What is Ofek?

This year, we are excited to announce a new addition to the Shnat tochnit (program)! Ofek (horizon) is a chance for the chanichim to explore Israel and Israeli culture while developing an area of their own interest. Each chanich will choose from three options, each one designed to enhance their ability as madrichim by giving them tools to use their experiences and new found knowledge to strengthen their educational capacity. This year, Ofek will take place from December 7th to December 17th, and the three options will be a tiyul, a Jewish study, and an agricultural work placement.

Tiyul - The tiyul will be a chance to develop their skills at planning and leading tiyulim (hikes), while completing a more challenging tiyul. They will spend several days preparing for their tiyul: planning the menu, shopping, learning about the path they will be hiking and the geography and history of the area. Each chanich will plan small hadrachot (lessons/explanations) of the area where they will be hiking. They will be backpacking for five days in the South of the country. The sikkum will include projects/ideas for how to improve tiyulim in their home movement.

Jewish Study - Bina, the Center for Jewish Identity and Hebrew Culture, is a secular yeshiva located in the heart of Tel Aviv. In their own words: "the Secular Yeshiva aims to cultivate a new generation of secular Israeli leaders who possess in-depth familiarity with the Hebrew cultural past and present, and who embrace social activism and Jewish study as central values by which to live. The Secular Yeshiva is a home where young adult students experience intensive learning, encounter varied approaches to Jewish life and embark upon on a fascinating journey." You can read more about Bina here. Shnatties will be taking several courses a day, for example Jewish ethics and philosophy, or Shabbat and Chaggim, and getting a chance to learn more about Jewish ritual and morals through films and siyurim (tours). They will take this knowledge back to HDUK, to strengthen and enrich their ability to be Jewish leaders. The Shnatties will be living in the Kaveret house in Rishon Letzion and travelling to Bina every day.

Agriculture - Living on Kibbutz Ravid, the chanichim will be working every day in the mango, olive and grapefruit fields. This is a chance to develop their connection not only to the land of Israel, but also to the history of Habonim as an agricultural kibbutz-building movement.

Guest educators visited from Bina and ran an activity to explain more about Bina.

Debating if studying or learning is more important.

Learning in chevruta, the traditional form of Jewish text study.

Boneh: Hebrew Classes

The Shnatties are divided into three different Hebrew levels: Aleph (Beginner), Bet (Intermediate) and Gimmel (Advanced), along with the Americans. Classes take place twice a week for three hours per session, and each class is also assigned home work between sessions. Ulpan classes are a mix of speaking and writing, but aim for each level to be able to use their Hebrew more out and about in the county, whether that be practicing reading the newspaper (Gimmel) or asking the price of a bus ticket. Below, pictures of Kitah Aleph in class, practicing writing and speaking, and learning how to buy fruit!

Tiyul Sukkot

Sunday to Wednesday, the Shnatties were hiking through the Golan Heights with their Australian, South African, New Zealand and American counterparts. They hiked through the Yehudiya, Zavitan, Meshushim pools and the Zaki stream. Part of the hikes went through streams, and each day also involved a lot of swimming breaks. On the first day, each hiking group also built their own sukkah, which stayed up at the campsite throughout the tiyul. On Sunday night, the Australians planned a fun erev tarbut (evening program), on Monday night there were chuggim (including stargazing, scary stories, a Hebrew sing a long, and acrobalance), and on Tuesday the Workshoppers planned a medura/musicale with a campfire. They also prepared their own dinner, poike, a stew with rice, vegetables and meat prepared in a special pot over a fire. The tiyul also involved a lot of conversations and comparisons about Habonim around the world, and the chanichim learned a lot from each other. They will get another chance to hang out over Rabin Seminar, Nov 7-8.

Learning about the volcanic activity that formed the Golan Heights.

Watching the Diet Coke and Mentos volcano.

Building their Sukkot.

Swimming break in the Zavitan Stream.

Stirring the poike.

Boneh

From September to December, the Shnatties will be on Kibbutz Ein Dor on Boneh.. Boneh is a three month long educational leadership development seminar. By emphasizing group learning and processing, Boneh encourages the kvutza to understand the past in order to take a stance on the future. Although a core component of Boneh is classroom based learning, the environment is informal and flexible to suit the desires of the chanichim. Discussion and participation are central to the Boneh experience. Boneh lays the intellectual and ideological foundation of Shnat, and future leadership in the movement at home by encouraging the chanichim to ask the big questions: Who am I as a Jew in the world? How is Jewish history relevant to me today? What is my relationship to Israel? What is a youth movement? Where did Habonim Dror come from and what is its mission in modern society? What kind of leader do I want to be? What future do I envision for the Jewish people? Luckily, they have a whole year to explore these questions!

Boneh consists of several different courses, guest lectures, a kibbutz work experience, Yom Kvutza, weekly siyurim (outings) and ulpan (Hebrew classes), as well as different responsibilities for the kvutza. Check back as we explore each of these sections in the upcoming weeks. Below is the weekly schedule. The blue courses are shared with the Workshoppers (American shnatties) and the purple are the shnatties alone. Please check back for more detailed descriptions of each Boneh component in the upcoming weeks.

Shnat 2014-2015

Hi Families and Friends of Shnat UK 2014-15! On this blog you will find pictures and summaries about the happenings of Shnat in Israel. Please check back here for updates and information about upcoming events!

For starters, here are some pictures from Orientation Seminar. Over the seminar, the Shnatties learned exciting things they have in store for them, as well as doing some fun art projects and getting out to explore Tel Aviv a little. They spent the morning on the beach in Tel Aviv, had lunch at Shuk Hacarmel (an open air market), and then went on a graffiti tour of Tel Aviv.

With the Workshoppers, their American counterparts, in Tel Aviv. 

Gal, our tour guide, explaining the political statements behind the graffiti in Florentine, a neighbourhood in South Tel Aviv.

Doing art projects on Orientation Seminar.