I'd never been on a veida before, but I'd certainly been to Alton Castle, so as soon as I knew the location could change no more, I flew home from the Dominican Republic (LEDC) to start my socialist, Zionist, culturally Jewish winter.
Veida is always some sort of taboo subject no-one seems to talk about it in front of me apart from Dom (camps organiser), who is the Duracell bunny of the Veida attendance world.
Only a 40minute illegal drive down to the site, once home to Bertram De Verdun and the Earl of Shrewsbury, the castle provided shelter to those who strive to keep the wheels of Habonim turning as fast as they do on the Budget Van.
With guest speakers such as Jez Aaron (an interactive solidification of HDUKâs current ideology) and peulot written by the creme-de-la-creme of peulot writers, the last few days of 2003 were informative, lucid, roomy and full of lie-ins.
The calm before the storm came as the population of the great hall celebrated New Years Eve as a kvutza, and the silent tension was building up as the long awaited resolution session approached.
This 12-hour marathon debate held 22 motions, some stupid, some too serious and life-changing for argument along with one or two towards which no dispute could be directed. The Chairmen, selected by democratic consensus, stood tall and strong in the face of rogue facts and mysterious 'points of clarification', this deserves much congratulation bearing in mind that everyone in the room was Jewish and therefore had something to say.
The cuisine sampled at Veida was only comparable to that of the exceptional standard set by Machane Choref and once again Dom must take full credit for the feasts eaten in the great hall.
Veida 03/4 assured many things for HDUK, with new structures now being implemented and old words coming back into play. The history books of Alton Castle now have one more milestone to report.
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