Summer Kaveret is hot!

The last four weeks have been a real whirlwind on Shnat!  From getting to know Carmiel, Akko and Rishon, to working hard on mesima, to getting prepared for the Poland Journey, the summer has been busy, busy, busy.  Now that the Shnatties are in Poland I have some time to update you on the last month and their Kaveret Kayitz, and of course once they return we'll have an in-depth update of the Journey there.

Kaveret started with a four-day preparation seminar, including two days of orientation in the cities the groups live in and getting to know their Kaveret rakazim (coordinators) who are responsible for the housing, budgeting, transportation and mesima arrangements over Kaveret, and two days of group time exploring how they want to shape their shared space, how to connect between their mesima experience and their home life, and more.  The groups were very excited to finally get to see their house for the next five months and had lovely first meals cooked by their tzevet; here you can see the excitement in Rishon eating the first meal and seeing their house for the very first evening:

From July 1st, it was off and running!  The Shnatties jumped into their mesimot all across Israel.  The placements included working in day camps in Rishon Letzion, Holon, Misgav, Akko, and Tamra (an Israeli Arab community), in youth centers in Haifa, Carmiel and Tiberias, and in night activities for youth in Bat Yam, Tel Aviv, and Haifa's Krayot suburbs.  Many of the Shnatties had extremely demanding schedules; they proved themselves very capable and fun madrichim and rose to the challenge of engaging kids even when they had little common language.  Here you can see the Shnatties in Tiberias leading a cooking workshop:

And here they are teaching a dance at the summer camp in Misgav:



After three weeks of intensive mesima, combined with several kvutza discussions and peulot during the afternoons and an initial Poland Preparation Seminar on the weekend, the third week offered a change of pace.  On Sunday the kids enjoyed a great day on the beach for Yom Habonim Dror, an annual event which brings together the hundreds of Habonim Dror participants on programs from all over the world for a day of hanging out and relaxing at Kibbutz Sdot Yam.  They swapped Habo gimmicks with South Americans, Europeans and more; enjoyed the jellyfish-free water and bounced on a giant water trampoline.
The next three days were the second and final Poland Preparation Seminar, based at Kibbutz Lochmei Hagetaot - the Ghetto Fighters' Kibbutz and Museum.  The groups were led by their Poland day guides and spent the three days extensively exploring such issues as:

• The Nazi rise to power and conquest of Europe
• The social process of forming a ghetto
• The Righteous Among the Nations
• Different forms of resistance
• The world of Nazi camps
• The role of the youth movements in the Warsaw Ghetto

They also went through an in-depth explanation of the logistics of the Poland journey, the itinerary, and packing lists.  The seminar was a challenging one which brought up really meaningful discussions about humanity, Jewish identity, and more, and I believe the Shnatties came out of it very much ready for their journey.
On Weds afternoon, after the seminar was finished, the group met up with HDOZ Shaliach Eran Berkowitz and future shlicha Netta Even Tzur for an update on Habo Australia and time to chat and catch up.

After all of that, Thursday was an extremely well-deserved day off.  Friday and Saturday were a closed weekend dedicated to resting well in preparation for the Poland Journey, and the kvutzot voluntarily organized peer-led programming for themselves in all three cities.  Sunday was spent with their Kaveret rakazim summing up the summer experience, and Monday they packed and made their way to the airport!

As we have reported already, the group has safely landed in Poland and we'll be updating here with lots of photos and details when they return.