Weekly Siyur: Haifa

Last week's theme was Arab-Israeli Conflict, Part One. On Thursday, the chanichim traveled to Haifa for a siyur about the British Mandate period (1919-1948). They started the siyur with a view of the city and port from the Louis Promenade, discussing the different populations that existed in Haifa at the start of the Mandate period. From there, they moved to Wadi Nisnas (Valley of the Mongoose), and then to City Hall, finishing at a mosque in the Lower City. They discussed the economic struggles of the Mandate period, brought on by the development of the Haifa port by the British and the arrival of olim from Europe and Arabs from the neighbouring villages. The questions around co-existence in the face of rising Palestinian nationalism and increasing Jewish immigration throughout the 1920s and 30s were definitely still felt as relevant today.

The shnatties at the Promenade. 

Sitting on some of the art installations in Wadi Nisnas.

Chantal sampling falafel in Wadi Nisnas.

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Learnign about Arab-Jewish relations in the 1920s by 

acting as Hasan Shukri and Shabtai Levi, former local politicians.

Rememberance Day Memorial

Last Sunday, the Shnatties had a unique opportunity to attend a memorial for Remembrance Day at the invitation of the British Ambassador. They attended a ceremony at the cemetery in Ramla, and afterwords a reception at the Ambassador's residence.

Weekly Theme and Siyur: Trumpledor Cemetery and the Palmach Museum

The theme of this week was Dilemmas of Nation Building, examining the dilemmas faced by the leadership of the state of Israel in its early years.

The guest speaker was Yisrael Medad, former Beitar member and Begin Center educator, speaking about revisionist Zionism. It was also a chance for the chanichim to ask questions about a different Zionist vision today, as Yisrael lives in the West Bank settlements. 

On Monday we set out from Ein Dor to the country’s centre, Tel Aviv. Our first stop found us at the Trumpeldor cemetery where many prominent figures in contemporary Israeli society are buried as well as some of the earliest Zionists who helped build the state off their Zionist vision. We visited the graves of Max Nordau, Joseph Haim Brenner, Ahad Haam and Eliyahu Golomb to speak about what the Zionist vision was and to start understanding that Zionism means taking active approaches towards shaping experiences of learning, volunteering, socialising etc in Israeli society and to bring those questions of action back home. We ended this part of the day with a question of vision and what vision we will try to create in our own lives. As a wise Zionist once said “The first step toward creating an improved future is developing the ability to envision it. VISION will ignite the fire of passion that fuels our commitment to do WHATEVER IT TAKES to achieve excellence.” Theodore Herzl.
We took a 5 minute walk down to Frischman Beach to stand before the monument dedicated to the Altalena Affair in 1948. After the establishment of the State of Israel a question of what is to be done about Israel’s defense force loomed in the air for David Ben-Gurion. An attempt was made to unify and absorb all the different fighting military organisations, Lehi, Irgun (Etzel) and the Hagana, into the IDF which would serve as one defense force for the State of Israel. The events surrounding the Altalena Affair was an act of defiance and resistance on behalf of the Irgun to bring in additional fighters and military equipment against the orders of Ben Gurion. The IDF met the Altalena on the shores of Tel Aviv and in an attempt to stop them a battle ensued.  

After hearing about the story of the Altalena it was time to make some lunch and relax on the beach and frolic in the water. Soon after we made our way to our final destination of the day, the infamous Palmach Museum. The Palmach were the elite striking force of the Hagana, an underground military organisation of the Jewish community entrusted with defending the Jewish people in Palestine in 1941. The museum itself incorporates the pioneering spirit of the Palmach in an interactive and experiential way. It covered the Palmach legacy through the stories of individuals and groups and invited us to join the history of young Palmach recruits from its establishment until the end of the War of Independence. With three-dimensional décor, films and various effects, we travelled through time understanding the Palmach team spirit and sacrifices made in order to defend the state of Israel.

-Michelle Mizrachi, Boneh Rakezet

Rabin Rally and Seminar

The past weekend, 120 participants from Brazil, Uruguay, Mexico, Argentina, the Netherlands, America, Canada, South Africa, the UK, Germany and Australia gathered to discuss the legacy of Yitzchak Rabin and the struggle for peace in Israel. The seminar, while asking very difficult questions about the obstacles to peace in Israeli and Palestinian society, was also an chance to get to know Habonim Dror around the world. The chanichim had the choice to participate in the seminar in English or Hebrew. On Saturday afternoon, the chanichim also had a choice of guest speakers, to see different methods of people working towards peace in Israel.

Lydia Eisenberg, from Givat Haviva, discussing the work they do with dialogue groups between Israelis and Palestinians.

Ohad Lahav, from the Batim Lemida v'Emda, (a network of after-school clubs for kids in lower socio-economic neighbourhoods throughout Israel) explaining anti-racist education as a tool for peace.

We also had a guest speaker from the Beit Jala Project, an international organization of youth movements that seeks to create connections between Israeli and Palestinian youth groups, and the head of the Arab sector of Hanoar Haoved Youth Movement.

Noah speaking at  the tekkes.

We finished the seminar with a tekkes (ceremony) with representatives from every country before heading to Tel Aviv for the rally. The rally was a joint demonstration by all of the youth movements in Israel, and the speakers included President of Israel Reuven Rivlin, the mother of Naftali Frankel (one of the boys kidnapped this summer), and singer Orna Banai. You can read more about the rally here.

Siyur Thursdays: Zichron Ya'akov and the Pioneer Settlement Museum

It's been a very busy week for Shnat! On Tuesday, they traveled to Rishon Letzion for a movie night with all of world Habonim Dror, including the Australians and South Africans they met on Tiyul Sukkot.

Yesterday, they had a siyur (tour) of Zichron Ya'akov about the First Aliyah. Founded as an agricultural settelment in 1882 with the funds and support of Baron de Rothschild, the town became famous during World War I as the home of the Nili spy ring. Established by the Aronsons, the spy ring operated against the Ottoman rulers for the British empire. The shnatties had a tour of Zichron and some free time to wander around the town.

Afterwards, they headed to Kibbutz Yifat to visit the Pioneer Settlement Museum, to learn about the 3rd Aliyah. The 3rd Aliyah began after the end of the First World War, and was characterized by young olim (immigrants) headed for collective agricultural settlements. Many kibbutzim and moshavim were founded in the Jezreel Valley, where Kibbutz Yifat is located. The museum is an experiential look at the settlements the chalutzim (pioneers) founded, recreating the collective work projects, chader ochel, bathrooms, laundry, and sleeping tents.

This weekend is Rabin Seminar, and the shnatties will be at Givat Haviva with world Habonim Dror. There will be 120 gap-year participants, going through the seminar in English, Spanish, and Hebrew groups. Check back after the weekend for pictures and summaries of the seminar!

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!