Thursday evening began with a few too many girls in the Kitchen cooking up delicious food for the up coming in shabbos. But as soon as the clock struck 9:30, the kitchen cleared out completely and everyone sat around the table for a very inspirational farbrengen. Our farbrengener Mrs. Sarah Lieder from the Chabad house for Israelis’, spoke to us about out connection to the Rebbe and what it is to be a Chossid.

            After the Farbrengen ended it was back to the kitchen for some girls to finish off cooking and the preparations for the Grand In-Shabbos.

 When we all walked into the dining room on Friday night, we could feel ourselves being transported back to Persia. Thanks to Liron Y and Mushky G and a lot of help from other OC girls, the Sefardi food gave the finishing touch. Mrs. Rivky Hecht, our Shabbos guest, took us to a whole new level, telling us all about the connection from when the Purim story occurred until nowadays. When she finished speaking we were privileged to hear a few beautiful songs from her to end off the Farbrengen at past 2:00 AM! What an inspirational evening!   

            Sunday came and it was the day we had been looking forward to for months already.  Avraham Fried and Yehuda Glantz were going to perform for Melbourne! We all got ready in our camp tee shirts, and went to the concert, which was more than just a concert, but a camp reunion as well. After watching a short camp video filmed throughout camp and listening to a few speeches, the concert began. It was an amazing concert and we can’t thank Chabad Youth enough for bringing the singers in. What a great addition to the Marbim B’simcha of Chodeash Adar!

            On Monday, after a long hard day of learning in class, we were able to sit down to a relaxing farbrengen in honor of Tes Adar (the celebration of the Previous Rebbe coming to America J ) Our farbrengener, Mrs. Miri Lipskier, really had us realize how amazing seminary is, and if we weren’t getting the fullest out of it until now, after hearing what she had to say, we sure started to.

            Tuesday began with a lot of shlepping of branches, twigs, and leaves to Beth Rivkah for a very special Purim Party for the younger Beth Rivkah girls. The theme was “Purim in the Jungle.” With a little bit of hard work and a long time of collecting so called “garbage”, the gym really transformed into what looked just like a jungle. It was the first ever primary function for Purim, and after the huge success that it was, I’m sure it will not be the last.

            We all walked into class on Wednesday and were shocked to find that not only was our scheduled teacher not there, but standing in the front was none other then Mr. Yirmi Lever from Hatzolah. With Purim only a few short days away, Mr. Lever was there to inform us of the side effects that alcohol can cause and general personal safety in and around town that one has to be careful with. We were also able to pass on the message that the dangers of alcohol are much more extreme then we even imagined on to our friends and family.

            We all woke up early Thursday morning with our stomachs already growling because we couldn’t eat breakfast. It was a pretty intense Tanis Esther for all of us, but what kept us going through it was knowing that just minutes after the fast ended we would be going on an amazing surprise trip planned by our very own dorm counselour Chaya Dina A, and program coordinator Chaya P, in honor of Purim. The moment we all waited for came, and we loaded the buses. The trip was still supposed to be a surprise but a few of us were a little smarter then people thought and we asked the bus driver our destination. We were all so excited to find out we were going to FUN CITY, a place where you can go bowling, laser tagging, sumo wrestling, drive bumper cars, and more. It was a blast, but the best part was definitely when Chaya Adina and Chaya gave us all Shaloch Manos.

            Motzei Shabbos came and you were able to see the excitement oozing out of our pores, because it was finally PURIM!!! We all ran to shul Motzei Shabbos with just enough time to hear the Megilah. The second it ended, we all ran to get our costumes for the black and white disco high school Purim party. The party had everything from street dancers, to professional face painters, to homemade smoothies. As always, the party was amazing and everyone left happy and smiling. A party like that takes a ton of preparation, so at 1:30 in the morning when the few girls who helped set up for it had to find someone to read the Megilla for them, it was greatly appreciated when Rabbi Tenenbaum stepped in and saved the day yet again.

