A day colored blue and white as summer camps celebrate Israel
Young Israelis working as summer camp counselors at the YM-YWHA of Union County and the Jewish Community Center of Central New Jersey brought a day of exuberant fun to Y campers last Wednesday, July 11.
In every direction at the Y in Union, amid the blue-and-white banners and big, bright posters declaring "Yom Israel," "Israel Day," there was something Israeli going on. In the basement, kids were stretching and hopping in a game based on a giant floor map of the country; upstairs, they were painting banners or making patriotic headgear; outside, under the trees, they were playing military training, Israel Defense Forces-style, yelling responses to their leaders and marching.
It all came to a raucous crescendo in mid-afternoon, when the campers and their counselors all gathered in the auditorium to sing and dance.
The shlihim — or emissaries — are in the United States for two months as part of a program run by the Jewish Agency for Israel. 
They were led by Yaniv Tayar, also a JAFI emissary, who has been stationed for the year with the Jewish Federation of Central New Jersey in Scotch Plains and its agencies.
Comparing summer camp in New Jersey and in Israel, the counselors said they were accustomed to more singing 
and other spirit-building activities, and they wanted to give their American charges a taste of that excitement.
With his cheeks still covered in face paint and glistening with sweat, Tayar acknowledged that he and his team had been up until 4 a.m. preparing for the festivities.
"But that's the fun of it," he said. "This is how it's meant to be."
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