It seems like it has been ages since we last updated you (which is probably because it has). How things have changed in the last month. All of the messimah tsvatim have started to really make a difference to the lives of those around them; from the Shared existence tsevet breaking the ice to discuss the Arab-Israeli conflict with 16-17 year olds from the Arab villages nearby, to the tsevet in Karmi'el starting up English projects with their 14-15 year old chanichim, everyone is starting to understand why messimah is such an important part of kaveret.
We have really settled into the house too. After a shaky start with food and rooms, the group have really learnt how to handle our food and household budget and everyone is now well fed and warm.
Due to the change in dates for Poland, the Poland Preparation Seminar was broken up and moved to the weekends at the end of January. The prep weekend saw us travel to Shlomi, a moshav near Akko founded by Holocaust survivors. We spent 2 intense days visiting and analysing the Ghetto Fighters' Museum on Kibbutz Lechon Mai Getto'ot. Despite all the preparatory peullot, none of us knew exactly what to expect from the Poland journey.
We travelled out from Ben Gurion to Chopin on the 7th of February and after a long journey, we arrived at the old Jewish quarter of Krakow. The journey was mind-blowing - a schedule packed with visits to concentration and death camps, peullot and ghettos made the trip (for lack of a less cliché term) an emotional roller-coaster. The day trip to the death camp at Majdanek was particularly harrowing, as was the visit to Birkenau. It seemed as though we were closest in our darkest times - with Tykocin and Treblinka throwing up some of the most interesting discussions of shnat - about bystanding, anti-semitism and even our collective purpose in life.
The Kvutsah went to Poland, throwing itself into the visits looking at the events from the point of view of a youth movements. The discussions about the Krakow and Warsaw ghetto uprisings and the walk to Mila 18 in the -10 degrees cold and foot deep snow were inspiring to say the least. Our Poland madrich, Zohar, was excellent too - challenging us and pushing us when we needed pushing.
The journey brought the group closer together and really demonstrated to us, just why we are here. With veida coming up in a month or so, it gave us the drive and the fuel to look inward at HDUK and see where our priorities lie as the shnat kvutsah.
Since Poland, we have jumped straight back into Kaveret with renewed vigour.
In the next few weeks, we will be celebrating Purim, getting even more stuck in to our messimot and gearing up for veida.
Until the next time...

The Shnatties x
 

Hello everyone,

It's been a long time since we last updated the outside world of our ongoing activities here in the Holy Land, over a month at least, so a lot has changed. 

So Boneh is finally over. The last few weeks were focused on reviewing the material that we had been learning about over the whole 3 month period. We had some interesting discussions and debates in our socialism and zionism classes, as well as our Israeli society and Israeli history studies, which rounded off our knowledge nicely. The weeks were filled not only by these classes, but also through reviewing and critiquing the whole of boneh, from the learning and studying, to the food and welfare aspects. This aimed to raise the problems and issues that we have faced during our stay on the kibbutz, so that the Rakazim (organisers) could receive feedback and improve things for next year. Eventually the day came when we had to say goodbye to kibbutz Ein Dor, the place which had been our home since the beginning of our journey. We packed up our things and reminisced about the fun, laughs and banter we had, and said goodbye to the Americans, who were also leaving. 

Immediately after our departure from the Kibbutz, we were thrown into a very thought provoking and challenging 5 day seminar, History of Habonim Dror hagshama. This focused primarily on examining the Kibbutzim movement from its origins before the establishment of Israel, to the current movement today. We visited various Kibbutzim such as Kfar Hannasi, Beit Haemek and Metuva, speaking to British people who made aliyah to their respective kibbutzim. They educated us on the current situation that the Kibbutzim movement finds itself in, privatization. Many of the kibbutzim today are either partially or fully privatized, meaning that the social aspect of the kibbutzim which they were founded on, such a communal dinner hall and other communal living habits, have disappeared. We discussed topics such as whether privatization was beneficial or not for kibbutzim and for Israeli society, as well as whether socialism can work on a global scale. On the last few days we visited an urban style kibbutz, an irbutz, which is a modern take on the kibbutz movement, so to speak. It is called Eshbal, set up around 12 years ago by our sister movement Hanoar Ha'oved on an old army base. It focuses mainly on current societal values that are relevant to Israel today, specifically education, not agriculture which the old kibbutzim prided themselves on. It works within the community and aims to help those who struggle in more formal education, or those who have had problems in school in the past. This was deeply interesting and a good insight into the way our programme was going to shape up over the coming months. Finally we visited two urban kvutsot (groups) containing members of our own movement. One of them in particular enlightened us on the history of Habonim Dror, looking on the way our movement has developed over the recent years. It emphasised the importance of dugma (leading by example), and reiterated how important we are for the movement, as returning bogrim, and the responsibility that we hold. 

