Night Hike at Teva

By Matthew G. and Marc Z.

Our group included 10 people who were exhilarated to begin the hike. Our Moreh Derech, Ilan, led us to the entrance of the forest and instructed us to refrain from the use of flashlights. During the night hike, we had a thrilling trek up a mountain, testing our vision and hearing, since the sky had already turned into navy shades of blue. We stopped halfway up the mountain, and we strained our ears in a certain direction to hear all wildlife, and the river trickling slowly downhill; learning that this is the way that a deer hears.  We leaped over downed branches and tributaries of the river. We slowly adapted to the darkness, impressed by our new ability to see in the night. Gazing up at the sky, we had a rare sighting of the stars, since in the city there are always bright lights creating glare in the heavens. We trekked back downhill all the way to our cozy rooms. We swiftly fell asleep and awaited the next day.

A Window Into Teva

By Talia B. and Rebecca S.

The 6th graders left for Teva on Sunday, December 5, with high expectations. They arrived in Connecticut around 10 at night and found a late night snack already prepared. They then went to their bunks to settle in. In the morning everyone had the privilege of meeting their future friends from the other schools that participated. The usual schedule of events at Teva was as follows:

Wake up: around 6:50 Teva Time (TT), 5:50 EST. If you were able to get your tuchus out of bed on time, you'd be able to make it to hot chocolate at 7:15 TT. Afterwards everyone headed over to the Beit HaKnesset for Shacharit (7:30-8:30 TT), where we watched a beautiful sunrise while davening (but wished our eyelids were still closed!). As we prayed, our tummies started rumbling; fortunately, breakfast was right after Shacharit. From 9:30-1:30 TT we had Lemudei Chutz, or in English, Outdoor Studies. During that time we earned our Teva beads with our workgroups, each bead symbolizing another important aspect of Teva:

T: Togetherness

E: Ecology

V: Bal Tashchit (Do not waste)

A: Awareness

During Outdoor Studies we also learned about the environment, and went on exciting hikes! We ate lunch with our workgroups.

Afterwards, we had snack and free time to spend with our friends, before everyone did something together. At one such period, we played an exciting game of Predator and Prey, which demonstrated how the food chain works. Later in the afternoon, we had Chugim or Electives. Right after dinner we all got together to watch Tevavision, in which the Morei HaDerech--the counselors--taught us about things that are Sababa!, a Hebrew slang term for 'awesome'. It comes from Saba Bah--the grandfather comes. Teva was environmentally awesome! When it came time for Liela Tov, everyone went back to their bunks to spend their free time as they pleased until lights out. (However, the mischievous Barrack Hebrew Academy girls snuck out through their windows at night behind their chaperone's back. They visited their friends in the same bunk and experienced the Teva excitement at night [a.k.a. The Yurt]. Another fun highlight at Teva was the Barrack Hebrew Academy-only pillowfight! Girls against guys.)  All in all, Teva was Sababa!