Summer 2018

GIVE WEST Color War 2018 finally came! The teams were based on the three pillars on which the word stands: Red was Torah, White was Avodah, and Blue was chesed. We participated in a series of competitive yet fun activities, such as Divrei Torah, 2a ‘Talk A Lot’, basketball, an apache race, and Cupcake Wars. Each team also created an original team song, dance, and music video, which really broadcasted each girl’s spiritual and creative thoughts. Everyone put up a good fight but eventually, the White Team took the gold! To wrap up a fantastic day we set off to the Universal City Walk. Everyone had a blast going souvenir shopping and even taking pictures with a few celebrities!! After this superb walk, we headed to a surprise stop at the LACMA lights exhibit. After a long exciting and exhausting day, we headed back to the dorms to pack and get ready for another great day tomorrow!

Hannah Wasserman, Deerfield, IL
Rivka Lerner, Baltimore, MD

Today our groups swapped places. What half of us did yesterday, the other half did today! This morning half the bus went to The Midnight Mission soup kitchen to set up, serve, and clean up after lunch and received a tour of their amazing facility. The other group enjoyed a gorgeous hike at Runyon Canyon! In the afternoon, the whole GIVE West met back up and visited the famous Rodeo Drive. We walked around looking at all the stores and had fun with our friends! After that, we relocated to a beautiful outdoor shopping mall to play the “A to Z Challenge,” in which we were tasked with finding creative things in the mall that start with each letter of the alphabet and taking pictures with them – it was extraordinarily fun!!! Afterward, we went to Ariella and Tamar Wiederkehr’s relatives’ house for a delicious BBQ and pool party – a huge thank you to the Baum and Wiederkehr families, we had the best time!! When we came back to camp later in the night, we were pleasantly surprised with COLOR WAR BREAKOUT!! We can’t wait for tomorrow’s festivities! Good luck to red, white, & blue!!!

Michal Skoczylas, Boca Raton, FL

We started off our terrific day with davening followed by chaburah led by our amazing advisors. We then got on the bus and departed to two different locations in two different groups. The first group went to the Midnight Mission, a rehabilitation center and soup kitchen where we got to serve food to homeless people coming from all different walks of life. The second group enjoyed a fun, yet challenging, hike up Runyon Canyon and we were in awe of the breathtaking views of Los Angeles! After our morning activities, we headed to the Grove, an outdoor shopping center, and a big tourist attraction. Everyone had a wonderful time shopping and getting yummy food and drinks from the Coffee Bean with our friends. After exploring the Grove we went to a Chinese restaurant called Chick n’ Chow and had a delicious dinner. Afterwards, we came back to AJU and played Capture the Counselor as our super fun night activity, followed by a Color War fake out-breakout!! Later, some of us opted to watch the movie Hairspray in the common area. We can’t wait for another amazing day of the BEST SUMMER EVER tomorrow!!!

Julia Kholodenko, Thornhill, ON
Mia Herman, Skokie, IL

As per usual, we started our day with powerful Tefillah. Then we headed off to the LA Food Bank where we sorted different types of frozen food for others who can’t afford it. We then went to the one and only Hollywood Walk of Fame where we were perfect tourists! We took pictures of some of the stars, went into gift shops and shared nice cold drinks from Coffee Bean with our friends. Then we headed down and had an emotional trip to the Museum of Tolerance where we learned all about loving others and being accepting. After that, we headed to the beach where we davened a beautiful mincha and had an inspiring chabura overlooking the LA sunset. Then we had a delicious BBQ dinner made by Gavriela and Yishai. We had an amazing and breathtaking kumzitz and sang our hearts out. In between our singing, we heard moving speeches from our fellow campers, advisors, and special guest Rabbi Eitan Katz from New Jersey NCSY. After that action-packed day, we headed back to our dorms and went straight to bed!

Zahava Chefitz, Potomac, MD
Sofia Goldschlag, Woodmere, NY

Today was another day of the BEST SUMMER EVER!! We started off the day with davening, followed by a delicious breakfast and some Torah learning with our advisors. We then got on the bus and drove to 6 Flags Hurricane Harbor! We all enjoyed cooling off in the water, whether it was through going on winding water slides or relaxing in the lazy river! After a wonderful day of water park fun, we enjoyed a delicious dairy dinner (thanks to Gavriela and Yishai!). After dinner, we had an awesome night activity, “The No Bake, Bake Off,” where we were challenged to prepare a dessert using a variety of cookies, icings, and toppings in 20 minutes. The catch was that we needed to include sriracha sauce and applesauce in our dessert 🙂 After night activity, we had some time to hang out with our friends before curfew and then went to sleep. Can’t wait to see what tomorrow brings!!

(Love and miss you Frankel and Fruchter families!!!)

Aliza Fruchter, Cedarhurst, NY
Leah Frankel, West Hempstead, NY

We started off Shabbos with an inspiring davening overlooking the hills of Los Angeles, a delicious dinner, and Divrei Torah from our friends and advisors. After dinner, we listened to a panel discussion by our advisors. They discussed relevant topics such as their own high school experiences and friendship advice – all along the theme of Shabbos, relationships Bein Adam L’Chaveiro. We then had a fun oneg with lots of games and snacks!

We started Shabbos day off with davening and learning with our advisors about loving and accepting others. Then we had lunch a thought-provoking session about social media and friendships. Afterwards, we played a funny game of “I am Sitting on a Chair!” In the afternoon we hung out with our friends and enjoyed the beautiful LA weather. We ended Shabbos with an NCSY style kumzitz and havdalah! Can’t wait for more fun this week on GIVE West!

Paula Ungar, Silver Spring, MD

This morning we went with an organization called Food Forward to an orchard to pick oranges for the needy. Although it was very hot, it was easy (and so much fun!) to pick lots of oranges because we knew that we were helping so many people. It was also cool to learn how to use the oranges pickers and sort the oranges appropriately. We then drove to the 3rd Street Promenade where we walked around and enjoyed browsing through the shops and getting bites to eat and drink. From there we walked to Santa Monica Beach where we cooled off in the beautiful Pacific Ocean! We ended off the day by walking around Santa Monica Pier. We can’t wait for a great 2nd Shabbos on GIVE West!!!

Riki Posner, Woodmere, NY
Aliza Kahan, Teaneck, NJ