Busy time in Israel!

Dear parents,

It has been a busy busy April on Shnat! The month started off with the shnatties planning and running the pasechet english speaking camps all across the country. In conjunction with Hanoar Haoved, the shnatties were involved in 4 days of peulot, english teaching, hiking, and getting to know the youth of Israel from all over the country! They were involved with communities from Rishon Lezion, Hadera and Holon! The machanot were a huge success, and the shnatties had meaningful experiences and created strong ties both with the younger chanichim at the machane, and with their co-madrichim from Hanoar Haoved. Needless to say, it also provided the shnatties with some strong tools and leadership ideas to take back to their communities and machanot.

The Pesach chofesh period was a good time to relax and unwind for the shnatties before coming back for a busy and packed last month of the program. The last week and a half has been a truly Israeli experience, with Yom Hashoa, Yom Hazikaron, and Yom Haatzmaut all being big experiences for the shnat kvutsa.

For Yom Hashoa, the shnat kvutsa was given a guided tour around the newest exhibition in the Ghetto Fighters' Museum at the Ghetto Fighters' kibbutz. The exhibition details the history of the Dutch Jewish community, and the tragedy of the holocaust in Dutch Jewish history. The shnatties then stayed at the museum for the national tekkes (ceremony) that closes Yom Hashoa in Israel. and even though the tekkes was in Hebrew, we succeeded in finding enough translaters in the vast Habonim crowd to give the shnatties a good idea of what was going on!

Last weekend the shnatties got a great opportunity to mingle and get to know the new Southern Hemisphere (Australia/New Zealand/South Africa) kvutsot, at the english speaking seminar. The theme of the seminar was May Day, and concepts of Union and Solidarity in society today. There was strong discussion between the chanichim about the difficulties of creating union and solidarity in our societies today, and the movements' place in dealing with those challenges. The seminar was also a good starting point for the movements' participation in the annual May Day Rally, which will take place in Tel-Aviv tomorrow. And even with all the serious discussion, there was still plenty of room for friendly laughs, and some strong personal connections came out of the seminar. It was also a great learning experience for the shnatties to understand the other movements and how they function.

On Erev Yom Hazikaron, the shnatties attended a national tekkes at one of the most historic sites in the modern history of Israel, Ammunition Hill. The tekkes was attended by hundreds of other participants of MASA year programs in Israel, and was definitely a moving experience for all involved. To be able to understand the complexity of the state of Israel by standing side by side with Israeli society on a day such as yom ha'atzmaut was definitely a highlight of the year.

The following day was Yom Ha'atzmaut, Israel's Independence Day, and a day of celebration for all. The shnatties had a chofesh day, so they were free to travel and engage with Israeli society on it's most celebrated holiday. And like all good Israelis, celebrate they did!

Today the shnatties did an educational siyur about the complexities of the separation fence, and the issues surrounding the arguments for and against. They examined the human elements of the conflict, and the impact of the conflict on the lives of everyday Israelis and Palestinians. It was an interesting experience for all, and definitely gave them things to ponder about the situation in Israel today.

The coming month is packed with exciting events for the Shnat kvutsa! They will be finishing up their messimot in the next 2 weeks, and as sad as it seems (well i guess except for parents who are awaiting their return!), the shnatties have started to prepare for the journey home. We will be looking at the impact of one of the great Zionists next week, Theodore Herzl, on national Herzl Day. We also have a final tiyul in the Golan Heights in 2 weeks, and then we will be heading off to sikkum seminar before flying out.

It's hard to believe that Shnat is coming to an end, but i have to say that, on a personal note, the Shnat kvutsa of 08-09 are an inspirational and wonderful group of young leaders. They have met every challenge thus far head on, and are a huge asset both to their communities, and to the movement, and I'm sure that the next 3weeks will be no exception.

Until next time,

Leon.