            We all woke up early Sunday morning in order to get a fresh start on our busy day.  We put on our construction worker costumes, and joined the entire Beth Rivkah and a bunch of people from the community for a mass Megillah reading in the Werdiger hall.It was really awesome sight of close to 600 ppl all dressed for Purim! When that finished, it was off to different old age homes, to give shaloch manos, and help bring the happiness to the elderly. As soon as that ended, we were off to volunteer at different Purim parties, and we came home with just enough time to make it to our Purim Seuda.

            As you know it is a mitzvah to give shaloch manos on Purim, but BH being that there are 54 girls in our seminary, it would have been very difficult, and way too expensive to give shaloch manos to everyone. We all decided the best idea would be to chose one name out of a hat, and give shaloch manos to that girl only. It was great to know that each girl was able to look forward to getting a shaloch manos and at the same time, fulfill the mitzvah of giving one. In addition we all chipped in and prepared a beautiful shaloch manos for each one of our teachers and staff members, with a poem to show our appreciation for all their dedicated hours.

             It was an amazingly eventful 2 weeks and we will keep you posted on everything else going on down under!

             Happy Chodesh Adar!!

This past weekend, Ohel Chana 5770 had its First Annual Chof Beis Shvat convention. It turned out to be an unbelievable program run by our Program coordinator Chaya P and Chaya Dina A. The program began with an inspirational farbrengen with Mrs R B Arenstien. She enlightened us into the life of Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka and told us many interesting stories about the Rebbetzin that we hadn’t heard before.

Friday was jam packed!!! Friday morning we woke up to hear an amazing Tanya shiur with our very own Chaya H! This was followed by a powerful davening and writing a personal pan to the Rebbe. We were then placed into two groups as Mrs Shternie Gestetner and Mrs. Shira Loebenstien ran sensational workshops about the Rebbetzin. We were told about the importance of Tznius and every single one of us left with a new appreciation of the meaning behind Tznius and how it relates to us. Afterwards we all joined together for intense chavrusah learning session. Many extra Sichos were learnt in honour of the special day.

During our scrumptious lunch we had the privilege of listening to Raizel B and Hadassah D speak about their own personal shlichus experiences in Friendship circle, Detroit. Afterwards the girls split into groups so they could go on mivtziom.

Preparation then began for our very own in-Shabbos! Cooking and cleaning took place in the kitchen and the dining room transformed into a beautifully set shabbos room.

Our Friday night meal was unbelievable. Thanks to everyone who worked so very hard in the kitchen and for preparing all the delicious food. The singing and Achdus created an uplifting atmosphere and we farbrenged late into the night with Mrs Teleshevsky. Thank you to Rabbi and Mrs Teleshevsky for joining us.

Shabbos afternoon everyone was involved in extra learning and the hachana booklets as it was the last chance to get extra points towards the competition!

On Motzei Shabbos everyone counted their points which they had started working for from Yud Shvat. It was an intense program which included completing daily checklists, extra learning, mivtziom, giving Shiurim, memorizing Tanya, etc.

Sunday finally arrived! It was the day of the final banquet. We walked into the dining room which was set up in a spectacular Hawaiian style and a gourmet breakfast buffet which included pancakes, cakes, scrambled egg, bagels, fruit and hot chocolate was ready for us. Everyone helped themselves and sat down with 2 of the Shluchos in Melbourne, for a shlichus panel with Mrs Rivkah Jurkowiz and Mrs Leah Greenbaum. They shared their own personal shlichus stories and experiences and we were given the opportunity to ask all sorts of questions which led to great discussions. What an inspiration!!

Finally it was the time all had been waiting for! The grand raffle for a once in a life time shlichus opportunity in Hawaii!!! The suspense was unbearable as Chaya and Chaya Dina  called out many names and announced Lo Zacha… Lo Zacha...Lo Zcha. Then finally after about half an hour our winners were announced!!! Mazel Tov to Liron Y. and Rivka I, who are going to be traveling to Hawaii for Purim to help out the Shluchim there!

This weekend was a weekend to remember. From the learning, farbrengens, workshops and guest speakers. It was enjoyed by all. Thanks to everyone who put in the effort to make this all possible and especially Chaya P who put so much time into preparing an amazing Chof Beis Shvat program!

