The Kaveret Train is in full motion!

Dear Parents,

I figured it wasn't fair to give the devout blog fans only a security update for reading material in the beginning of their new week, so I am also going to give you all a bit of an update. The past few weeks for the shnatties have been full of excitement and adventure, as well as some new discoveries in their communal lives.

The Kaveret program has been going for about 4 weeks now, and most of the tzevetim (small groups of madrichim) are getting to be well established in their volunteering projects all over the centre of the country. The Shnatties are split up into 3 different volunteering projects, all with their own special rewards, and all with their unique demands.

For the Akko group - they have three tzevetim, of which one works in a school and after-school club in Haifa, one works in a school in Akko, and the third works in the co-existence tzevet, dealing primarily with Israeli Arabs in villages in the surrounds.

The shnatties have one tzevet who works in a school in Holon in the mornings, and an afternoon club for middle-school aged students in the afternoon. Another tzevet works in Tel-Aviv in a few different places, including one morning a week teaching English to Sudanese refugees, two days a week in a vocational school, and also in an afternoon club!

The third tzevet works in Hadera, which is a little further away from their home, but is definitely worth the ride! They are working in an elementary school in the morning, and in an afternoon club for children in years 4-9.

The group spends 3 days a week in the different volunteering projects, of which half a day is committed to a 'yom tzevet,' a time when they can sit down with the guides who are assisting them and partnering them through the experience, for learning and dealing with some of the more difficult questions revolving around their experiences with Israeli youth.

Hebrew has also started up again after the break, and it gives the shnatties another avenue to continue improving and raising their level of hebrew. Now that they are immersed within Israeli society, not just in their projects but also with shopping, travel, and other daily interactions, every bit of Hebrew can only help in their experience of Israeli life.

The group has also been going through an intense hadracha (leadership) theory course on Thursdays, and has delved into questions of what it means to be a leader, personal example, working as a group, as well as many other relevant issues in being a leader within the movement and machane.

The shnatties also had their first Poland preparation seminar a few weeks ago, and began to explore the Shoah and the way that we view and remember it today, both in the movement and within our home communities. They will be doing their second preparation seminar in the 2nd week of February, where the groups will be spending two days at the Ghetto Fighters' Museum near Nahariya, a museum that was built and maintained by survivors of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. It will definitely be a big highlight, and will deal with lots of questions and impressions of the Shoah and how we see it today. Of course it won't be long till we will be on a plane and off to Poland ourselves!

So that's where things are at the moment on Shnat. With the Gaza operation over, we are hoping that life will return at a slightly more non-exciting level and pace, but that the steam train that is Shnat 08-09 will continue rolling along at high speed!

I will endeavour to add some photos of the workshoppers in their living environments, both in their houses and in their volunteering projects, in the next blog update.

Until then i would like to wish you all a safe and happy week!

Regards,

Leon.