In North Texas Oklahoma region, we just had our 2025 Spring Ruach Convention! This weekend included meaningful shabbats, fun Maccabiah-style games, and connecting separates. Starting on Friday, we all met up at the JCC and from there got on a 2-hour bus ride to the magical campsite! After unpacking and getting ready, dinner was served, followed by a super meaningful Shabbat led by the Jewish Enrichment team. Post service, the Maccabiah teams were broken out by their team captains. Saturday morning rolls around, and EVERYONE gets abruptly woken up by exciting music, A.K.A. a NTO wakeup call! Walking into the dining hall, you see an exhilarating amount of colors and excited members. It’s almost time to start the games, but before that, we had super thrilling Shabbat services, including a nature walk, trivia, and a traditional camp Shabbat. READY! SET! GO! The games have begun, from egg races to limbo, each team is fighting for the champion spot. Lots of cheering is heard, and you can almost feel the excitement in the air! Silent lunch up next, while we rested our voices, we enjoyed a delicious and refreshing meal to replenish. Basketball, volleyball, and Gaga ball, what are you choosing? Sports are a big thing in Texas, so this is where NTO shined the most. Hearing sneaker squeaks, refs blowing their whistles, and just overall a huge amount of cheering brought out our wild energy. Chofesh! A wonderful time to rest, get ready, and explore the fun excursions the campsite has to offer. Saturday night’s theme was jerseys! From NTO jerseys to Luka Doncic, we had so many different and diverse jerseys! After a meaningful Havdalah and dinner, the boys and girls of our region split up into separates for an enticing activity. Sitting, hearing the 40’s girls talk for separates for the last time was really, really hard for a bunch of us. It just really reminded us how this term is ending so soon. After separates, we had a WILD cheer off between the AZAs and BBGs (and let's just say the BBGs won). Each Maccabiah team then showed off their improv dances and awesome team posters. While the refs judged, we decided GREEN TEAM WON! Cheering roared in the dining hall, and cheers were yelled so loud you couldn’t hear the person next to you. Bedtime was next, everyone filed into their cabins for a very well-deserved night of rest. Sunday morning started with packing up and breakfast. After one of the most important elections happened, transitioning from the 40th board to the 41st. Each vote represented SO much more than imaginable. While elections can seem boring, they really were a learning experience. When elections had concluded, we all grabbed some pizza and got on the bus to head home. Overall, this weekend was an awesome refresh and a great start to the summer season. I really encourage you, even if you are just slightly considering going to your region's spring convention, GO!
Mikahella Gutman is a BBG from Plano, Texas, and she enjoys playing basketball!
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