Over 150 boys at a Boro Park day camp proudly showed off their exhibits at a full-scale Chabad Expo this past week, the culmination of a week spent preparing displays on different Yamim Tovim and their connection to Chabad.

The local camp’s head counselor had reached out to Tzivos Hashem of Boro Park, asking if someone could come speak to the boys as part of the event and expo.

Tzivos Hashem of Boro Park caters to chassidishe communities such as Boro Park, New Square, Lakewood, and the like, with a Tzivos Hashem experience tailored to those communities. The program is active in 14 states, with enrollment of over 14,000 children. The organization is headed by Rabbi Mendel Ginsberg and led by Rabbi Zalmy Bryski.

As soon as they arrived at the day camp, Rabbi Ginsberg made an announcement, asking the boys who among them was part of Tzivos Hashem.

“The response was enthusiastic,” Bryski told Anash.org. “Some called out, ‘I’m a sergeant,’ others called out, ‘I’m a second lieutenant,’ another, ‘I’m a captain,’ and the room was buzzing with excitement. They were so proud to show it off.”

Ginsberg then shared stories about the Rebbe and about the power of Yiddishe kinderlach, and what they are capable of accomplishing in the world.

The boys followed with a 12 Pesukim rally, with the Tzivos Hashem soldiers among them, each reciting a pasuk word for word. Many already knew the pesukim from the Yud Beis Pesukim cards they had received in their welcome package when they first signed up for Tzivos Hashem.

Touring the booths, Ginsberg and Bryski found a well-put-together expo that impressed them. For the Chanukah display, the boys had taped menorahs onto toy cars and drove them around the room. Another group set up a Chabad House display, complete with an area to make a brocha and eat kosher food.

There was also a recreation of Chabad’s annual Simchas Beis Hashoeva event on 13th Avenue in Boro Park, led by Rabbi Aron Ginsberg, shliach to Boro Park.

The Lag BaOmer booth turned out to be the biggest surprise for the two Tzivos Hashem directors. The boys had put together a full display of pictures from Tzivos Hashem’s annual Lag BaOmer Kinnus in Boro Park, which Ginsburg and Bryski helped organize.

Each booth had also been asked to act out something connected to what they had prepared. To demonstrate their display, the boys lined up and marched in a full circle around the room before returning to their booth, in classic Tzivos Hashem marching band fashion.

It was a reenactment of this past year’s actual Kinnus, which for the first time featured a marching band led by Tzivos Hashem boys of Boro Park.

Right next to it, one of the boys had brought in his medal book, his ID cards showing off his ranks, and a stack of monthly magazines he had saved throughout the year.

“I was struck by how much they cherish and save each item they receive from Tzivos Hashem, and how much it means to them,” Ginsberg told Anash.org.

“Nobody told them we were coming, and this is what they put together entirely on their own,” Bryski said. “It really showed us how much a part of Tzivos Hashem these boys feel.”