Update

This past Thursday the Workshoppers headed out to Tel-Aviv for their second Siyur (out trip) of Boneh. Building off of the themes they have been covering for the past two weeks, the chanichim began their Siyur with a trip to he Diaspora Museum. Built in the 1970s by Abba Kovner,the famous Hebrew poet and leader of the Vilna Ghetto prising, the museum was designed to educate Israeli youth about the long history of the Jewish people throughout the Diaspora. Switching between exploring the museum on their own and participating in group discussions, the workshoppers learned much about the long history of the Jewish People and began to tackle the  question of how Israelis and Diaspora Jews see one another. For many of the chanichim, asking questions about  what ties the Jewish people together five thousand miles away from their homes – but surrounded by models of synagogues from as far away as India and as close as Elkins Park, Phillidephia – was a meaningful one. It isn't often that you get to hear the story of a member of your kvutsah’s first USY dance at Beth Sholom in Elkins Park  alongside the story of the destruction of the oldest synagogue in Baghdad. From the Diaspora museum, we went  on to a little lighter second half of the day in Shuk HaCarmel in Tel-Aviv for a falafel and Schwarma lunch and an  intro-to-the-city scavenger hunt. All had good fun and left the day with a little more knowledge in their heads and a few extra blisters on their feet.

-Adam Levi, Rakaz Boneh

This weekend, the chanichim will also begin preparations for Yam le Yam (Sea to Sea), a four day hiking trip from the Mediterranean to the Sea of Galilee. They will hike with fellow Habonim chanichim from the UK, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand.