Shnat Netzer - Update 1

Dear parents, snifim and shnattim- shalom!

A great week just finished. After many orientations, it was time for the real thing- the shnattim were eager to finally start a "normal" week, and this week they finally got the chance to meet their teachers, have proper lessons and finally- learn the things they came here to learn!

On Tuesday afternoon, all the group came together for 'Yom Tnua', which is movement time. It is time to learn together, prayer together, bond and have fun together. This week was the first YT, and introduced the topics we will deal with over the next four months. The shnattim had to put together songs about the different topics, and we had a great time! The day finished with a lovely Tfila (prayer) we wrote together. May the next YT be as successful!

So far we have been hearing good feedback about the teachers and programs, and quite a few questions and thoughts started (or rather continued) to be expressed. Being it a religious- Zionistic program, we have an agenda, which we do not hide. Being here and taking a part in a leadership program means that you will face different views about Zionism, that you will take part in services and prayers, that you will learn and be given the tools to deal with many questions, but not necessarily have all the answers!

Next weekend is Rosh Hashana, and we gave the shnattim some ideas of what is interesting to do, and we also suggested them to arrange host families for Rosh Hashana if they are interested.

We would also like to wish you a HAPPY HAPPY ROSH HASHANA, on behalf of the Netzer staff, and hope that this new year brings with it new chances, new experiences and positive atmosphere.  

The Netzer staff


Etgar - Hannah Andrews

I am sitting in the Etgar office after our first week on Etgar. It already feels like we’ve been here for so much longer, but in a good way. We have officially started our lessons and all the teachers so far have seemed incredible. From MKK with his amazingly soothing movie man voice to Mark Lazar and his stories of his first teenage love affair. Personally, I have definitely learnt some new things about Zionism and Judaism this week and I have realized how much I will learn over the next 4 months.

The true meaning of Etgar is challenge and this has definitely dawned on the shnatties this week. Having gone on an enormous shop on Sunday afternoon, which took 4 of us over 3 hours, we found that by Tuesday the cupboards and fridges (we have 2!) were looking pretty bare and some important items, noticeably cheese, were completely finished. Ilana and Lucy acted as amazing Madrich Shv’ui and chaired our first Etgar asayfah (meeting) very successfully even reaching conclusions on difficult issues such as laundry and how to spend the left over budget.

A highlight of the week was Tuesday for Yom Tnua when machon came to visit for the afternoon. It was great, as always to be together as a whole group, and we held a Eurovision song competition to introduce us to the different themes of the week to come over the course of Shnat. My group were the winners with a dazzling rendition of Britney Spears’ ‘Hit me baby one more time’ on the theme of Aliyah: ‘Diaspra-aspra, It’s time that I let you go, ‘Cause something isn’t right here, Diaspra-aspra, It’s time for me to go home, To the land of the jews (yeah)’ etc

We’ve also been exploring Jerusalem and we’ve already got to know some favourite spots. Lucy, Jezza and I made an accidental wrong turn and walked so far in the wrong direction that we ended up on the edges of Measharim (a very orthodox neighbourhood) realizing just in time that we were slightly out of place! Zolly’s bar was especially atmospheric last night with the England vs Croatia match playing on some big screens. It was a great display of English culture with plenty of chanting and England shirts all round. The plan for this weekend is to hit Tel Aviv and explore what it has to offer for the Shnattim.

Our first Shabbat last weekend was very spiritual and we attended a beautiful service at Shira Chadasha. Although we were initially put off by the mechiza separating men from women, the service was easy to follow with some really nice services. We then enjoyed a delicious Friday night dinner of chicken, potatoes, gravy and sweet potato cooked by Hannah, Ilana and Josh. On Saturday we made Havdallah in the flat and everyone enjoyed a stress-free Shabbat.

Our trip this week was to the City of David with Mark Lazaar who was an amazing tour guide and gave us a really good sense of the history of our surroundings. My favourite part of the day was Hezekiah’s Tunnels which run under the City with water running through them. We walked through them with our flashlights and singing as loudly as possible because some of the group found it really difficult because they were claustrophobic and the walk took around half an hour.

Our first week really couldn’t have been better and I can’t wait for our Etgar challenge to continue!

Lots of love, lehitra’ot

Hannah (Andrews) XxxX

Machon - Ben LaCross

Shalom from the motherland this is the first of many Machon updates but I got to be first. We have only been at machon for a week but we have done so much already. We went to he Dead Sea and Masada for two days and hiked and swam and then we started our classes. Like right now I just got out of my Hebrew class and then most of us are off to Tel Aviv and we are camping on the beach. Should be a very exciting weekend. I hope all the families are adjusting to not having their baby’s living at home anymore. We know we all miss our families. Much love from the holy land.