Rabin Seminar

 "Ladies and Gentleman, the time for peace has come."

-Yitzchak Rabin, 1922-1995

Every year, Habonim Dror participants from all English-speaking year long programs gather on the anniversary of the assassination of Prime Minister Yitzchak Rabin to learn about his life and his legacy. This past weekend, Workshop 62 went to Maccabim Seminar Center to discuss Rabin and the future of peace in Israeli society. The weekend began with an exhibit about Rabin's life, the Oslo Peace Process in the 90s, and the lead up to his assassination in 1995.

The afternoon followed with peulot (activities) with Habonim Dror participants from Australia, New Zealand, England and South Africa. The chanichim greeted each other enthusiastically after their prior meeting on Yam l'Yam (Sea to Sea Hike). Friday's peulot were focused on the dilemma of peace as a value or peace as a strategy. The chanichim discussed quotes from different world leaders and philosophers about peace, and debated about how they saw peace in the world today. From there, they moved on to a discussion about the idea of peace in Israeli society today.

After Shabbat dinner, the chanichim had fun night peulot, ranging from a mock wedding to a slumber party to spray paint t-shirt stencils. On Saturday, the chanichim continued to discuss the Rabin's legacy. They explored the relationship between Zionist values and the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, before moving on to discuss Rabin's role in shaping this relationship and the opposition to his actions. Towards the end of the seminar, the chanichim learned about the incitement against Rabin in the lead up to the assassination, and what challenges this presented them with today in relating to manifestations of violence within the Jewish community and Israeli society.

 Around 5:00pm, the chanichim headed to Tel Aviv to participate in the annual memorial rally. Speakers from diverse sectors of Israeli society spoke about the importance of Rabin's legacy in shaping the peace process and promoting democracy, including former Minister of Education Yuli Tamir, Mazkir (General Secretary) of Bnei Akiva Dan Hirschberg, members of Israeli youth movements and Rabbi Avi Gisser. An estimated 20 000 people were in attendance. Below, a picture from Haaretz newspaper, with Habonim Dror chanichim proudly represented.

A Day in the Life of Boneh

What does an average day on Boneh look like?
Today, Sarah and Yoav's chanichim woke up early to go to work. The chanchim work in many different places on kibbutz, including a cheese shop, the children's houses, and the chader ochel (dining hall). Below, a chanich who works with the kibbutz handy man.

Carmi and Yael's chanichim spent the morning in shiurim (classes). This week's theme is Early Zionist Thought, and the chanichim spent the morning reading Zionist thinkers such as Theodor Herzl, AD Gordon, Moses Hess, and Leo Pinsker. They focused on the thoughts and ideas of Jews at the end of the 19th century, facing the tide of European nationalism and questions about the Jewish future. They were also encouraged to ask whether or not the reasons for the Jewish state are the same today as they were then. Does the Jewish state exist as more than a safe haven? What special characteristics does being Jewish have in a Jewish state? What are the possibilities of Jewish national independence? After work and shiurim, the chanichim went to the chader ochel for lunch.

After lunch and a break, the chanichim had Hadracha (Leadership Course) in their kvutzot. 
Here to tell us about it is Doron Shore, a Workshop 62 participant.


"We learned about imagination, and how important and valuable it can be in developing kids' minds. We talked about machaneh as a unique place where we as madrichim, and also the chanichim, have the power to create whatever environment we want, and how during the year, chanichim do not have access to this type of experience, so what we as madrichim try to do is facilitate a positive atmosphere where kids feel comfortable with creation and we instill that confidence so kids can carry that outside of machaneh. We don't want chanichim to see machaneh as the only place where they can create, we want them to learn about themselves and take that confidence out into the world. To put this idea into practice, we split up into small groups and each received different parts of the day at machaneh (ex: lunch, mifkad boker, etc). We had to take an every day activity and make it special. My group had lunch, and we made it into a picnic, family-reunion style. Everyone got characters, and acted that way for the whole meal. Personally, hadracha has been the most thought-provoking part of Boneh because it feels so immediate. As a madrich last year, and looking forward to next year, it feels very applicable."

Below are pictures from Hadracha.

After Hadracha, the chanichim spent time in their Tzvatim. Tzvatim are a way for the chanichim to take responsibility over different aspects of Boneh. Responsibilities are divided between each tzevet (staff group), which is made up of 4-6 chanichim from both kvutzot. Some different tzvatim are Cleaning, Food and Budgeting, Holidays, Tochnit Erev (evening program) and Education and Current Events. In addition to the responsibilities given to them by their madrichim, the chanichim also decided to form two additional tzvatim, Gardening and Connection to the Kibbutz. Pictured below are sprouting seeds being prepared for the garden.

  
After tzevet planning time, the chanichim returned to the kibbutz chader ochel for dinner. All in all, a very full day. But still, plenty of time for shesh besh.

Lam L Yam

Early last Tuesday morning, the chanichim set out with 62 international Habonim Dror chanichim on year-long programs in Israel for a four day tiyul. Beginning at the Mediterranean, the chanichim woke up early each morning to cross through the North of Israel towards the Kinneret (Sea of Galilee). The hike included crossing Nachal Cziv, hiking Mount Meron, and following Nachal Amoud towards Safed. The chanichim strengthened their connection to the land of Israel, while spending their hiking hours getting to know their international counterparts better. It was awesome to watch them compare their experiences growing up in Habonim Dror in the UK, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand, finding many similarities and differences. Plenty of games, lots of singing, and a fair amount of laughing at different accents accompanied the chanichim each day. Each evening, a different country was responsible for planning a fun activity for all 106 chanichim to participate in. All in all, the chanichim returned to Ein Dor Friday afternoon dirty, tired, and with many new friends. Next week, Workshop 62 is looking forward to a week studying "Jews in the Modern World," where they will explore the experience of emancipation in 19th century Europe and the questions it raised for the Jewish community. The week will finish with a tour of Atlit, the detention center where illegal Jewish immigrants were held during British rule of Palestine in the pre-state period.