Hi all,
It's been a while- that tends to happen and it sucks a lot and sorry.
We've done a lot recently. We're on Hineni Seminar at the moment in Jerusalem where we do classes, excursions and volunteering with a whole lot of different teachers. It's intense but great.
During that, a few Shnatties took the initiative to run the first ever 'Machane Shnat' (camp shnat). Fitting In with our classes in the day, we also ran programs for each other at night on different things we felt needed to be brought up, had a lot of fun, had a camp song, Shabbat together and of course 'the rosh needs a wash' (put together by grunners, and for legal reasons we can't say what was in the mixture). Massive thanks to Sefi and Ash who were the Roshim and put it all together from scratch. They really took the initiative and it really got us all switched on and thinking about things.
As part of it, we had Nir Mock AGM where we discussed different things we wanted to bring back to the movement including a massive discussion about social justice, boundaries of political views and a huge range of other topics which will hopefully be discussed further when we get back home.
It's been really sad saying goodbye to all our friends from other movements and programs which have been finishing up recently. We're one of the last to finish and so have been missing their presence a lot.
Miss you all a lot and know that we're safe- the situation has calmed down and everything is back to normal. See you soon!
Nir
Wednesday, 28 November 2012
Wednesday, 10 October 2012
Monday, 3 September 2012
Poland
It's early in the morning and Nir is on the way to Ben Gurion airport to fly out to Poland.
We woke up this morning at 1am. Luckily, Ari our Shnat Mad has great taste in snacks so we had plenty of coffee and cake to get us through the early start. We headed to the Kotel for a quick goodbye to Israel and started on our way.
The past two days we've been at Yad Vashem on our pre-Poland seminar run by the education staff there. We heard from a survivor and went around se of the fascinating sculptures and exhibitions around the campus of Yad Vashem. After we finished for the day, a lot of us stayed to research our family history at the research centre or buy some Holocaust books at the bookstore there. Every book in the bookshop has a fascinating story- one called 'The Man Who Broke Into Auschwitz' was a true story about a British POW who heard about the atrocities occurring inside the death camp, and coordinated with a Jewish prisoner there to trade places for a few days. After he came out, he couldn't speak about what he saw for years and would constantly have nightmares. This book was written by him when he I ally built up the courage to tell what he saw.
A lot of us also bought Primo Levi's 'If This Is A Man' which is one of the most highly recommended accounts of the Holocaust out there. Primo Levi was an Italian Jew who went through the camps and survived. He wrote many books throughout his life but this is arguably his most famous.
We got a rundown of our schedule on one of the days by Mark Lazar, one of the people accompanying us on our trip. He's an incredible informal educator who ran a lot at Machon and has led trips through Poland about 30 times.
We spend a week in Poland, going through the major cities- Warsaw, Lublin and Krakow. We don't only look at the Holocaust, but also Jewish life before the war and the role of the youth movements.
So that's a brief overview, you'll definitely hear more about it from everyone.
We as Nir are on the edge of a historic moment, as we are the first year group to have Poland as an official part of our Shnat program. It's a lot to have on our shoulders but are ready for the experience and a seriously eye-opening trip.
Good luck to Ofek (year 12) for their final week of school and hope Trials for the Sydney crew went well. Only a few weeks to go, we know you'll do great and we're all excited to hear about your triumphant finishes.
Much love from the Holy Land (only here for another few hours),
Nir
We woke up this morning at 1am. Luckily, Ari our Shnat Mad has great taste in snacks so we had plenty of coffee and cake to get us through the early start. We headed to the Kotel for a quick goodbye to Israel and started on our way.
The past two days we've been at Yad Vashem on our pre-Poland seminar run by the education staff there. We heard from a survivor and went around se of the fascinating sculptures and exhibitions around the campus of Yad Vashem. After we finished for the day, a lot of us stayed to research our family history at the research centre or buy some Holocaust books at the bookstore there. Every book in the bookshop has a fascinating story- one called 'The Man Who Broke Into Auschwitz' was a true story about a British POW who heard about the atrocities occurring inside the death camp, and coordinated with a Jewish prisoner there to trade places for a few days. After he came out, he couldn't speak about what he saw for years and would constantly have nightmares. This book was written by him when he I ally built up the courage to tell what he saw.
A lot of us also bought Primo Levi's 'If This Is A Man' which is one of the most highly recommended accounts of the Holocaust out there. Primo Levi was an Italian Jew who went through the camps and survived. He wrote many books throughout his life but this is arguably his most famous.
We got a rundown of our schedule on one of the days by Mark Lazar, one of the people accompanying us on our trip. He's an incredible informal educator who ran a lot at Machon and has led trips through Poland about 30 times.
We spend a week in Poland, going through the major cities- Warsaw, Lublin and Krakow. We don't only look at the Holocaust, but also Jewish life before the war and the role of the youth movements.
So that's a brief overview, you'll definitely hear more about it from everyone.
We as Nir are on the edge of a historic moment, as we are the first year group to have Poland as an official part of our Shnat program. It's a lot to have on our shoulders but are ready for the experience and a seriously eye-opening trip.
Good luck to Ofek (year 12) for their final week of school and hope Trials for the Sydney crew went well. Only a few weeks to go, we know you'll do great and we're all excited to hear about your triumphant finishes.
Much love from the Holy Land (only here for another few hours),
Nir
Tuesday, 7 August 2012
Camp Happenings
Hi everyone,
It’s definitely been a while. I’ve finally got some time on a long train ride to write about my life for the past few weeks, but the train ride couldn’t be long enough. We’ve been doing a lot of stuff and Zac and I are having a great time.
I can’t exactly remember the last time I wrote and I’ve told different people different stuff about different things, so I’ll start from our last night in Israel. After a week of Chofesh, Zac and I found ourselves on the balcony of his aunt’s apartment overlooking the Knesset and the oversized flag that flies above it on our final night in Israel. We looked out over the city of Jerusalem planning our 3 days in NYC and kept on being constantly mind-blown about the insane trip that we were about to embark on.
We landed the next day in NYC and had an awesome three days going around, seeing some great sites and eating at cool places. You can read about those adventures here:
and here:
On our final afternoon in NYC, we made it to the city headquarters of our camp, Young Judea minutes before it started thunder-storming. We moved all our bags in the pouring rain into a van and got in to start the 2 hour drive up to the north of New York state to Camp Sprout Lake. Driving the van was a guy called Dave, who is head of all the specialty areas on camp (like swimming, ropes, art, etc.) and his Israeli wife Roni who is Rosh Chinuch. We now work with Roni on a day-to-day basis, but more on that later. They’re a lovely couple who instantly invited us to their house for Shabbat when we get back to Israel (Mum- I invited them to ours whenever they’re in Australia, so be prepared for a few more guests in a year or two).
We arrived at the campsite later that evening to be greeted by 200 screaming kids as they had just announced that the massive team tournament on camp, Maccabia, was taking place the next day. It was themed ‘The Avengers’ which, I think, is a team made up of different super heroes like the Hulk and Captain America, though I’m not that up-to-date with my comic book trivia. I joined the green team and Zac joined red, but we both lost the next day to the black team after a day of sports, chanting, dancing, cake decorating and shield decorating. The team that wins gets to hang their shield in the sports hall for the rest of eternity, so I feel the shame of losing every time I see it on the wall.