 Second week-

            After an intense week filled with our Chof Beis Shvat competition and beautiful programs for high school (Spa for the Soul) and primary (mini Chof Beis Shvat convention), we got right into the last week of Shvat. We had an amazing farbrengen with Rabbi Y Gordon about Shlichus and about how we can change the world with our every action. We had beautiful shabbos meals at different families here in Melbourne, arranged by our wonderful social secretaries Moushky L, Devorah N. and Mushka G.

            Quite a few of our classes have been geared towards Adar; in Yomim Tovim class with Rabbi Szmerling, we learnt about the importance of Zayin Adar, how Jews do have Mazal but aren’t constrained by it and how Mazaldike Adar is. We learnt a really nice vort from Rabbi Broh in Parsha class about Kreplach, Hoshana Raba, Erev Yom Kippur and Purim. The meat of the Kreplach is the celebration (we always celebrate with meat and wine, we’re Jews) and the white dough is the every day bread that covers it. This corresponds to these three days- they all have the externality of any regular day (we can drive, cook, write, etc) yet they are all infused with intense simcha and celebration.

On Sunday night, Rosh Chodesh we had a great Adar program where we dressed up, did Hamanataschen baking together and were singing and dancing Bsimcha together as part of the Marbim B’simcha of Adar!

On Monday, Second day of Rosh Chodesh, we called up our teachers to let them know we were having an ‘off’ day…but they had already been warned by Rabbi Tenenbaum. Apparently it’s a traditional way to celebrate the joy of Rosh Chodesh Adar- which many girls did, welcoming the Beth Rivkah students early in the morning with loud (maybe a little too loud) renditions of Mishe, mishe, mishe, mishe…, tramming down to the bakery for breakfast and the beach, then stopping by an old age home to wish a freilichen Rosh Chodesh Adar to the residents on the way back.

We pulled some other shtick as well- changing the class lists for ones with last year’s student’s names in place of ours to trick the teachers, hiding all around the dorm before curfew so that when Chaya Dina came home the dorm was unusually silent and walking around Melbourne with smiley faces taped to our shirts. Everyone is really excited for Purim…

Dear parents,

On the night of Yud Shvat, Rabbi Tenenbaum came to Farbreng with us at the dorm about Achdus and its importance in a dorm setting and in our future lives. We also spoke about Hishkahrus to the Rebbe and the momentus occasion of 60 years Nesius, and we were of course, reminded once again to Chap Arein!

Yud Shvat was jam-packed with inspiration. We started our day early with a letter from the Rebbe concerning the Seder one should have on Yud Shvat and then we davened along with a tape of the Rebbe davening. Afterwards, we each did our own Hachana and wrote Panim in to the Rebbe. Mushky M. who went to Crown Heights for her sister’s wedding on Wednesday, took the letters with her to the Ohel.

The program continued after a quick breakfast with Rabbi Winner’s Basi Legani ″תּשּ shiur and Rabbi Glasman’s shiur on the history of Yud Shvat. The lessons focused on internalizing the messages of this day, and realizing that we can’t possibly become Chassidim on our own because we need the Rebbe to lift us up. If we join the partnership on his terms and follow his Hora’os, then we are guaranteed to reach levels we couldn’t possibly reach on our own. We concluded the classes with ‘כ אוֹת of Basi Legani, given over by Rabbi Tenenbaum.

Benny, our caterer, provided us with a beautiful lunch in honor of Yud Shvat. Mushky M (Slovakia) and Mushky G (Melbourne) spoke about growing up on Shlichus while we enjoyed our meal. We then joined the live Farbrengen hook-up with Rabbi Yossi Jacobson, who spoke, between buffering and bad network connections, about the story of Acher and how much Apikorsim really care about Yiddishkeit.

We spent an hour learning Sichos on Yud Shvat bechavrusa and then had a break for Mivtzoim. Primary function heads (Chani W and Miriam G), along with the roshes (Raizel B and Etty W) organized a beautiful function for grades 3-6. We concluded the program in the dorm with a short shiur on Rabbi Seligson’s notes regarding Yud Shevat. The high school grades then had a Farbrengen in the dorm with their madrichot and roshes that lasted late into the night. It was an uplifting experience!

The next morning we had to wake up bright and early for eight o’clock davening with our temporary dorm counselors, Dasha and Mushkie (Chaya D was in NY for her sister l’Chaim). A full day of school seemed a little daunting after a month and a half of vacation, but it flew by really quickly and we really enjoyed getting back to a regular schedule and all the great classes including some new and exciting subjects

 .

Reb Arel’s, where we have our classes, has become a little too small for 55 girls, but we managed quite nicely with help from Rabbi Tenenbaum’s seating arrangements! We’re now split into two groups L for classes but we’re still the same happy family we always have been.

Wednesday was full classes again and our first Hadracha since before camp!!! Everyone was really excited to sign up for new jobs and we’ll be starting them soon.

We all (well, almost all of us) tried to get an early night’s sleep Wednesday night in preparation for our last summer trip to Great Ocean Road.

On Thursday we boarded the bus (coach, with a bathroom, kudos to Rabbi Tenenbaum) and headed out of Melbourne at 8:30 in the morning. We got back at midnight, and tiptoed inside so we wouldn’t wake our neighbors. Chaya D had just got back form New York and was waiting up for us. We were really excited to see her again!  

We could’ve flown back to California in the 16 hours we spent on the bus (not that we want to leave J). Our bus driver, David, was a history buff and he told us all the cool stories behind each of the stops we made along Great Ocean Road. We went to the southernmost point of Australia, from which you can sail straight to Antarctica, had a picnic lunch in a state park and stopped at various coastal lookouts along the way. We saw the Twelve Apostles, of which only eight are left (they’re formations of limestone that are separated from the cliffs and stand in the water like mini islands) and the London Bridge (another formation that was once a double arch leading from the cliff edge to the sea. A couple was once on the second ledge in 1990 when they turned around to watch the first ledge crumble into the sea. They were stranded there until the next day). We also went to Loch Ard Gorge, where two survivors of a shipwreck took shelter. It was gorgeous and very secluded. We stopped in a town called Apollo Bay, which had one main street and lots of vacation homes and Port Campbell, where we ate dinner in a park.

The views were stunning, even though it was a bit cloudy- turquoise water on untouched sandy beaches, blowholes, surfers riding waves, mountains behind us and a 210◦ panoramic view of the ocean. Great Ocean Road is built right on the coastline of SW Australia and is a road full of curvy twists and turns. It was a good thing we only took it on the way there J.

Almost everyone crashed when we got back to the dorm; it had been an exhausting and amazing trip and there were classes the next day. We woke up bright and early for our last day of classes for the week. After classes, we went on Mivztoim to nursing homes in the area and a Challah baking program at Chabad of Bayside.

All the Melbourne girls went home for Shabbos and everyone else enjoyed beautiful Shabbos meals at various Melbourne families. Mrs. Groner bought us tons of fresh fruits in honor of Tu BeShvat and we all really enjoyed them. Later in the afternoon, we had a Seder Nigunim and after Shabbos we went to see the Living Torah at Yeshiva Shul, followed by our weekly Havdala tradition at Rabbi Tenenbaum’s house.

Throughout the week, everyone has been working really hard on our Chof Beis Shvat Hachana program, run by our Program Coordinator Chaya P. We have checklists that list different ways we can earn points, such as shiurim in our free time, going to Rebbe times and being in Shul by 10 AM on Shabbos. Next week the winners of the raffle will be chosen… we all want to win that trip to Shanghai!!!

It was a busy exciting week and we can’t wait for the next one. We miss you and love you!!!

As well we had the privilege of having a daily contemporary Halacha shiur covering topics such as the history of the Siddur, Jewish perspective on old age and the halachic issues surrounding idolatry, and medical ethics. All shiurim were practical, engaging and offered insight into the halachic perspective on worldly matters.

On Wednesday night as part of the Hachana for Yud Shevat we had the privilege of having a farbrengen with Mrs Steifel, a Shlucha in Russia who shared with us incredible stories of her experiences there.

