Time has flown by with the shnatties in Israel for over a month already!
The shnatties have been settling into their routines and continually adjusting to being on Shnat and in Israel. Israel is still clinging to winter here, with the biggest storm in sometime hitting the country over this past weekend. As most of you probably know, there is a water shortage in Israel and hence the rain has been very warmly welcomed as a whole, but has caused a few sniffles and colds amongst the groups.
The Boneh group has been looking at the concept of Peoplehood and the founding stories of the Jewish Nation. The topics included Abraham and the Covenant, The Exodus from Egypt and the Ten Commandments. Some of the themes included the morals of The Exodus and treating a stranger; national freedom; the Ten Commandments as a moral basis for the Jewish people to live by and the dilemmas involved in entering the Land of Israel and creating a new society there. During Project time, 5 different smaller groups wrote plays and then acted them out, of the story of Exodus but each from a different perspective. Each play was incredible, particularly the play looking at the story from the perspective of an Egyptian, which turned itself into a tragedy as opposed to the popular comedic choice. The Bonehniks also created their own Commandments for a moral society, complete on an authentic looking scroll (thanks to coffee grinds and matches!).
In this past week they looked at the Agricultural Society of the people of Israel. The themes included looking at whether the agricultural laws served to create a just and equal society; whether the "Shloshet Regalim" festivals helped to unify the nation, and the prophets and priests and the different kinds of societies they envisioned, and the leadership they displayed.
Aside from seminars, the Boneh group has started working on the kibbutz once a week. The different places of work include the garden, refet (cowshed), the restaurant, the school, chader ochel (dining room), kitchen and the fields. Due to the heavy rain, some of the work places have had some delays in starting, particularly the fields. On these days alternate arrangements have been made for those who were meant to work in those places.
Other highlights include Yom Kvutsa, Hitkansut, Hebrew, Israel Update and Hadracha. More on these subjects will follow in the next blog update.
The Boneh group also had a special MASA presentation where they each received a backpack filled with useful things to help them in Israel such as a map of different cities, a hebrew phrasebook and useful phone numbers.
The Machon is due to send an update to parents next week, and we will be sure to post it on the blog when it is sent.
Last Thursday all the shnatties participated in a special ceremony dedicating the World Zionist Youth Movement forest in Ruchama. It was a long day overall, but provided an opportunity for the Boneh and Machon groups to meet up, and also get to know the other Habonim Dror shnatties from the northern hemisphere. This week the shnatties will again meet at a special Idan Reichel concert in Jerusalem on Thursday evening.