The next few days were the wrap-up of the 1st session. The way Young Judea works is that the 8-week camp is divided into 2 sessions, each consisting of 4 weeks. Some kids stay for both sessions over the whole summer, but it’s quite expensive and a long time to be away from home so most only come for one. Over intersession, we had some staff training with two other new madrichim from Israel while the rest of the Tzevet (staff) got a day off to relax. They explained to us the structure of the whole camp, the hierarchy, took us on a tour and we met some of the people who run the different aspects of camp.
Camp hierarchy is divided into a few different streams, the main ones being madrichim who take care of the kids, specialists who run their different activities and education staff who try and put education into a lot of aspects of camp. There are roshim (heads) of each section and one director at the top who oversees everything, and is reminiscent of Mrs Goot. Zac and I call her G-d, because she has so much power that she practically decides what the weather will be the next day.
While we were doing our orientation, Roni told us about a new aspect of camp that she was trying to introduce called the Chinuch Tzevet (education staff). This newly created group would oversee the chinuch aspects of camp while writing and running programs for the chanichim (campers). Zac and I were super interested and got involved instantly. At Sprout Lake they have an office with great educational resources and great staff to help us out. We work closely with Jesse who just finished her Masters in Jewish Education at Pardes (a liberal text-study institute in Jerusalem that I was thinking about going to) and is about to start her job in a director’s role at a school. She’s married to Adam who is not only a rabbi, but also a clown doctor and a chef. We also work with Korin who is from Israel and has been at Young Judea in Seattle for the past 2 years as Shlicha (exactly like a Shaliach, just female). The office has a whole database of programs that we can use as inspiration as well as a whole bookshelf of great books, a costume cupboard and a really cool machine that can make hot apple cider. I drink about 3 cups a day.
I spend my mornings writing and running programs for kids in 7th & 8th grade and Zac does the same for kids in 5th & 6th grade. We’ve both got partners that we work with from Israel.
The make-up of the madrich body is very different to Hineni. The camp employs about 30 Israelis that fly over each year to bring that atmosphere over. They don’t get paid like all the Americans do, but their incentive is to get a free return plane ticket to the US. A lot stay for a few months after and travel around North & South America. There are two British girls who Zac and I had an instant connection to being in the minority that weren’t from Israel or the US. They’re from a youth movement in Britain called FZY (Federation of Zionist Youth) that Young Judea is affiliated with. A few madrichim come over each year to lead on Young Judea camps, but we found that Hineni’s way of running camp is a lot more similar to theirs. Young Judea is also affiliated with Tsofim (scouts) in Israel, so two of the Israelis are official representatives. They run the flag-raising in the morning, scouting activities during the day, hikes and bring that aspect into camp. One of them is my partner in the Chinuch office and they’re both really nice. So overall, the madrich body is more or less 48% Israeli, 50% American and 2% members of the Commonwealth nations. It’s great to meet people from all over the world, and I’m sure we’ll catch up with the Brits when we go to London at the end of the year, stay with some Americans in NYC and see some of the Israelis when we go back in a few weeks.
In terms of the actual campsite, you can check out the facilities in a video Zac & I made:
or on the Sprout Lake website:
As you can see it’s a beautiful place- lots of green grass to play on, a basketball court, Zionist murals, an outdoor synagogue, a climbing wall, etc. There’s also horseback riding offered and a Tiyul (hiking trip) for every Eidah (year level). Each Eidah also does MADIMOW, which is an acronym for ‘Making A Difference In My Own Way’, or just a more ridiculous way of saying social justice activities. My Eidah went to volunteer for one day at a local organic farm which grows food for the needy and provides fresh produce to the local population who otherwise would find it hard to buy it. Other Eidot go to old age homes, soup kitchens and the oldest Eidah, Bogrim, goes to NYC for meals on wheels. Right now Bogrim are on an excursion in Washington DC to look at Israel’s relationship with the US, learn about advocacy and obviously do a bit of sightseeing.
An average day on camp looks is as following:
7am Wakeup
7:30 Mifkad (flag raising, announcements, anthems- I’m slowly learning Star Spangled Banner)
8:00 Prayers
8:30 Breakfast
9:45 Electives x3
12:45 Lunch (they do it Israeli style here- milk meals for breakfast and dinner, meat for lunch)
1:30 Naptime (Favourite. Part. Of. The. Day.)
2:30 Bunk activities
5:30 Chofesh (free time for everyone around the campsite, all activities are open)
6:15 Dinner
7:00 Night activities
8:30 Bedtime
9:30 Lights Out
And then if I’m not in the room looking after kids…
12:30 Sleeptime/whatsapping everyone that I’m going to write an update soon/Listening to Hamish & Andy podcasts
And finally onto the most important part, my chanichim! My Eidah is called Tsofim, not to be confused with the Tsofim scouts mentioned above. The kids are 9-12 years old and in around year 5 & 6. We don’t do much with the girls because my age level is so big with 32 boys. There are two bunks of 16 kids each with three counsellors sleeping in each bunk. Shmira here is sleeping in the bunks to keep an eye on the kids, instead of walking around patrolling the campsite. If you’re not on Shmira then you can stay out until 12:30 before you go back to the bunk to sleep. My bunk is the only one where the Wifi from the dining room reaches my iPhone, hence the 12:30 whatsapping. In my bunk, I have two other Israeli Madrichim as well as one Madrich-in-training. On the whole, my kids are great. One of the boys is the son of a rabbi that sometimes helps out at Sprout Lake with Chinuch.
Most of them love basketball so my skills have had to improve rapidly. I’m drawing on my under-13’s experience, and still managing to win against them but I’m not sure how much longer that will last. They’re also obsessed with Magic cards which is like a more complicated version of Pokemon. That usually keeps them occupied during nap time, but a few of them have tried to teach me against my will- I don’t even want to dabble in the world of Ice Mages and Level 78 Wizards, so I leave them to it and just play Checkers. I’ve also been subtly trying to convert them to Australianism. I have a flag hanging above my bed and every so often play Angus & Julia Stone on the speakers. The whole camp has also learnt ‘Aussie Aussie Aussie, Oy Oy Oy’ and do it on repeat, even when Zac and I aren’t around. There is talk of having an Australian themed day where we’ll sing the anthem in the morning, replace ‘Hebrew Word of the Day’ with ‘Aussie Word of the Day’ and have a game of cricket or two.
Today Zac and I had one of two days off that we get this session, so we headed into NYC for 24 hours. We spent the night on the Upper West Side near Central Park, woke up at 10:30am, headed to an awesome cafe in Manhattan, walked around the area, got haircuts in Brooklyn (I got yet another buzz cut, yet this time there was considerably less hair) and finally headed back up to camp.
Tomorrow we go on Tiyul. We have a 5km hike which will be comparatively easy to the usual 16km we do in Israel. We’ll hike for about 4 hours with the Israeli nature staff, set up tents and chill for the rest of the night. The next morning we head back to camp and do the regular schedule.
So that’s all from me. It’s hard to write frequently because I don’t have all that much time, so apologies for the length but this will hopefully buy me a guilt-free 2 weeks without writing more. Also, we’re not allowed to take photos of the kids for privacy reasons which is the reason for the lack of them, but I’ll see if I can take some around the campsite of our bunk, etc.
All the best,
Mark
Wednesday, 1 August 2012
Pardes Baby!
