs, each team came and delivered inspiring and creative performances. While the advisors discussed the winners, we sang songs of achdut and love. Then the moment of truth… WHOS GONNA WIN?! With a drumroll, the…… WHITE TEAM!!! Congratulations!! Even though only one team can win, we really, truly all won. And I’m not saying that to be cheesy, it’s really true. Spending our summer on GIVE West together is a rewarding and winning experience. Meeting these incredible people and doing meaningful Chesed has truly made us all winners in our eyes, and in Hashem’s. We aren’t lying when we say BEST. SUMMER. EVER.
Leora, New Jersey
Zehava, New York