#OMGbRamahDC

Have you ever wondered what God looks like? If God is a boy, a girl, neither, both, an animal, or a being that has no gender at all? Or if God can hear, speak, and/or feel? Or if we can hear, speak to, and/or feel God? These questions, and many more, were asked by our hanihim (campers). On the first day of camp the hanihim wrote down what they currently think about God and what they wonder about. As we discussed everyone’s thoughts, we acknowledged that when it comes to God, saying “I’m not sure” or “I don’t know yet” are both wonderful answers. As we grow, our ideas about God grow and change with us.

We turned to the Torah to explore what we already know. All three eidot (age groups) split into groups to dive into some of our well known Torah stories – HaBriyah (Creation), Teivat Noah (Noah’s Ark), Yetziat Mitzrayim (the Exodus from Egypt), etc. While Shorashim explored the emotions God might have felt in each story, the groups in Garinim and Nitzanim each created a short play to present. Everyone brainstormed what role God played in their respective story as well as which characteristics of God were represented. They discovered that God can act like a friend, a teacher, a parent, a sibling, a counselor, and more. God can be happy and sad, kind and angry, take God’s time and be hasty, punish people and be giving – just like all of us.

Check out pictures from our explorations and Shorashim acting out emotions on our facebook page. To watch some of the Nitzanim plays, click: Avraham and Creation. To watch some of the Garinim plays, click: Noah’s Ark, The Brave Woman Who Saved Moses, and Creation.