Hi Guys! I hope everyone has been having a fantastic time during options, Amy and I have been lucky enough to be able to visit MDA and Marava kiddies and we frequently see Mich and Yoni. In response to all these videos, Amz and I thought it was time we created one of our own. I hope you all enjoy it, everyone at pardes loved it! we showed it at the farewell lunch. Our 3 weeks at Pardes were incredible, and we are both now talmud hachamim. xx jews in jlem
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qL8fuTKju0&feature=plcp
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qL8fuTKju0&feature=plcp
Wednesday, 25 July 2012
Video Response
Adi and Ari declared war in their last video- here's our response to that from Camp Sprout Lake, NY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dv4KcvD2rq8&feature=youtube_gdata_player
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dv4KcvD2rq8&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Saturday, 21 July 2012
Friday, 20 July 2012
Don't worry Ari & Ad, a response video is currently being made to the insulting one below, but until that rolls of the production line, here's an update of what Zachariah & myself have been up to lately.
We had an awesome few days in NYC which included Phantom of the Opera and Old Jews Telling Jokes, both phenomenal in their awesome ways. One day for breakfast we made a bagel with 7 different types of peanut butter. I can't remember the full list right now but I'm sure there'll be a photo on the internet soon. They were just a few of the highlights of NYC but that's not what this update's about- we're at camp now!!!!!!!!
We arrived at the beautiful Sprout Lake campsite in the afternoon. It's exactly like the movies- they have archery, swimming, a rock climbing wall, mini-golf, a petting zoo (2 Llamas!!), jewellery making, arts & crafts, horseback riding...the list goes on. Zac & I arrived at the end of the first session of the Summer. There are two 4-week blocks of camp and most kids only stay for 1, so we'll start properly leading next week when new kids arrive. For now though, we're still helping out with the activities and getting to know the kids for now. We instantly gained 50 new girlfriends, all 12-year-olds who are head over heels in love with our accents (sorry Bec if Zac doesn't call for a while).
As soon as we arrived, we got up on stage at that night's talent show and led a good old 'Aussie Aussie Aussie, Oy Oy Oy' to introduce ourselves, wearing cork hats and waving Aussie flags. Walking back through the crowd felt like being one of those preachers on TV- everyone wanted to give us hi-5's or just touch us because we were Australian.
The next day was a massive carnival day called Maccabia where the kids competed in teams in sports, dancing, songs, cake decorating and relay races. Unfortunately neither Zac's nor my team won but it was still and insanely fun day and really helped us get in the spirit of everything. The madrichim body is about 70 strong and camp is a lot more professionalised with adults running the day-to-day logistics and behind the scenes stuff (good and bad in a way), but everyone's super friendly.
Tonight is Shabbat so I have to run off now, sorry it's so short but hopefully will have more time in the next update. We're not allowed to take photos or videos of the kids (legal shtuff) but will ask the camp if I can chuck some stuff on the blog.
Shabbat shalom,
Mark
Tuesday, 17 July 2012
Monday, 16 July 2012
Hey all,
Zac & Mark here live from New York City!!
We woke up at 5am Israel time in Zac's Aunty Joan's apartment overlooking the Knesset, a nice final symbolic view of Israel. After waiting in queues and dealing with insane security (obviously with Israelis shamelessly pushing in line the whole time), we breathed a sigh of relief as we sat on the plane for a short, 11 hour plane ride.
17 hours later after insane US queues, we made it to Manhattan! We were both blown away by the NYC vibe that hit us straight away- the cool little building entrances, fire stairs on all the buildings and extremely long avenues.
We got out of the cab at Mark's family friends who live more or less on the Hudson River in a really central location. After a much needed shower and 3 minute power-nap, we were out the door again going for dinner with them. They took us to an awesome, awesome, awesome place which was kosher, vegetarian & organic. It didn't have the feel of a typical kosher place like Katzy's (the Sydney one, not NY) or Danelli's though- it was a really nice restaurant with Jews & non-Jews alike. It was more a restaurant that happened to be kosher than a kosher restaurant.
Mark wolfed down a soy bacon cheeseburger and sweet potato fries with a rasperry green tea organic soda (yes, you are missing out), and Zac had a spicy tofu burger (super spicy). Apparently the bacon cheeseburger tasted like the real thing, according to our family friends.
After that, we went again to another place-that-happened-to-be-kosher (rather than a kosher place) to get ice cream & froyo. Also really cool after having a cheeseburger. In love with the food scene here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Today we are off to the MOMA (Museum of Modern Art) for the morning after eating breakfast at Tiffany's, going to the Village (area with cool shops and cafes), doing a walking tour of the Lower East Side to see the history of immigrants, Jewish and others, and then tonight we might go to a Broadway show.
We booked to see a show tomorrow night called Old Jews Telling Jokes which is the theatre version of the online video series, see below (clear your afternoon, you'll be spending it on YouTube)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIK1zVPjNGQ&feature=fvwrel
We head up to camp on Wednesday which we're really excited about too!
Missing Israel, missing Australia, missing everyone (but having an alright time here too),
Mark & Zac
Zac & Mark here live from New York City!!
We woke up at 5am Israel time in Zac's Aunty Joan's apartment overlooking the Knesset, a nice final symbolic view of Israel. After waiting in queues and dealing with insane security (obviously with Israelis shamelessly pushing in line the whole time), we breathed a sigh of relief as we sat on the plane for a short, 11 hour plane ride.
17 hours later after insane US queues, we made it to Manhattan! We were both blown away by the NYC vibe that hit us straight away- the cool little building entrances, fire stairs on all the buildings and extremely long avenues.
We got out of the cab at Mark's family friends who live more or less on the Hudson River in a really central location. After a much needed shower and 3 minute power-nap, we were out the door again going for dinner with them. They took us to an awesome, awesome, awesome place which was kosher, vegetarian & organic. It didn't have the feel of a typical kosher place like Katzy's (the Sydney one, not NY) or Danelli's though- it was a really nice restaurant with Jews & non-Jews alike. It was more a restaurant that happened to be kosher than a kosher restaurant.
Mark wolfed down a soy bacon cheeseburger and sweet potato fries with a rasperry green tea organic soda (yes, you are missing out), and Zac had a spicy tofu burger (super spicy). Apparently the bacon cheeseburger tasted like the real thing, according to our family friends.
After that, we went again to another place-that-happened-to-be-kosher (rather than a kosher place) to get ice cream & froyo. Also really cool after having a cheeseburger. In love with the food scene here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Today we are off to the MOMA (Museum of Modern Art) for the morning after eating breakfast at Tiffany's, going to the Village (area with cool shops and cafes), doing a walking tour of the Lower East Side to see the history of immigrants, Jewish and others, and then tonight we might go to a Broadway show.
We booked to see a show tomorrow night called Old Jews Telling Jokes which is the theatre version of the online video series, see below (clear your afternoon, you'll be spending it on YouTube)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIK1zVPjNGQ&feature=fvwrel
We head up to camp on Wednesday which we're really excited about too!
Missing Israel, missing Australia, missing everyone (but having an alright time here too),
Mark & Zac
Saturday, 23 June 2012
YAM LE'YAM
We survived.
5 days, extreme heat, early mornings, long days of hiking, snakes, goats, cows, injuries, sickness, getting pegged and getting lost..
We finished Machon last week, Amy joined us for shabbat at Beit Vegan hostel near Har Hertzl and from Sunday morning to thursday night, Nir hiked the Yam Le'Yam trail. We walked from the Mediterranean Sea, from near Rosh Hanikra, to the Kineret. Or most of it at least...
It was survival of the fittest. We started strong with 22. Walking in up to 35 degree heat every day, we lost more people to injuries and sickness; until our group became smaller and smaller.
We had a crazy week. We swam in beautiful springs every day and climbed Israel's second highest mountain, Har Meron.
It was an incredible bonding time for Nir, cooking dinner together most nights and spending time together out in the bush. We unfortunately didn't finish the entire hike due to time constraints...
General consensus from Nir: Yam Le'yam was incredible.
We are on a free weekend at the moment and start a 2 week Hineni seminar in Jerusalem on sunday, whilst living independently in apartments.
Until next time,
Much Nir loving
xxx
5 days, extreme heat, early mornings, long days of hiking, snakes, goats, cows, injuries, sickness, getting pegged and getting lost..
We finished Machon last week, Amy joined us for shabbat at Beit Vegan hostel near Har Hertzl and from Sunday morning to thursday night, Nir hiked the Yam Le'Yam trail. We walked from the Mediterranean Sea, from near Rosh Hanikra, to the Kineret. Or most of it at least...
It was survival of the fittest. We started strong with 22. Walking in up to 35 degree heat every day, we lost more people to injuries and sickness; until our group became smaller and smaller.
We had a crazy week. We swam in beautiful springs every day and climbed Israel's second highest mountain, Har Meron.
It was an incredible bonding time for Nir, cooking dinner together most nights and spending time together out in the bush. We unfortunately didn't finish the entire hike due to time constraints...
General consensus from Nir: Yam Le'yam was incredible.
We are on a free weekend at the moment and start a 2 week Hineni seminar in Jerusalem on sunday, whilst living independently in apartments.
Until next time,
Much Nir loving
xxx
 |
| Yam Le'Yam: From sea to sea |
 |
| Before: Mediterranean Sea |
 |
| During |
 |
| After: Kineret |
Saturday, 9 June 2012
Final Week/Pumped for Tiyul Sikkum
Dearly Beloved Nir Shnat Blog Subscribers,
As Machon is drawing to it's impending close, the divided emotions throughout the machzor are palpable. People are happy to be moving on from the program that took up a significant portion of their shnat year, so they can have other experiences. On the other hand, most are saddened by the unavoidable fact that all the movements are splitting up, which means it will be harder to keep in contact with other members of the machzor, which has become one big family.
In other news, everyone is excited for the final trip, Tiyul Sikkum, which starts tomorrow. From someone in the organising Chavura, I know it will be an unforgettable two days. To give you unlucky non-shnatties a small inkling of a taste of how exciting the Tiyul will be, here is an incredibly vague and nonspecific teaser promotional video.
Tiyul Sikkum Teaser Promo
Kindest regards, Nir.
UPDATE: Here is a video from our Machon graduation:
As Machon is drawing to it's impending close, the divided emotions throughout the machzor are palpable. People are happy to be moving on from the program that took up a significant portion of their shnat year, so they can have other experiences. On the other hand, most are saddened by the unavoidable fact that all the movements are splitting up, which means it will be harder to keep in contact with other members of the machzor, which has become one big family.
In other news, everyone is excited for the final trip, Tiyul Sikkum, which starts tomorrow. From someone in the organising Chavura, I know it will be an unforgettable two days. To give you unlucky non-shnatties a small inkling of a taste of how exciting the Tiyul will be, here is an incredibly vague and nonspecific teaser promotional video.
Tiyul Sikkum Teaser Promo
Kindest regards, Nir.
UPDATE: Here is a video from our Machon graduation:
Thursday, 7 June 2012
May Update
By Ash and Annie
So dear family and friends of hineni, what have we, the shnatties been up to this joyful month of may?
Well, we kicked it off with a lovely dinner organised by Jaqui and Lips, and prepared by all of us. A wonderful evening sitting in the park and enjoying each others favourite songs. That was until we were interrupted by an American-Israeli that wanted to invite us to dinner sometime (much to our dismay- we thought he would tell us off for the noise!)
That week also saw two birthdays. Ryan’s, on the 2nd, and mine on the 5th- shabbas beyachad.
The week after that was lag baomer! Machon organised a bon fire that featured s’mores (courtesy of our Americans). That week we spent our self imposed Monday tnua time watching “Don’t Mess with the Zohan” to begin our “Zohan Appreciation Day” that featured brushing of teeth with humus and wear hair in unusual ways.
One week we had tnua time in a very interesting place. We were lead on a bus to a hill that was surround by barbwire, we were in Jordan, pre-1967 of course. We made laffa and had a team building peulah run by Michelle and Andrew.
We were welcomed into Shir Hadash shule by Rabbi Pear and his family for our Hineni shabbaton. It began on a Friday night, when we were all billeted out for dinner in the Katamone area. Then a lovely service and an entertaining talk by the Rabbi. Lunch was enjoyed with some special guests; John Zeleznikow (my dad), Josh Back, George Schneider and their kiwi friend Gavin. Sarah and Doron then ran a peulah about being a Jew in Australia and New Zealand. They used the eruv in north Sydney and the killing of animals in New Zealand as examples.
We celebrated Yom Yerushalim. Ari and Lauren were so kind as to organise a BBQ for us. Later that day afew of us headed of to the flag parade. Which not so much of a parade as a giant free concert that everyone danced to with giant Israeli flags. (Girls and boys separate- it’s the only way to do things). Later that night a hefty amount of machon headed out to the ‘Liela Lavan’, a concert that feature such awesome aritist; … .
We celebrated 2 birthdays in one eventful weekend! Nathan turned 19 on the happy Friday (25th)of the weekend of Shavuot. Which began with a dinner at our teacher Marc Kaye’s house- for those several henenites that participate in his Judaism class. Then it was shabbas, and thanks to Ari some of our boys had a lovely shab and shav (shabbas and Shavuot) at Yeshiva- which concluded at you guessed it- the western wall for our second of the three yearly pilgraims. Others of hineni orgin enjoyed the lectures at the egalitarian yeshiva- pardees. There were even some girls that celebrated the chag with our good friends from bnei at harova, in the old city. Me, I went brovvenders, the midrasha down the road, which was home to afew of our hineni mads. Ah, yeah, the second birthday. Mark finally turned 18.
So that’s what we have been up to. Hope all is going well in Oz.
We all send our love.
A Poem about life on Machon:
Machon was fun, fun was the time
Tiyuls, talks, tours, all sublime.
Northern tiyul was off with a boom
Time flew and swooped, zoom zoom zoom.
Kayaking, hiking, jeeping made us fit
To Metula, up north, onwards to the tip.
But wait, there was more, swim, eat, nap, swim
Splashing in the ocean, living on the brim.
Aside from tiyul the food was pretty bad
Thirst was quenched by lessons, teachers getting mad.
Fighting, screaming, learning, laughing, we cry.
Drug tests are negative, yet we’re all high…
ON LIFE
So dear family and friends of hineni, what have we, the shnatties been up to this joyful month of may?
Well, we kicked it off with a lovely dinner organised by Jaqui and Lips, and prepared by all of us. A wonderful evening sitting in the park and enjoying each others favourite songs. That was until we were interrupted by an American-Israeli that wanted to invite us to dinner sometime (much to our dismay- we thought he would tell us off for the noise!)
That week also saw two birthdays. Ryan’s, on the 2nd, and mine on the 5th- shabbas beyachad.
The week after that was lag baomer! Machon organised a bon fire that featured s’mores (courtesy of our Americans). That week we spent our self imposed Monday tnua time watching “Don’t Mess with the Zohan” to begin our “Zohan Appreciation Day” that featured brushing of teeth with humus and wear hair in unusual ways.
One week we had tnua time in a very interesting place. We were lead on a bus to a hill that was surround by barbwire, we were in Jordan, pre-1967 of course. We made laffa and had a team building peulah run by Michelle and Andrew.
We were welcomed into Shir Hadash shule by Rabbi Pear and his family for our Hineni shabbaton. It began on a Friday night, when we were all billeted out for dinner in the Katamone area. Then a lovely service and an entertaining talk by the Rabbi. Lunch was enjoyed with some special guests; John Zeleznikow (my dad), Josh Back, George Schneider and their kiwi friend Gavin. Sarah and Doron then ran a peulah about being a Jew in Australia and New Zealand. They used the eruv in north Sydney and the killing of animals in New Zealand as examples.
We celebrated Yom Yerushalim. Ari and Lauren were so kind as to organise a BBQ for us. Later that day afew of us headed of to the flag parade. Which not so much of a parade as a giant free concert that everyone danced to with giant Israeli flags. (Girls and boys separate- it’s the only way to do things). Later that night a hefty amount of machon headed out to the ‘Liela Lavan’, a concert that feature such awesome aritist; … .
We celebrated 2 birthdays in one eventful weekend! Nathan turned 19 on the happy Friday (25th)of the weekend of Shavuot. Which began with a dinner at our teacher Marc Kaye’s house- for those several henenites that participate in his Judaism class. Then it was shabbas, and thanks to Ari some of our boys had a lovely shab and shav (shabbas and Shavuot) at Yeshiva- which concluded at you guessed it- the western wall for our second of the three yearly pilgraims. Others of hineni orgin enjoyed the lectures at the egalitarian yeshiva- pardees. There were even some girls that celebrated the chag with our good friends from bnei at harova, in the old city. Me, I went brovvenders, the midrasha down the road, which was home to afew of our hineni mads. Ah, yeah, the second birthday. Mark finally turned 18.
So that’s what we have been up to. Hope all is going well in Oz.
We all send our love.
A Poem about life on Machon:
Machon was fun, fun was the time
Tiyuls, talks, tours, all sublime.
Northern tiyul was off with a boom
Time flew and swooped, zoom zoom zoom.
Kayaking, hiking, jeeping made us fit
To Metula, up north, onwards to the tip.
But wait, there was more, swim, eat, nap, swim
Splashing in the ocean, living on the brim.
Aside from tiyul the food was pretty bad
Thirst was quenched by lessons, teachers getting mad.
Fighting, screaming, learning, laughing, we cry.
Drug tests are negative, yet we’re all high…
ON LIFE
Shnatsem Vid
A little while ago Nir made a video for Ofek's shnatsem to tell them how shnat is going and how amazing it is! Check it out:
Tuesday, 5 June 2012
The End of Machon
For the past four months in Israel, Machon has been our home. We have been living and learning at the Kiryat Moriah campus in Jerusalem with 80 other shnatties from different youth movements. We have travelled all over the country on free weekends, learnt incredible amounts in classes during the week, spent many nights hitting up the streets of Jerusalem and have made incredible friendships that will last forever. Our Machon group has become family, and over the next week we are all posed with the difficult task of saying goodbye to this incredible mischpocha as Machon comes to an end.
As we prepare to part from our friends at Machon, a new journey awaits us. Next week, we have a Hineni shabbaton to chill out and reflect on our experiences so far. We then spend 5 days on tiyul yam'le'yam (sea-to-sea) where we will rough it up and hike from the Mediterranean Sea to the Kinneret. We then move into apartments in central J-roo, on Ben Yehuda street for 2 weeks of Hineni seminar!
Thinking of you at home, always,
Nir
As we prepare to part from our friends at Machon, a new journey awaits us. Next week, we have a Hineni shabbaton to chill out and reflect on our experiences so far. We then spend 5 days on tiyul yam'le'yam (sea-to-sea) where we will rough it up and hike from the Mediterranean Sea to the Kinneret. We then move into apartments in central J-roo, on Ben Yehuda street for 2 weeks of Hineni seminar!
Thinking of you at home, always,
Nir
 |
| Machon at the Bahai Gardens in Haifa on Northern Tiyul |
Friday, 1 June 2012
Packing Boxes for Lone Soldiers
A few weeks ago during Hineni time, Nir volunteered at the Fuchsberg centre in Jerusalem to help pack boxes for lone soldiers who made Aliyah with Nefesh B'Nefesh, an organisation that helps olim make Aliya and integrate into society here. Sadly they only operate in the northern hemisphere but it was really nice to help out to help them feel at home during Shavuot.
It was a great night where we met people from around the world and on other programs while eating pizza and volunteering our time. Photos below
It was a great night where we met people from around the world and on other programs while eating pizza and volunteering our time. Photos below
Wednesday, 30 May 2012
Yom Yisrael
Today on Yom Yisrael (a weekly day trip out of the Machon bubble) we looked at the concept of Aliyah. On previous days we've done topics such as the Holocaust, the IDF, Israeli culture, Israeli politics and the conflict.
For Aliyah, we heard a talk in the morning given by Serebro's grandpa who, among other things was the head of Hillel worldwide which runs Jewish and Zionist events on thousands of university campuses.
After that we went down to an absorption centre for new Olim where they learn Hebrew and prepare for life in Israel. We talked about the concept and hardships of moving countries and different motivations behind it. There was a guy there from Melbourne and another from Perth who took us around.
After we returned back to Machon to listen to a panel of Olim who have been here for a bit longer, and then saw a really good comedian.
We've got around 2 weeks left of Machon so are all very sad but excited to move into the rest of Shnat.
Lots of love,
Nir
For Aliyah, we heard a talk in the morning given by Serebro's grandpa who, among other things was the head of Hillel worldwide which runs Jewish and Zionist events on thousands of university campuses.
After that we went down to an absorption centre for new Olim where they learn Hebrew and prepare for life in Israel. We talked about the concept and hardships of moving countries and different motivations behind it. There was a guy there from Melbourne and another from Perth who took us around.
After we returned back to Machon to listen to a panel of Olim who have been here for a bit longer, and then saw a really good comedian.
We've got around 2 weeks left of Machon so are all very sad but excited to move into the rest of Shnat.
Lots of love,
Nir
Tuesday, 22 May 2012
Northern Tiyul Video
We're well and truly into the swing of things, back from Northern Tiyul and with 3 more weeks of Machon.
We saw Bibi speak tonight at a Masa event with programs from all over the world, as well as Natan Sharansky and some Israeli Olympic athletes.
Northern Tiyul was heaps of fun with kayaking wars, hikes down cliffs and through a river, jeeping in the Golan, Tel Hai, visit to a Druze village with awesome food, Bahai gardens, swimming in the Kinneret, beaches and a Kibbutz party, awesome programs, among other things.
Massive kudos to Zac for co-roshing with Mattan from Betar Melbourne.
Here's the promo video edited by Mark and Berny from Habo Sydney.
http://vimeo.com/41830422
Shnat loving,
Nir
We saw Bibi speak tonight at a Masa event with programs from all over the world, as well as Natan Sharansky and some Israeli Olympic athletes.
Northern Tiyul was heaps of fun with kayaking wars, hikes down cliffs and through a river, jeeping in the Golan, Tel Hai, visit to a Druze village with awesome food, Bahai gardens, swimming in the Kinneret, beaches and a Kibbutz party, awesome programs, among other things.
Massive kudos to Zac for co-roshing with Mattan from Betar Melbourne.