The end of the seminar signaled a free weekend, where we all went our separate ways for a few days to do whatever we wanted. Afterwards, we regrouped in a youth hostel up north in Peki'in, for Kaveret orientation, preparing us for the next chapter of our story. We discussed issues such as why we will be doing messimah (volunteering), and eventually we discussed how the group would be split into the 5 different tsevets for messimot. After 3 days, we left the hostel and travelled to our new house in Karm'iel, home previously to so many former shnat groups over the years. This would be ours for the remainder of shnat. We settled in quickly, despite the dust and dirt, and relaxed for a few days, acclimatising to our new environment, along with scoping out the new area. 

After spending only a few days in the house, we all split off for chofesh (holiday), for around 12 days. 8 or 9 of us went to sunny Eilat, some visited family, and others travelled around Israel to places such as Tel-Aviv, Nazareth and Akko. Which brings us to the past few days. After safely returning from chofesh, we once again settled back into kaveret life, with all of us cooking and cleaning communally. Our messimot (volunteering jobs) have also begun, with the group splitting off into our various work schemes. Some involve working with young children in schools and kenim, teaching and helping with english, whereas others are focused on older pupils of 16-19, who are from poorer backgrounds and find formal education too challenging. Another involves working with small children with mental disabilities, giving them one on one care and attention. They are all based in various locations, from Karmi'el and Tsfat to Tiberias. 

Well that is pretty much everything we've been up to over the past month, until next time.

Lots of Love, the shnatties x

Hello, it's been about 2 weeks since we last updated you all so we thought it was about time. Since we last spoke, the time has flown by and we can not believe that Boneh is nearly finished. 

Two weeks ago we visited the Golan Heights which has been a massive source of controversy over the last few decades. We travelled to a spot overlooking Kibbutz Ein Gev, from which we could see the entire Kinneret. Leon, our shnat rakaz (organiser), gave us a talk which explained the changing face of the Kinneret over the years, and how lucky Israel is to have it as a resource. Travelling further up into the Golani, we moved up to the top of Mount Ben Tal from which we could see into Lebanon, Syria and Qiryat Shimona. We received a further talk explaining the past and present situation in the Golani, the history of the 6 day war and the Yom Kippur war, before travelling down into the Valley of Tears where we saw the rusting shells of tanks remaining from the wars. The Siyur tied in very well with the programming - especially our classes with Shaul (socialism and zionism) in which we watched the award winning 'Waltz with Bashir' this week which really gave us some context on the Lebanese conflicts over the years.

That weekend the Aussies and Kiwis visited for the last time, having officially finished shnat on Wednesday the 18th. Although we were sad to say goodbye to the 2009 Aussies, we all look forward to the next group. The kvutsah seems to have benefitted from the advice of the steady flow of visitors from the UK, Holland and Australia.
    On Wednesday 25th the European shnatties decided to bring a bit of HDUK machaneh magic to the American workshoppers and we put on a murder mystery for tochnit erev (evening activity). It went down very well with moving chuggim (a trip around various stations) with Scream, Jig Saw, Hannibal and a group of other friendly horror film characters.
 
On Thursday the kvutsah had to split up on a siyur for the first time, as both halves made the journey to Jerusalem for a Religion & State/Religious Zionism trip. The 'religion and state' group took trips to the Israeli Supreme Court, the Israeli center for progressive judaism and received a talk on Israeli society, Judaism and Israel's international position from a Chassidic Jew. The 'religious zionism' group went to the Rav Kook Museum, had a controversial talk with Anton Goodman from Bnei Akiva, and then toured the offices of the Jerusalem Post. Both groups took a lot from the day out and we were able to bring new ideas to the table when we discussed our siyurim later that day. 

Unfortunately for the americans, Thursday was Thanksgiving and so they had to miss their traditional lunch. So instead, they invited us for a huge meal on Friday afternoon with 4 7kg turkeys. It was really interesting to learn about the holiday and what it stood for (mostly the genocide of native americans) and we were extremely happy to be invited. The meal was more about the coming together of Americans, Canadians, Brits and Dutchies than it was about the holiday. Afterwards, all 4 kvutsot went outside for a game of American Football, where the Brits experienced some more 'American hospitality.' 

That pretty much brings us up the present and this week we are going on a siyur to Tel Aviv and the shnatties are probably returning to ultrasound in Haifa on thursday night. Boneh is speeding towards its end and in a few weeks we will be swapping kibbutz Ein Dor for our Karmi'el house.

Lots of love,
The Shnatties x

Hello everyone!

The last time we wrote we said that we were going on a weekend seminar about Yitzchak Rabin, eventually leading onto the Rabin peace rally on the Saturday night. Well, even though the weekend was a thought provoking insight into the Rabin assasination and the events surrounding it, unfortunately the rally had to be postponed until the following week, due to the heavy rainfall (typical). Like I said, the seminar was an interesting event, focusing mainly on the concept of democracy, and it also gave us a chance to bond more with the austrailians, americans and south americans. In between the seminar and the rally, boneh routine progressed as usual, with lessons in Israeli society, Socialist Zionism and carrying on with our Avodah (kibbutz jobs). On the Thursday, we had our weekly siyur (dayout), split into two parts. The first was a trip to the First Aliyah Museum in Zikron Ya'akov, and after lunch we travelled to Kibbutz Efat to learn about the setting up of kibbutzim in Israel, and the various sections of the early kibbutzim.

