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.