Here's the promo video edited by Mark and Berny from Habo Sydney.
http://vimeo.com/41830422
Shnat loving,
Nir
Tuesday, 15 May 2012
Northern Tiyul So Far
Hey guys,
Don't have much time but here's a quick update of northern tiyul which we're on now.
Yesterday we went on a massive hike in morning which ended up at a spring and waterfall where we all went swimming.
After that was ATV driving in the very north, where Sammy J and Grun got shouted at plenty of times by the instructors for speeding down hills and over rocks.
We went to Tel Hai, the site of a pre-state battle which is quite important to Habo and Betar. Check out the photo of the memorial below.
Today was another hike down the Arbel Mountains, followed by a beautiful lunch and swim in the Kinneret. The day finished up with a visit to a chocolate factory on Kibbutz Deganya.
We've also hit up a Druze village for an awesome lunch and gone to the Bahai Temple in Haifa
More to come,
Nir
Don't have much time but here's a quick update of northern tiyul which we're on now.
Yesterday we went on a massive hike in morning which ended up at a spring and waterfall where we all went swimming.
After that was ATV driving in the very north, where Sammy J and Grun got shouted at plenty of times by the instructors for speeding down hills and over rocks.
We went to Tel Hai, the site of a pre-state battle which is quite important to Habo and Betar. Check out the photo of the memorial below.
Today was another hike down the Arbel Mountains, followed by a beautiful lunch and swim in the Kinneret. The day finished up with a visit to a chocolate factory on Kibbutz Deganya.
We've also hit up a Druze village for an awesome lunch and gone to the Bahai Temple in Haifa
More to come,
Nir
Tuesday, 1 May 2012
April Update
Hey parents and family back in Australia/New Zealand,
What’s up? That’s good. Shnat’s going great!!
March ended well with a great win by Carlton over Richmond and April began with a wedding! Hillel, Hineni’s shaliach to Sydney, invited us to his brother’s wedding. The majority of Nir went to the wedding and really enjoyed the festivities and the free food. We would like to wish a huge mazel tov to Hillel’s brother Chaim and his new wife Esther and a big thank you for allowing us to join in their celebration. The festivities continued with Daniel Grunstein’s 19th birthday. Along with other Machonikim we had a great night out on the town. Further continuing the happiness was another great win by Carlton against Brisbane. Although classes are going great and are being attended punctually by all, chofesh provided a well needed break. Everyone enjoyed the seders they attended and had a great experience of Pesach in the Holy Land – for most of us that meant one seder night! A lot of Nir went to Zorba, a spiritual music festival in the middle of the desert, which was an incredible experience. Each Nirian found their own fun during the holiday and we highly recommend you speak to your own child to find out more details.
With chofesh over and another brilliant win to Carlton, this time against Collingwood, we returned to Machon, welcomed by brand new merchandise (go Andy for organising!) and a nice picnic breakfast on the machon grass area. Yoni Genende’s 19th birthday was also celebrated in style. A majority of the group then went on a three day Israel Advocacy Seminar funded by the ZFA and run by Stand With Us. Speakers included Mark Regev, David Horovitz and Isi Leibler. It was a great learning seminar and although extremely intense, everyone enjoyed themselves and is looking forward to the second part of the seminar later on in the year.
The next week involved Yom Hashoah, on which machonkim organised a moving ceremony. The week prior we had visited Yad Vashem and the day before we went to another museum in which we explored the impact of the Holocaust on Israeli society, in particular the Adolf Eichmann trial. The night of Yom Hashoah we attended a ceremony at Kibbutz Yad Mordechai, a Hashomer Hatzair kibbutz. Before the ceremony began, Nir gathered and had a moving talk about our families and our connection to this unique event in our Jewish history. The ceremony itself was in Hebrew, but nonetheless an experience we will not forget. This sadness coincided with our beloved bogan Lauren Aaron’s departure from the program. Although we all miss her dearly we wish her well on IBC and we can’t wait to see her again soon. Andy Le Bransky then returned in style a few days later. We missed her and are so happy to have her back!
Continuing the busy schedule, Yom Hazikaron followed. We attended a MASA event made especially for English speakers on their programs. Nir Cohen, the ex-Machon madrich after whom our year is named, was remembered along with all soldiers who have given their lives for the safety and security of our Jewish homeland as well as those murdered by terrorists in the past 64 years of the country’s existence. The following morning we went to Har Herzl for the annual Yom Hazikaron ceremony. The entire day was a heartfelt insight into Israeli society and each Nirian connected to the day in their own way. In contrast to the seriousness of Yom Hazikaron, Yom Ha’atzmaut was a fantastic celebration of the State of Israel. Each of us celebrated in our own way and continued celebrating when Carlton beat Fremantle.
Until next month, enjoy the diaspora and lets continue praying for Carlton’s 17th Premiership.
Amanda and Lipson and all of Nir Shnat 2012.
What’s up? That’s good. Shnat’s going great!!
March ended well with a great win by Carlton over Richmond and April began with a wedding! Hillel, Hineni’s shaliach to Sydney, invited us to his brother’s wedding. The majority of Nir went to the wedding and really enjoyed the festivities and the free food. We would like to wish a huge mazel tov to Hillel’s brother Chaim and his new wife Esther and a big thank you for allowing us to join in their celebration. The festivities continued with Daniel Grunstein’s 19th birthday. Along with other Machonikim we had a great night out on the town. Further continuing the happiness was another great win by Carlton against Brisbane. Although classes are going great and are being attended punctually by all, chofesh provided a well needed break. Everyone enjoyed the seders they attended and had a great experience of Pesach in the Holy Land – for most of us that meant one seder night! A lot of Nir went to Zorba, a spiritual music festival in the middle of the desert, which was an incredible experience. Each Nirian found their own fun during the holiday and we highly recommend you speak to your own child to find out more details.
With chofesh over and another brilliant win to Carlton, this time against Collingwood, we returned to Machon, welcomed by brand new merchandise (go Andy for organising!) and a nice picnic breakfast on the machon grass area. Yoni Genende’s 19th birthday was also celebrated in style. A majority of the group then went on a three day Israel Advocacy Seminar funded by the ZFA and run by Stand With Us. Speakers included Mark Regev, David Horovitz and Isi Leibler. It was a great learning seminar and although extremely intense, everyone enjoyed themselves and is looking forward to the second part of the seminar later on in the year.
The next week involved Yom Hashoah, on which machonkim organised a moving ceremony. The week prior we had visited Yad Vashem and the day before we went to another museum in which we explored the impact of the Holocaust on Israeli society, in particular the Adolf Eichmann trial. The night of Yom Hashoah we attended a ceremony at Kibbutz Yad Mordechai, a Hashomer Hatzair kibbutz. Before the ceremony began, Nir gathered and had a moving talk about our families and our connection to this unique event in our Jewish history. The ceremony itself was in Hebrew, but nonetheless an experience we will not forget. This sadness coincided with our beloved bogan Lauren Aaron’s departure from the program. Although we all miss her dearly we wish her well on IBC and we can’t wait to see her again soon. Andy Le Bransky then returned in style a few days later. We missed her and are so happy to have her back!
Continuing the busy schedule, Yom Hazikaron followed. We attended a MASA event made especially for English speakers on their programs. Nir Cohen, the ex-Machon madrich after whom our year is named, was remembered along with all soldiers who have given their lives for the safety and security of our Jewish homeland as well as those murdered by terrorists in the past 64 years of the country’s existence. The following morning we went to Har Herzl for the annual Yom Hazikaron ceremony. The entire day was a heartfelt insight into Israeli society and each Nirian connected to the day in their own way. In contrast to the seriousness of Yom Hazikaron, Yom Ha’atzmaut was a fantastic celebration of the State of Israel. Each of us celebrated in our own way and continued celebrating when Carlton beat Fremantle.
