Want to have a say? Submit an article to the website here.

 
Home News Event Reports Shnat Netzer - Update 6

Shnat Netzer - Update 6

View Comments

Here in Israel we are back to business! The shnattim returned from chofesh, after being literally all- over the country. They all seem very happy and had really good stories and adventures to share.

Etgar had an interesting week, focusing on the immigration to Israel in the last century. They went to the Diaspora Museum in Tel- Aviv (http://www.bh.org.il/en/default.aspx ). On Wednesday they went on a fun day in the biblical zoo of Jerusalem- http://www.jerusalemzoo.org.il/len/index.php?sid=360 . You can read more about their week below in Danieall's report.

Machoniks had a normal week as well, and enjoyed their soft landing back to Machon, when they spent their first day back in Tel- Aviv

For the first time after a long time, we actually had a full normal week of Etgar and Machon. On Tuesday we came together for Yom Tnua, this time at Kiryat Moriyah- the home of the Machoniks. This week's topic was Netzer Ideology and hagshama, and it was mainly led by Colin Bulka- a Netzer Oleh who is now the manager of the Machon. After that, we had a short talk from Dalya Levi, to explain about ARZENU and how the participants can and should be involved in their communities after Shnat Netzer. Before the day was finished, we had a conversation about the rest of the year- what will happen in January- May. The group was presented with the options possible, and was left to discuss it without the Tzevet. We basically explained that the group can stay as ONE group should they choose to do that, and will then have to go first to a privatized Kibbutz up North, and then will all go together to the city of Carmiel up north. Should they choose other options, we will not be able to put all 26 of them together at one location, but rather split them to a few smaller communities. The group had an Assefa (group gathering) and could not get an answer that will satisfy all, as some wanted to split and some wanted to stick togethr, or better said- they agreed eventually that they will split.

We wish you all a lovely weekend, and would love to hear from you as well!

The Netzer staff

Danniella Persaud- Etgar

Etgar parents report 01/10/09-14/10/09
Sukkot, Simchat Torah, Beit Hatfutzot, Biblical Zoo
Etgarnikim, here we are, a group 17 strong,
Back after Chofesh, Jerusalem is where we belong.
Sukkot in Israel was so much fun,
Out and about, getting tanned in the sun.
Even staying in Jerusalem was good,
The peace parade hyped us up like nothing else could.
However much there were troubles in the old city,
We stayed safe and didn’t visit, a bit of a pity.
Whilst some stayed in for a Star Wars movie night,
Others travelled the country, saw an amazing sight.
For the girls who went hiking, the week was great,
They climbed a mountain, not easy mate!
Kibbutzim, Mezzada, Tel Aviv, Akko and Haifa,
Bought back many stories to tell of the time of our life-a.
Hiking or sunbathing, whatever we got up to,
We all came back and formed the group we all knew.
Simchat Torah, we were back in time for,
Though we were all so tired, couldn’t take any more.
Sunday bought back classes and early wake up calls,
Most of the day in a room, bare, with four walls.
Reform issues, kehila, ivrit, the weekly trend,
The best bit of the day shopping, right at the end.
Finally, after almost two weeks, we had food in the flat,
The fridges and cupboards were full, we thank God for that!
Monday was a long but rather interesting day,
Starting with hadracha, learning about games, Yay!
Then we all piled into a small mini-bus,
A quiz for the journey caused a competitive fuss.
We arrived: Diaspora Museum, Tel Aviv, raring to go,
Exploring Jewish history, questions with answers we didn’t know.
“Why are we still here? And how?” Mark Lazar asked,
Looking around until closing time, we left last.
We learnt about Jewish culture and life, even found family trees,
We didn’t have enough time to see all of it though, so can we go back, please?
We all gathered on the grass outside for a little chat,
Spoke about what we saw, found some answers and made friends with a cat.
Back in the mini-bus, off we went,
Back to Beit Shmuel, thanks to the driver, what a gent.
Asefa, our weekly meeting, took place on Monday night,
It bought about heated discussions, what a fright!
Things got sorted out, even though the experience wasn’t fun,
But our madrachim for week, well, they weren’t quite done.
A little surprise for us, that’s what they had in store,
A pet for us to befriend and look after, newts galore!
Tuesday morning was our lie in… I mean time to clear the flat of mess,
It never got checked, but I promise it was tidy none the less.
The highlights of Tuesday are our time with Machon,
We travelled to Kiryat Moriah, a bus was what most of us got on.
Ideology was the theme for the afternoon,
Then came notices from Lior, she’s no loon!
We got talking about options for the rest of the year,
Nobody left the room without a sore ear.
Eventually it will all get sorted,
And from another Netzernik it will be reported.
Today, Wednesday has been an exciting day,
A trip to the zoo, we got buses the whole way.
Thanks again to our madrachim, we had challenges to complete,
Taking lots of funny photos, they were no easy feat.
It was a very hot day spent out with the animals,
Bears, elephants, lions and other mammals.
The journey back was also a laugh,
A bus in the wrong direction for a minute and a half.
Finally we found our way again,
Fell asleep on the bus and woke up with neck pain.
About four o’clock we got back to the flat,
After a busy few days, it was nap time, and that was that!
I’m almost done with my poem of terrible rhyme,
Yes I know, it’s such a crime!
To Sammy and Josh I thank you for all you have done,
As madrachim for the week you got us to laugh and have fun.
I hope you now feel well informed of our activities this week,
What our next plans are, I won’t give you a peek!

Danniella Persaud

Eliora Morris- Machon

After very eventful and exciting weeks of chofesh we have all now restarted machon and etgar respectively and are very much in the process of 'getting back into the swing of things'. The reunion of all machonikim after a weeks separation was filled with many hugs, kisses and a lot of excitement and discussion about individual experiences of our first week of 'freedom'. Everyone seems very happy to be home and become fully immersed in the machon experience again.

Our first day back we spent on a siyur in Tel Aviv and Jaffa learning about the history and development of the cities. We started off with a tour of Jaffa and discussion about changing importance as a port in the middle east over the years, followed by a walk around the city - a highlight being the 'floating tree' - the work of an artist who has suspended a tree in mid air! We then headed over to Tel Aviv where we had a  lovely lunch at a restaurant in the Ethiopian area of the city, were we also had the opportunity to look at the development of the city and really witness the transition from old to new. From here we headed to the city centre and discussed the building of the city by the 66 families who first arrived there 100 years ago. Then we all had the opportunity to learn about Tel Aviv on a first hand basis by chatting with Israelis whilst walking down Rosthchild, I met a lovely couple of girls who offered to show us around Tel Aviv whenever we were around. The day concluded with a chat about the atmosphere and diversity of the city and a group picnic in the park.

The rest of the week has consisted of normal lessons, which has been great to get back into routine. During our Hadracha lesson we enacted a role play on group dynamics which was interesting, funny and thoroughly enjoyed by all! Other classes included looks at Zionist propaganda, the sibling rivalry in the Noah story and campus activism amongst other things.

We also celebrated the first Machon birthday this week, which included much cake much singing and a communal night out resulting in 25 very tired machonikim the next day!

We have all really enjoyed being back together this week, catching up and starting lessons again, and are really looking forward to rest of machon!

Click here to read last week's update

blog comments powered by Disqus
back to top