Kaveret and much more

Kaveret has been up and running for two months now, but with so much going on we've barely had time to write!  The chanichim are doing mesimot (volunteer placements) across Israel, including Rishon Letzion, Holon, Rehovot, Akko, Kiryat Atta, Carmiel, Tiberias, the boarding school on Kibbutz Eshbal and in a number of Arab communities such as Tamra, Sakhnin and Manda.  They work with kids from a variety of ages and backgrounds, bringing informal youth movement-style programming into schools as well as after-school programming.  We got some pictures from the tzevet at the Dshanim High School in Kiryat Atta's recent Bedouin tent-style activity (complete with baking pitot over a fire), and we hear that the school kids had an amazing time:

During Hol Hamo'ed (intermediary days) of the Sukkot holiday, our group set off together with the Shnatties from South Africa, and the newly arrived North Americans and Brits on the famous Tiyul Miyam Leyam - from (the Mediterranean) Sea to (the Kinneret) Sea.  For four days they hiked, camped, laughed at each others' accents and bonded, all while getting to know beautiful northern Israel and its stunning mountains, valleys and streams.  Unsurprisingly the groups got along fantastically and made plans to meet up again straightaway after the tiyul.

They even put together a video of their experiences:

Meanwhile, on Kaveret, their weekly Israeli society study days were focused for several weeks on an exploration of the socio-economic situation in Israel today and an exploration of the processes which led to that reality.  The study process culminated with a siyur (field trip) day in Tel Aviv which looked at these challenges through the lens of the concrete realities of urban life.  The group visited the Hatikva neighborhood and the Argazim neighborhood to understand some of the challenges faced by veteran residents of Israel, the area around the old Central Bus Station to get a closer look at the migrant worker and asylum seeker population, and the Kikar Hamedina complex in north Tel Aviv for a sense of the 'other' side of the city and the proximity of affluence and economic hardship.  The siyur challenged the group to see that Israel is not only facing the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, but also important choices about how the society ought to conduct itself internally, a question in which Diaspora Jewish communities also play a role.

The group has also begun meeting up for discussions and activities according to their country and state, meaning that the Shnatties from the different Shnat groups who are going back to Perth, Sydney, Melbourne and New Zealand get together and talk.  This is something which will continue from now until the end of the year, to help them prepare for the transition back to life at home and the responsibility they are going to take on together in leading their movement.  The first state time was devoted to a structured check-in to get a better idea of what their friends have been experiencing and doing in the different kvutzot, and a peula about their responsibilities for the movement back home.  The Australians even got to speak via Skype with some of the bogrim from their ken, which I know helped them get a much more concrete idea of where things stand and what they can look forward to next year.

Another big event that just happened was the Yitzchak Rabin Memorial Seminar.  Once again the English-speaking HD Shnat groups from around the world came together, at the Macabim Youth Hostel, this time to explore the legacy of assassinated Prime Minister Yitzchak Rabin, his pursuit of peace and the challenges Israel faces today in striving for peace.  After visiting Rabin Memorial Exhibitions (which our sister youth movement Hanoar Haoved Vehalomed erects in different cities around Israel) in order to become familiar with Rabin's life and his choice to pursue peace, the weekend focused on the situation in Israel since Rabin's assasination including political realities and educational aspects for Israeli youth.  The Australia-New Zealand group played a really positive role in the seminar, bringing examples and perspective gained from their time here and their encounter with Israeli society through mesima to the northern hemisphere group who have just arrived in Israel.  The seminar wrapped up with a Habonim tekes (ceremony) at the hostel, and then the group as a whole travelled to annual Rabin memorial rally in Tel Aviv, whose theme this year was Remembering the Assassination, Fighting for Democracy.

The Ha'aretz article on the rally, which was attend by some 20,000 Israelis, even featured a great photo of OZ Shnattie Jake P, just left of center with his arm up in the air:

A few days later, the Shnatties travelled down to Kibbutz Sde Boker for the AZYC Sikkum Seminar, an in-depth seminar for all six Australasian Zionist youth movements on their responsibilities in going home and leading in their communities, as well as the challenges they may face.  The inter-movement discussions on tough youth movement issues like how much to challenge community norms and how much to strengthen that which exists within the community, were thought-provoking and eye-opening.  The strong inter-youth movement relationships that exist in Australia and New Zealand are really unique and I hope that the Shnatties came to understand that throughout the course of the seminar.  They also enjoyed the beautiful desert scenery around Sde Boker and were visited by a few families of ibexes during their peulot.

On the final day they wrapped up with a ceremony at Australian Ambassador Andrea Faulkner's residence in Hertzliya commemorating the ANZAC conquest of Be'er Sheva from the Ottoman Turks during World War I.

In addition to all the big events, of course life on Kaveret goes on as usual, with kvutza peulot and bonding time, cooking nice meals for one another, and trying out funny hairdos before going back home to your parents:

The next few weeks they will be wrapping up Kaveret, including their current study series on Arab-Jewish conflict and coexistence; having some final discussions with their kvutzot to process the experiences this year; and spending a lot of time preparing for their return home and return to the movement. We will have a sikkum seminar from Nov 19th-21st at the hotel on Kibbutz Maaleh Hachamisha, and then they'll start their journey back to you!