Until next month, enjoy the diaspora and lets continue praying for Carlton’s 17th Premiership.
Amanda and Lipson and all of Nir Shnat 2012.
Thursday, 26 April 2012
Yom Haatzmaut
Making the quick transition from Yom Hazikaron to Yom Haatzmaut was a weird feeling as always, but we made it in full swing. Last night some of us went to Jerusalem and Tel Aviv for different street parties and festivities, and some of us went to Raanana to see Hadag Nachash in concert. We've got the next few days off which includes the weekend which should be awesome. Happy Yom Haatzmaut!!!
Yom Hazikaron
For Israel's day of memorial, we went to a number of ceremonies around Jerusalem to commemorate both fallen soldiers and victims of terror.
On Erev Yom Hazikaron, all of Machon went to a Masa event (an organisation in charge of worldwide Israel programs) where we heard a number of stories of Olim and native-born Israelis who had lost their lives. One of these stories included Nir Cohen, and his family was present and lit a memorial flame in honour of him and other soldiers and victims of terror.
Jacs was the representative of Machon to help Natan Sharansky lay a wreath on behalf of the Jewish Agency.
The next day, Machon took us to the national military cemetery, Har Herzl. There was a short ceremony where we saw Bibi speak, and a number of important figures lay wreaths including Shimon Peres, the Sephardi & Ashkenazi chief rabbis of Israel and Benny Gantz, the head of IDF.
In the afternoon, as ANZAC day coincided with Yom Hazikaron, the Aussies and Kiwis on Machon ran a service to remember our fallen back on the other side of the world. We had readings from a number of Hineniites, the Haka which included Yoni (who was actually born in NZ) and musical accompaniment by Ryan. Massive kudos to Nathan for initiating and coordinating the service.
On Erev Yom Hazikaron, all of Machon went to a Masa event (an organisation in charge of worldwide Israel programs) where we heard a number of stories of Olim and native-born Israelis who had lost their lives. One of these stories included Nir Cohen, and his family was present and lit a memorial flame in honour of him and other soldiers and victims of terror.
Jacs was the representative of Machon to help Natan Sharansky lay a wreath on behalf of the Jewish Agency.
The next day, Machon took us to the national military cemetery, Har Herzl. There was a short ceremony where we saw Bibi speak, and a number of important figures lay wreaths including Shimon Peres, the Sephardi & Ashkenazi chief rabbis of Israel and Benny Gantz, the head of IDF.
In the afternoon, as ANZAC day coincided with Yom Hazikaron, the Aussies and Kiwis on Machon ran a service to remember our fallen back on the other side of the world. We had readings from a number of Hineniites, the Haka which included Yoni (who was actually born in NZ) and musical accompaniment by Ryan. Massive kudos to Nathan for initiating and coordinating the service.
Thursday, 19 April 2012
Shnatsem Video
Below is Nir's video to the year below, Ofek on their federal Shnatsem to prepare them for Shnat 2013. Edited by Lips
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYUyMfv86bk&feature=youtube_gdata_player
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYUyMfv86bk&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Wednesday, 18 April 2012
Yom Hashoah Tekes @ Machon
This morning, Machon honoured the millions who perished in the Holocaust with a very emotional ceremony outside on the grass. We had readings and songs and a dance from a number of Machonikim. From Hineni, Zac, Ari, Doron, Ryan, Sarah & Adi performed. Soon, we will hear the siren on the streets of Jerusalem where the population stops, and then go to Yad Mordechai for a national ceremony.
Tuesday, 28 February 2012
Saturday, 25 February 2012
Machon Week 1
Dear families and friends,
Zac, Georgia and Mark here for the first official update of Nir's Shnat 2012. After an intense week of AZYC Opening Seminar in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, and then another intense week of Hineni Opening Seminar in the Golan Heights and the Old City of J-Town, we come to you from the base of Kiryat Moriah, the HQ of the Jewish Agency, but more importantly our home for the next four months on Machon.
We started with the long awaited moment of not living out of a suitcase, and were straight away thrust back into it with a 2 day hike in the Judean Desert. This was an official opening of Machon where we got to know our Chavura (family) groups as well as the broader Machon community. Despite the fact that it was a bit of a strain, we enjoyed getting down and dirty on the dusty trail. At night, we settled in for some luxury camping, making dinner (spaghetti and burgers for those who are really interested) in our Chavurot, had a program by the Machon madrichim and sat around the campfire.
The next day we woke up to the cold of the desert which progressively warmed up enough to pray Shacharit overlooking valleys and ridges in one direction, and the Dead Sea in the other. We drove to the Ein Gedi hike which was beautiful, and it ended off with a swim in a Maayan (watering hole) with a waterfall flowing into it. The day ended off with some team-building exercises next to the Dead Sea, and some people braved the freezing cold water and went for a swim & float in it.
We travelled back to Machon after that, and in the morning got to know the area through an amazing race around the campus and the surrounding suburb, Talpiyot. We walked down to Emek Rafaim, a strip with plenty of cafes and shops, but most importantly ice cream at Aldo’s, a chain which uses Max Brenner chocolate.
The afternoon took more of a touristy turn as we visited the Kotel Tunnels, walking underground and seeing historical stones and the original streets used in Temple times. We got an opportunity to go the closest point to the Holy of Holies, did a virtual tour of the Temple looking at all the different ages of the Temple Mount and did a program on the importance of Jerusalem to the Jewish people as part of Machon, which fostered a broad range of viewpoints from the various youth movements.
Thursday was a day of horrible, rainy weather, but it didn’t stop us visiting Har Herzl, the cemetery of important Zionist figures including Herzl and Jabotinsky. Most of Machon stayed inside at the Herzl museum and did a program on the major figures in Zionist history, but a few of us braved the weather and visited some important sites. The program allowed us to evaluate the decisions of Golda Meir in the Yom Kippur War, Menachem Begin campaigning to reject German reparation money and Ben-Gurion encouraging mass immigration despite severe lack of resources.
After a week of touring, meeting people, learning, hiking and whatever other draining activities you can think of, it was time for our first free weekend and chilled Shabbat where we could get away from everything and recharge.
Mark: I went to the Friedgut family with Ari, spending the weekend at his great aunt (Dianne) and uncle (Jac) who made aliyah around 20 years ago. As soon as we were given our own room and a comfortable bed, we crashed and had a nap for a good 2 hours before Shabbat came in. Shabbat dinner was with Ari’s cousins, two of whom are around our age and another two who are a bit younger. I got an offer from them to come and play drums at their house whenever I want, which is a 5 minute walk from Machon, so obviously Shabbat dinner was great. After shul and a giant lunch, Jac told us about how he met Kennedy in the White House and saved New York City from economic turmoil. It was a really great weekend, going to a few different shul services and recharging my batteries for the week to come.