That night we all travelled to Kibbutz Yizrael, home to the South African shnatties, for a fun evening of dancing and drinking at their kibbutz pub. Over the weekend, some austrailian shnatties decided to stay at our kibbutz, generally relaxing and spending some quality time with us before they left for good in a few weeks. On the Friday night, the Americans threw a halloween party, so we all showed our enthusiasm and dressed up as best as we could, and we ended up having a brilliant night at the pub with everyone. The day after brought us finally to the Rabin Rally, an event that we had all eagerly anticipated. The Rally consisted of a number of guest speakers, such as Ehud Barak, Tzipi Livni and a video message from the US President Barak Obama. At the rally we were surrounded by hundreds of people in blue chultzot, representing a strong turnout of people from youth movements similar to Habonim Dror. It really lifted our spirits, and showed how so many others youths similar to us in Israel were all united towards a common goal, peace.

The past week has been less hectic than previous ones. On Sunday night, the Manchester United fans went to a kibbutz house to watch the game against Chelsea. Monday as usual was Yom Kvutzah, meaning a day of activities with our madrichim (leaders). Tuesday saw more classes on Israeli society, as well as Ulpan, where we attempted to improve our hebrew for 3 hours. Thursday's weekly siyur took us to Haifa, where we learnt about the history of the city and Jewish settlement within Haifa. That night we drank and had fun as usual, leading up to the next morning, where we woke up at 7am to volunteer for an organisation called 'table to table', picking clementines off trees to feed underpriviledged families in Israel. The task was a very rewarding one, and one which we would all love to do again. Well that's about it for now, until next time, lots of love, from the shnatties. x

Hello again to everyone back in England. In the two weeks since we last wrote, we have continued with the Boneh routine; and while we still live for the weekends, everyone is now starting to get really into the seminars - especially the Socialist-Zionism classes in which, this week, we learnt about how to fight for the rights of those exploited in the developing world.
On Thursday 15th, we took a Siyul (day trip) to the National Diaspora Museum at Tel Aviv University, which was an amazing experience. It really made us appreciate how lucky we are to be able to spend 9 months in Israel given the history of Jewish persecution. The museum gave us a fresh perspective on subjects such as the Holocaust and the Russian Pogroms. We also got the chance to research our ancestry on the database. Later that day we stopped off in Afula to get piercings (fulfilling the shnat cliché) before going out to Ultrasound,a nightclub in Haifa to meet the Australian and Kiwi shnatties who were coming to spend the weekend. The weekend gave us a really good chance to connect with the Aussies outside the confines of programming and we were given some valuable pieces of advice from people who are nearing the end of their own shnat experience.
Last weekend was a quiet one with the majority of the kvutsah leaving the kibbutz to visit family and friends, but when we all returned we felt like we were coming home. This brings us up to yesterday (Sunday 26th) when we travelled to Jerusalem for a MASA* event along with
3000 other MASA applicants. The evening included a live concert by the Idan Raichel Project, one of Israel’s most popular collection of artists (Idan Raichel can be likened to Mark Ronson in the UK). The atmosphere and the music were unbelievable.
That’s pretty much it for now, this weekend we’re meeting up with Habo from North and South America and Australasia for the Yitzchak Rabin seminar in Tel Aviv.
Lots of love,
From,
The Shnatties x

 

 

Since the last time we wrote, we've carried on with the regular schedule and everyone is starting to get used to the normal routine. We have progressed in our Jewish history studies, looking at various biblical stories, aswell as learning about a key habo ideal, cultural judaism. This has been mainly focused on modern areas of jewish culture, such as weddings, barmitzvahs and other common laws. Now that the swimming pool has closed, we have used our time on the weekends generally for relaxing and spending some time just chilling with each other, as well as having plenty of fun and games. 

On Tuesday, we embarked on a 4 day hike called yam le yam, where we struggled in typically Jewish fashion through difficult terrain, attempting to make our way from the Mediterranean sea to the kinneret. Immediately after stepping off the coach, we were split into 4 walking groups, along with the Americans, Australians and South Africans. This gave us a chance to interact with other shnatties who had already done most of their own programs, and were leaving Israel in a month or so. This interaction was a very helpful insight into shnat overall, as we listened to the Aussie's stories and experiences, making us all excited for what our year ahead will entail. During the hikes, we played games and had lots of banter with the our foreign friends, leading up to the end of each day, where we slept on campsites in tents, ate dinner and sang habo songs around a campfire. Yam le Yam was an incredible event, and we struck up such a strong bond with the Aussies, that this weekend we are seeing them again, as hopefully some of them will be allowed to stay at our kibbutz for a night or two.

Since then we once again relaxed on the weekend, finally having much needed showers after going 4 days without! On Friday night we went to the pub on the kibbutz, for a dance and a few drinks with the Americans, and on Saturday night the yanks hosted 'musical,' which is pretty much a mixture of X factor and Britain’s got talent, except with very little talent! 

Lots of love to everyone back home,

Until next time..Shnat 09/10 xx