Habo Orientation - Lots of fun, and new ideas

The week-long Habo Orientation seminar has wrapped up this morning, and the Shnatties are on their way to Boneh and Machon as I write this. It's been an incredible week! The group arrived on Kibbutz Ravid Sunday morning a bit tired from their big night out at the end of AZYC Sem, but the Habo madrichim awaiting them with big smiles and big plans for the seminar quickly energized the whole group. The first day began with the Shnatties meeting up with their six madrichim who will be leading Shnat this year - Nathan and Avi from Australia, Leah from Israel via Canada and Bar, Dean and Shelly from Israel, with a bunch of fun ice-breakers and getting-to-know-you games, and then the shichva (year-level) split up into the three kvutzot (groups) in which they will be spending the most time this year.

Pictured L to R: Caden, Leah, Dean, Nathan, Shelly, Avi, AZYC Chair Reuben, and Bar

One important element of the week were a number of serious peulot (programs) about ideas like equality, consumerism, freedom, relativism. The peulot consisted of methods, texts and discussion about understanding these concepts and applying them to real life. Many of the Shnatties I spoke with said that it was somewhat new to have such challenging peulot, but also really interesting and worthwhile, making them feel like Shnat has truly begun.

The week also included some unique Habo elements, like doing avoda (labor) together in the kibbutz (see below), and making the best of a few-hour power outage by reading short stories aloud and eating a lovely candle-lit dinner in the chadar ochel. The Shnatties responded to everything with enthusiasm and high spirits, so in the best tradition of the youth movement, a problem was turned into an an adventure!

Another big part of the week was group bonding activities. Both the kvutzot and the shichva as a whole had a ton of fun, including playing a new sport called Ultimate Throwing Challenge or UTC; doing some group-building ropes activities to practice kvutza coordination and communication; having a night of creativity and art including spray-paint stencils, dance, jewelry-making and more; and throwing an awesome party for the four Shnatties who had birthdays during the week:

On Friday we drove from Ravid to the Nes Harim JNF lodge, stopping first in the holy city of Tzfat for a short explanation of the city's history and some free time for lunch and shopping; upon arriving at Nes Harim, the Shnatties led chugim (interest groups) for each other and then Kabbalat Shabbat. Yesterday they spoke in their kvutzot about decisions regarding their time on Boneh and Machon, met with Habonim Dror world mazkir Silvio Joskowicz, enjoyed a peer-led Havdala to bid farewell to Shabbat and then met up with HD Shnatties and leadership from across the world for the celebratory opening dinner of the Kenes Mazkirim (Mazkirim Conference) which is happening this week. The celebrations included a barbecue, crepes, popcorn and a performance by the choir of our Israeli sister youth movement Hanoar Haoved Vehalomed; the Shnatties were also excited to meet their counterparts from all over the world, and our New Zealand Shnatties were especially thrilled to see their mazkirut - Laura, Jack, Jono, Mor and Osnat - for the first time since their arrival here.

That's all the news for now - stay tuned to this site for more updates as Shnat unfolds!