Everyone again: After Shabbat, we started classes. Machon classes consist of Tchumim (core subjects)- Hebrew, Zionism, Story of the Jewish People and Judaism, as well as a few different components that make up our day, such as electives and Yom Yisrael (a day trip to experience Israeli life). For the most recent Yom Yisrael, which acted as an intro to the rest of them, we visited Tel Gezer, an archaeological site which is referred to in the Tanach, and we read the corresponding biblical passages. We moved on to the close by Kibbutz Gezer where there is a mass grave for 28 soldiers that died defending the now-defunct Kibbutz in the Independence War. The day ended off reading poetry by famous Israeli poet Yehuda Amichai who writes about living in modern day Jerusalem. We highly recommend reading his award-winning poetry, which can be found here:
http://famouspoetsandpoems.com/poets/yehuda_amichai/poems/52.html
So that’s been a brief overview of our week. It’s hard to summarise all of it in an email, but it’s all obviously been great. We’re heading into Shabbat as we write this, which will be a perfect time to chill out and get back into another hectic week on Sunday. There's not enough time before Shabbat to add photos, but after it goes out, we'll send a link to literally show you what we've been doing.
Love and miss you all,
Zac, Georgia & Mark
Zac, Georgia and Mark here for the first official update of Nir's Shnat 2012. After an intense week of AZYC Opening Seminar in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, and then another intense week of Hineni Opening Seminar in the Golan Heights and the Old City of J-Town, we come to you from the base of Kiryat Moriah, the HQ of the Jewish Agency, but more importantly our home for the next four months on Machon.
We started with the long awaited moment of not living out of a suitcase, and were straight away thrust back into it with a 2 day hike in the Judean Desert. This was an official opening of Machon where we got to know our Chavura (family) groups as well as the broader Machon community. Despite the fact that it was a bit of a strain, we enjoyed getting down and dirty on the dusty trail. At night, we settled in for some luxury camping, making dinner (spaghetti and burgers for those who are really interested) in our Chavurot, had a program by the Machon madrichim and sat around the campfire.
The next day we woke up to the cold of the desert which progressively warmed up enough to pray Shacharit overlooking valleys and ridges in one direction, and the Dead Sea in the other. We drove to the Ein Gedi hike which was beautiful, and it ended off with a swim in a Maayan (watering hole) with a waterfall flowing into it. The day ended off with some team-building exercises next to the Dead Sea, and some people braved the freezing cold water and went for a swim & float in it.
We travelled back to Machon after that, and in the morning got to know the area through an amazing race around the campus and the surrounding suburb, Talpiyot. We walked down to Emek Rafaim, a strip with plenty of cafes and shops, but most importantly ice cream at Aldo’s, a chain which uses Max Brenner chocolate.
The afternoon took more of a touristy turn as we visited the Kotel Tunnels, walking underground and seeing historical stones and the original streets used in Temple times. We got an opportunity to go the closest point to the Holy of Holies, did a virtual tour of the Temple looking at all the different ages of the Temple Mount and did a program on the importance of Jerusalem to the Jewish people as part of Machon, which fostered a broad range of viewpoints from the various youth movements.
Thursday was a day of horrible, rainy weather, but it didn’t stop us visiting Har Herzl, the cemetery of important Zionist figures including Herzl and Jabotinsky. Most of Machon stayed inside at the Herzl museum and did a program on the major figures in Zionist history, but a few of us braved the weather and visited some important sites. The program allowed us to evaluate the decisions of Golda Meir in the Yom Kippur War, Menachem Begin campaigning to reject German reparation money and Ben-Gurion encouraging mass immigration despite severe lack of resources.
After a week of touring, meeting people, learning, hiking and whatever other draining activities you can think of, it was time for our first free weekend and chilled Shabbat where we could get away from everything and recharge.
Mark: I went to the Friedgut family with Ari, spending the weekend at his great aunt (Dianne) and uncle (Jac) who made aliyah around 20 years ago. As soon as we were given our own room and a comfortable bed, we crashed and had a nap for a good 2 hours before Shabbat came in. Shabbat dinner was with Ari’s cousins, two of whom are around our age and another two who are a bit younger. I got an offer from them to come and play drums at their house whenever I want, which is a 5 minute walk from Machon, so obviously Shabbat dinner was great. After shul and a giant lunch, Jac told us about how he met Kennedy in the White House and saved New York City from economic turmoil. It was a really great weekend, going to a few different shul services and recharging my batteries for the week to come.
Everyone again: After Shabbat, we started classes. Machon classes consist of Tchumim (core subjects)- Hebrew, Zionism, Story of the Jewish People and Judaism, as well as a few different components that make up our day, such as electives and Yom Yisrael (a day trip to experience Israeli life). For the most recent Yom Yisrael, which acted as an intro to the rest of them, we visited Tel Gezer, an archaeological site which is referred to in the Tanach, and we read the corresponding biblical passages. We moved on to the close by Kibbutz Gezer where there is a mass grave for 28 soldiers that died defending the now-defunct Kibbutz in the Independence War. The day ended off reading poetry by famous Israeli poet Yehuda Amichai who writes about living in modern day Jerusalem. We highly recommend reading his award-winning poetry, which can be found here:
http://famouspoetsandpoems.com/poets/yehuda_amichai/poems/52.html
So that’s been a brief overview of our week. It’s hard to summarise all of it in an email, but it’s all obviously been great. We’re heading into Shabbat as we write this, which will be a perfect time to chill out and get back into another hectic week on Sunday. There's not enough time before Shabbat to add photos, but after it goes out, we'll send a link to literally show you what we've been doing.
Love and miss you all,
Zac, Georgia & Mark
Wednesday, 8 February 2012
Video Blog 2 and Update
Coming from Chispin, Golan Heights from the lake next to the beautiful moshav we're staying on. We've been on a few hikes around the area since, been to a chocolate factory, taken over a pub in Tiberias and visited sites all around the north in addition to doing programs about ideology, Judaism and Tu B'Shvat/Shnat
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JY0sMhXavy8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JY0sMhXavy8
Sunday, 5 February 2012
Visit to Nirs Grave
This morning we opened Hineni Opening Sem with a visit to Nir Cohen's grave, which is located within the military cemetery on Har Herzl.
Nir Cohen was a Shnat madrich who lead Erez, a previous year on Machon. He was killed in the Lebanon War and we were subsequently named after him.
Nir Cohen was a Shnat madrich who lead Erez, a previous year on Machon. He was killed in the Lebanon War and we were subsequently named after him.
Thursday, 2 February 2012
Wednesday, 1 February 2012
A few pics for you eager stalkers
More to come eventually, but little Internet and little time call for superficial Israel pride photos without much meaning. Mark
Sunday, 29 January 2012
BRB, Israel
Family & friends,
Thank you for your lovely goodbyes. Every one of your “have an amazing time”’s and “don’t say no to anything”’s over the past few days have built the excitement up to a boiling point which can only lead up to a crazy, loud, security-guard-filled time in the airport tomorrow, outside the usually quiet airline offices.
Your gifts ranging from chocolates to a Swiss Army Knife with a built in saw will keep us going through the year. Every time we miss our shower or bed or a home-cooked meal, we’ll have something to remember your pretty faces by.
Time to zip up our suitcases, cry out all our bodily fluids & head off.
Stay safe, don’t do anything we wouldn’t do.
Nir
Wednesday, 18 January 2012
11:11:50
We experienced a wonderful fed camp last week which got us all into the Shnat spirit.
With 29 year 12s on camp, 25 of them shnatties a lot of fun was had ruaching, bonding and learning.
While many of us are experiencing their first excitement, others are just hitting the pre-flight nerves, while still others can't quite believe the reality. On all fronts (Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide, NZ) packing is under way and tickets are being picked up. Nir's Shnog is just about ready to go public!
11 Days to Go...
Nir
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