Final Goodbyes

The Workshoppers have taken-off, and our year has officially come to end. We wish all the kids a happy homecoming and a wonderful summer at camp.

Some pictures from the final tekkes:

Danny B and Ilan, our MCs.

Yes Doron, it's really over.

Final Hatikvah and Od Lo Gamarnu.

Kvutza Rakefet says goodbye to Carmi and Yael.

Kvutza Tkuma saying goodbye to Bar and Sarah.

Finishing Up

During April, the Workshoppers had two meetings and a weekend seminar with a group of Israelis teenages spending the year in a similar manner as them. The "sister movement" weekend (Chava Achot) with Hanoar Haoved was an amazing opportunities for Workshoppers to discuss Jewish identity, Zionism, and growing up in a youth movement with Israelis. Tkuma (Karmiel) was paired with a group from Haifa, and Rakefet (Rishon) was paired with a group from Holon. Below, some pictures from the weekend in Karmiel.

Winding up at their messimot, and seeing the different ways their presence has impacted their chanichim has given the Workshoppers a moment to reflect on their experiences this year. Below, some pictures from activities in Holon (Kvutza Rakefet). 

Sikkum Seminar

Today, Kvutza Tkuma and Kvutza Rakefet left their respective houses. It was a bittersweet moment, as the Workshoppers prepare to leave Israel and get excited about their upcoming summers. The last two weeks have been spent finishing up their messimot, cleaning up their houses and saying good bye to Karmiel and Rishon Letzion.
Sikkum Seminar started with a fun "kayaking" adventure at Kibbutz Kfar Blum, kayaks in this care being inflatable rafts. The chanichim spent an hour paddling down the Jordan River.
After kayaking, the chanichim went to Kibbutz Ravid to being Sikkum Seminar. The Seminar will focus on sharing their conclusions from their year in Israel and in kvutza, and discussing their next steps, in the movement and in life.

May Day

On Wednesday, Workshoppers celebrated May Day with a large carnival, march, and concert in Tel Aviv. After the May Day Seminar two weeks ago, the march was a chance to celebrate solidarity and the struggle for workers' rights they had learned about, as well as a chance to meet up with their Australian, British, and South African counterparts again. The rally was attended by Habonim and Hanoar Haoved, our sister youth movement.

At the May Day Seminar, on Kibbutz Ravid.

At the seminar.

Playing games.

Getting into some songs in the chader ochel.

One of two guest speakers, Rabbi Jim, head of San Francisco Federation, spoke about the connection between Judaism and values of social justice.

At the May Day Rally.

Getting into some dancing.

Yom HaShoah and Some Updates

On Monday, the Workshoppers spent the morning and afternoon together. A change from their normal Yom Kvutza, the day was an opportunity to have peulot in mixed groups and discuss some of their experiences with people from the other kvutza.

Additionally, yesterday was Yom HaShoah, the national remembrance day for the Holocaust. The Workshoppers commemorated by attending the national closing tekkes (ceremony) at Kibbutz Lochmei HaGitaot. Before the tekkes, the Workshoppers and other members of Habonim held a private tekkes. Danny Berman, Micah Finklestein and Cooper Boyar each spoke about what Yom HaShoah meant to them. A common theme was how different this Yom HaShoah felt after their experiences in Poland in February. The main tekkes had speakers from the Museum at Lochmei HaGitaot, current and former members of the Knesset, and survivors. The theme this year was rebellion, in honour of 70 years since the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. The chanichim also also fortunate to hear Chavka Raban Folman speak, whom we learned about during our Poland journey. Below, Micah shares his speech from the Habonim tekkes.

"In February we went on a journey to uncover the truth about the Holocaust. When I was there, I learned how youth like us took a stand against Nazi Germany, saying that we are a free people no matter how hard you try to destroy our faith and culture. We will fight back with all our might to protect the Jewish nation. Another thing I learned is that people who were just regular citizens gave their lives to save Jews, risking everything. Those are heroes to me, fighting not with weapons but courage and bravery. To finish I would like to say we should never forget the six million Jews who were murdered. But also we need to fight against discrimination and injustice today."

    

Hard to believe, but Workshop is slowly winding down. However, there are many exciting things happening before that! May 19th/20th will be the May Day Seminar, attended by Habonim groups from Australia, England, South Africa and New Zealand. The seminar is in anticipation of the May Day Rally, and will be focused on workers' rights and issues within the labour market today. The following weekend, each kvutza will be paired with a group of Israelis their age from our sister movement, Hanoar Haoved. They will spend the weekend together, getting to know Israelis and discussing the commonalities and differences between the movements. 

Pasechet in Action!

Here are some pictures from the Pasechet (Passover day camp) from Kiryat Chayim, a suburb of Haifa.

Chag Pesach Sameach to everyone, and to all families traveling to Israel for our upcoming break, safe travels. Workshoppers will be on break starting Monday March 25th and resuming with programming on Tuesday April 2nd.

The MASA Leadership Seminar

MASA, an organization of the Jewish Agency that provides funding for long term programs in Israel, is offering an exciting seminar for all gap year program participants. The MASA Leadership Summit is a five day seminar focused on developing tools and connections for young Jewish community leaders. Different workshops, guest speakers, and simulations aim to prepare participants to take leadership positions within the Jewish community. The seminar also enables Habonim to make connections with the wider Jewish community, and discuss their experiences with other North Americans.

The Workshoppers attending the seminar are Danny S, Maia V, Shachar, Davide, Sammy, Lia, Naomi, Leeza, Cooper, Aaron, Doron, Dan W, Yael, Elan, Rachel Y, and Sarah.The seminar began in Jerusalem on Sunday and will finish this Thursday. All other Workshoppers continued their messimot during the week.

Pasechot Prep

On Thursday, all of Workshop gathered for a preparation day in advance of Passover day camps ("pasechet"). Most messimot will be running a two to three day camp in the lead up to Passover holidays, and those that do not have a local pasechet will be assisting other workshoppers. Tzevet Kaveret and the madrichim ran a Star Wars-themed simulation in order to give the workshoppers inspiration for their own camps. Below are some pictures from the day.

 Space levitation.

Danny S and Aaron.

Tzevet putting on a skit.

Ethan, strength training to fight Darth Vader.

Jonah.

Abigail and Sammy making Princess Leia hair.

Jordan and Dan think theirs looks better.

Max getting into some good old fashioned fun.

Pictures from Poland

Auschwitz-Birkenau.

Birkenau, Carmiel Kvutza.

At the former site of the Dror Movement's training farm, Grochow, on the outskirts of Warsaw. 

Tkotchyn Synagogue, dating from the 15th century. 

The chanichim and madrichim took responsibility for different tekkesim (ceremonies) in order to commemorate the places we visited throughout the trip. Above, the madrichim tekkes at the Cygeneria Cafe, a popular Nazi cafe in occupied Krakow that was bombed by the youth movement underground in 1942.

At the Rapport Monument in Warsaw, commemorating the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. Path to Heroism, the story of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, finished here with a tekkes prepared by chanichim from both kvutzot and British chanichim. 

The journey ended Saturday night with dinner at Polish restaurant, complete with Polish folk dancing.

Workshoppers got in on the action before too long!