Barbecue to Break-Out

Written by: Madeleine R.

Typical barbecues usually include hot dogs and hamburgers. However, the first Tuesday in July at Camp Tel Yehudah was not a typical day. It was the Fourth of July. Therefore, instead of hot dogs and hamburgers, we had a barbecue of steak for dinner.

I was sitting on the field in a circle with friends. Half of them said the steak was inedible, the other half said it was really good. I didn’t have any because I was still full from the delicious lunch, so I had some salad.

The whole field was filled with other circles of campers just like ours. Suddenly, everyone jumped up and ran to the road next to the field. We were all screaming and dancing. The caravan was coming! As their van inched down the road, campers stuck our their hands for a chance to high-five a caravan member, and the clump of parading caravan-enthusiasts behind the van progressively became longer and louder. The next five to ten minutes were focused mainly on the caravan. People were talking about them, singing their songs, and dancing to their songs. Before we had time to settle down, everyone was up and running again.

This time, we were running to the Beit Ha’am for a “rematch” of the Revolutionary War. British counselors competed against American counselors in a series of three events: quickly eating a plate of whipped cream, a dance-off, and eating a certain number of hot dogs in the smallest amount of time. The Americans finished the whipped cream first. They also won the dance-off by a landslide. Unfortunately, we never fond out who could eat more hot dogs, because instead of continuing to eat their hot dogs, some of the counselors got into a mustard fight. Before they had the chance to totally cover each other in mustard, Ben Freed started yelling at them. He told everyone that condiments are not to be taken lightly. They are crucial and should be taken seriously.

At that moment, everyone started chanting, “Maccabia, Maccabia!”and the Maccabia captains jumped onto the stage. It was a Maccabia Break-Out. There were four teams: Jelly, Wasabi, Salsa, and Barbecue Sauce. I was on Team Wasabi. It was going to be a big day tomorrow. Ad guess what? There would be a barbecue for dinner. Fortunately, this time it would be hot dogs and hamburgers. Just kidding, it was chicken and pita.