Zionism in Words and Actions

Hello Workshop Families,

Happy Halloween!  Here in Israel, Halloween isn’t really celebrated.  We save our dressing up for Purim.

Since our last update, the chanichim have had a week of Boneh learning about the beginnings of Zionism, from Hess and his pre-Herzlian calls for a new Jewish society in Palestine, to AD Gordon and his new religion of labor to connect a lost people to their roots.  It culminated with a tour of old Tel-Aviv to learn about the creation of the first Jewish city.

This weekend the chanichim traveled once again to Tel-Aviv to attend the another rally for social change, the first since the historic march in September where 450,000 Israelis took to the streets.  This was a call to return to the struggle, and the chanichim made the choice to answer that call.  Although the turnout was relatively small, it was an important choice and still an exciting evening of impassioned speakers and great performers.

Last night, the chanichim attended MASA’s Opening Event.  MASA, as you may know, is the umbrella organization run by the Jewish Agency that supports all long-term Israel programs for post-high school Jews.  Over 3,000 people were present in Jerusalem, where an advisor to the Prime Minister spoke, the chairman of the Jewish Agency spoke, and Israeli music icon Idan Raichel performed an outstanding set that got everyone up and dancing.  It was exciting, perhaps especially so when a section of the audience, including Workshop, started chanting for social justice.  The advisor to the Prime Minister responded that in a few days we’ll see what Netanyahu has to say for that.  You can take the chanichim out of the protest, but you cannot take the protest out of the chanichim…

This coming weekend is the Yitzchak Rabin Memorial Seminar for Peace.  Over 150 Habonim Dror chanichim from all over the world, including our South American friends, will be participating, and at the end of the seminar will travel back to Tel-Aviv for the 16^th annual Rabin Memorial Rally. 

It may sound like the chanichim are traveling to a lot of rallies and events, and in this portion of the year they certainly are, but from talking to the chanichim I can say that they are certainly getting a lot of exposure to the happenings in society – an important goal of this year.

Is there a Rabin Memorial ceremony in your area?  If so, I encourage you to attend.  In many communities, Habonim Dror plays a significant role in the organization of these events, and it is important as Jews to commemorate this great leader for his actions towards peace and democracy and a better future for Israel.

From Sea to Shining Sea

Hello Again!

We just got back from the Mi Yam Le Yam hike!  In English this means “From Sea to Sea”, and that is exactly what we did.  Starting early Sunday morning, the Workshoppers, along with all the other English speaking Habonim program participants (that’s Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, a total of about 100 chanichim all together) met on the Mediterranean coast for an opening ceremony.  A bottle was filled with sea water as a symbol of the journey we were about to embark on.  The chanichim were split up into mixed groups in order to meet the different people from across the world, and the hike began. 

Every night we spent sleeping in a campground, lunch was eaten on the trail, and we woke with the dawn.  The chanichim climbed the 2^nd highest peak in Israel, Mount Meron, and slept on the quite chilly peak (can you imagine it being chilly in Israel?!).  On Wednesday afternoon, the chanichim set foot on the beach of the Kinneret and hastily changed into their swimsuits and jumped in to joyfully celebrate the journey that was.  The water was symbolically poured out, and all in all the experience was an amazing success.  This year can duly be noted for there being an excellent meeting between the countries, which will set the stage well for the next worldwide Habonim event – the Yitzchak Rabin Peace Seminar, which will occur two weeks from now.

During the hike, as we all know, there was a major historical event that happened here in Israel – the return of Gilad Shalit.  The chanichim were updated as events unfolded throughout the hike on Tuesday.  On Tuesday evening, once we arrived at our campsite, the chanichim sat and watched a presentation of news stories from the day’s events to see for themselves what happened and what was being said.  The general feeling in Israel this week is one of relief and elation.  There is certainly a  serious discourse happening surrounding the price paid for the release, but even the detractors by and large express their happiness for the Shalit family at the return of their son.  The chanichim were interested and engaged, asking questions throughout the day.  In the coming weeks, more discussions and questions will be raised for the chanichim to understand the situation more fully and talk about their thoughts on this complex but ultimately joyful event.

Now the chanichim are back on Kibbutz, celebrating the final holiday of the season, Simchat Torah.  After today, the chanichim will enter a relative routine for the next month or so until Boneh ends.  Upcoming events include, as I said before, the Rabin Peace Seminar, a MASA mega-event including Israeli singer Idan Raichel, and another tiyul (hike) in late November. 

A final Chag Sameach to you all!

Holiday Update

Hello Workshop Families and Friends,

The holiday season continues here in Israel and I wanted to update you all on how things have been. 

The Workshoppers are continuing their time on Boneh and this continues to go well. In the past weeks, the Workshoppers have learned about the beginnings of Jewish exile as well as anti-semitism and its origins. They also hiked up Mount Tavor, which is situated right next to Kibbutz Ein Dor, granting them a beautiful view of the surrounding Lower Galilee region.

The Workshoppers are also lucky enough to be on a Kibbutz that still retains communal holiday culture. For Rosh Hashana a little less than half of the chanichim remained on Kibbutz and participated in a communal holiday seder with acts put on by the Kibbutz members. On Yom Kippur, the chanichim ran peulot for themselves to better understand the meaning of the day and how it can be relevant in their lives today and this year specifically. And for today on Sukkot, the Workshoppers have also built for themselves a Sukkah and in addition there is another Kibbutz event, and Workshoppers were even asked to participate in the festivities by performing a song for the Kibbutz! 

So Shana Tova and Chag Sameach to one and all.