A beautiful Friday night In-Shabbos meal was held in order to further foster unity amongst the students. The girls prepared the food together and took part in all aspects of preparation for the Shabbos meal. The atmosphere was one of Achdus and the Ruach through the singing and girls giving over Divrei torah that they personally prepared.

As well as the learning we went on different trips to view what Melbourne, Victoria has to offer. A day trip to what is known as the centre of penguin watching ‘Phillip island’ began with a walk in the koala sanctuary, where the girls got up close and personal with Australians natural wildlife, to a seal lookout,  followed by a barbeque dinner in the bush. The group then made their way to the penguin lookout and watched sunset amongst a crowd of hundreds waiting for night to fall and for the penguins to come out from the water and come up to shore, we were able to walk along with them for quite some time. The bus ride further enhanced the friendships between the girls. The second trip enabled the girls to hire speedboats where they had the opportunity to drive the boats and go fishing together. The final trip coming up is along the great ocean road, to the 12 apostles a spectacular scenic attraction with incredible views of the ocean.

 We look forward to a special farbrengen which will be held as a culmination of our ‘holiday program’ for Yom Habahir, Yud Shvat with Rabbi Tenenbaum which  will further reinforce the importance of the day and the incredible opportunity and responsibility we have to ‘chap arein’ during or time here in Ohel Chana.

            A bus full of tired campers and counselours winds its way through the hills of Coonawarra. The bus is quiet; most of the passengers are sleeping. I sit in the front of the bus and try to memorize every detail of the campsite as we leave- for some reason I find it hard to believe I’ll never be back.

            Two weeks ago we did this same thing, in reverse. I remember the apprehension and excitement as we pulled into camp- 30 or so teenaged girls, nervous but ready to give everything we could to make CGI 5770 the most amazing summer possible.

            And we did. The campers came the next day and tumbled off the buses as we sang welcome songs and cheered for them. Throughout the two weeks that followed, camp was a fun, happy, challenging place to be. As staff, our days were nonstop- we became parents, mentors, social workers, waitresses, doctors, program coordinators, cleaners, improv artists, teachers, friends and much more.

The camp theme was about changing: changing yourself, your friends, and the world. The shuirim were dedicated to this idea and applied it to Chanuka, Friendship, the 10 Attributes of the Soul, Thought/Speech/Action, Tznius, Kashrus, Music, Mesiras Nefesh and Moshiach. The campers and counselours really internalized the message and grew from it and all the Chumash and Tanya Shiurim, Rebbe times, workshops and Tfilos.

          Every day was jampacked with activities- from arts’n’crafts to sports to dance to clubs (which included fishing, learning how to make sushi, cake decorating, etc). The campers put on multiple performances for aight activity, color war and Shabbos plays and loved every moment of it.

CGI Coonawarra is an amazing camp for many reasons. One of them: the campsite staff, who keep the place clean and the food good. Our cook, Jacko, made two full hot meals every day. Meals in Coonawarra are different than in most camps- they’re served buffet style. Try to imagine 200+ people getting food from two tables all at once. J At least the food tasted great!!!

            The campsite activities are pretty awesome as well- especially for Americans who are used to the simple cabins+lake campsite. There are two giant swings (you get harnessed to a pulley system that brings you up about 50 feet in the air, then you pull on a string and get swung from side to side. It’s amazing), two flying foxes (you’re harnessed to a zip line that goes from the top of a steep hill over the lake and to the other side), two ropes courses (once again, you’re harnessed and you can practice your tightrope walk while attached), canoes, an archery range, climbing walls, tennis and basketball courts and two volleyball sand-courts. The campsite is surrounded by greenery and wildlife. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many varieties of insects in my life.

 Bugs bring us to our camp crises, which are obviously necessary to have every year. We had an outbreak of imaginary lice, an outbreak of very real bugs covering the floor of every bedroom. Throughout it all we laughed and cleaned and comforted the kids.

            Camp was a learning experience of a lifetime. I saw campers defend and befriend, say Tehilim on their own initiative, use their spare time to learn Tanya by heart and learn Chitas…I learnt a lot from these kids and I hope they will continue to grow as much as I feel I will. Thank you to the Shluchim and our directors Moishie and Dina Kahn for giving us such an amazing summer!!!