Shnat Netzer - Update 7

Dear parents, snifim and shnattim shalom rav!

A great week just passed, though the heat wave was almost unbearable.

The Etgarniks spent most of this week in the northern part of Israel, enjoying hikes, visits to different cities and locations, playing and having a lot of fun (more details in Lucy's report below). On Thursday afternoon the Etgarniks travelled to Ashkelon for a movie festival- "The Jewish Eye"- http://www.jewisheye.org.il/en.html .

The Machoiniks are back to business on machon. On Sunday they went to Beit- Guvrin for a day trip to learn about Bar- Kochva, Rabi Akiva and all in between. For more information, go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maresha . On Tuesday they had their Yom Tnua solo- with Neil, our Rakaz Chinuch (Education coordinator), and the person in charge of Yemei Tnua.

Next week we will give the shnattim their allocation for January- April, which took into consideration all that they asked for. They will have a chance to ask for re-locations and the final allocations will be decided next week.

We wish you all a pleasant weekend,

The Netzer staff

Report by Lucy Stubbs- Etgar:

We arrived home to Jerusalem tonight after our Northern Tiyul which we all agreed was incredible! I will tell you a little about our adventures.

We left on Sunday morning for our coach journey up North with our crazy coach driver. We met our tour guide Niro who was really fun and turned out to be the creator of many Northern Tiyul jokes and also a very good guide. We arrived first for our hike at Karmel Mt. where we enjoyed walking in a heat wave with hats and lot of water. It was Sarahs birthday also so the day was dedicated to making her feel special, with stories about Sarah throughout the day and everyone giving her a little birthday message through the coach microphone. Next, we went to a Druze village and had free time to wander around the market there and try some local food, which we did, we ate Knafe which is a yummy mixture of goats cheese with lots of sugar. Sammy bought a feminine woolen jumper and Jezza bought an interesting striped shirt. Later, we went to a spring where we swam in the cold water and cooled down from the heat of the day, some people went under through a tunnel and popped out in the pool. We ended the day at the kibbutz we were staying at which had really nice rooms and everyone took full advantage of the aircon and TV's and kettles and the food (especially the meat - apart from the vegetarians).

The next day of tiyul has been described as 'the best day of shnat' by some. We started the day with a water hike at the Jilabun river which was amazingggg. We walked through a small pool and then started to climb up a waterfall, pulling ourselves up on the rocks with the water falling down on us. We definitely fulfilled the name of our program 'etgar' which in Hebrew means challenge. At the end of the day we went to the Golan Heights Winery where we enjoyed a tour from a very cute old man, who explained all about the vineyards and the wine making process in the area. We even got to taste some of the wines. Later, tired, we headed back to the hostel again and enjoyed early nights all round!

On Tuesday we visited the city Zefat and learnt about Kabbalah as it is a central city for Kabbalah. We went to the art market in Zefat and explored the culture a little there. This was followed by another hike on Mt Meron where we followed a very small part of the Shvil Israel trail. We saw the border between Syria and Israel and Niro guided us through the mountain explaining all along the way. To end the day we visited Holy tombs and the rumor is if you make a wish at the grave then it will come true. Then we went back to the hostel for dinner and games in the evening.

The final day of tiyul we went to Rosh HaNikra and saw the border of Israel with Lebanon. We then went to Keshet cave. It was an amazing few days and everyone really enjoyed it. It is nice to be back in Jerusalem again but we can't wait for our Southern tiyul!

Bye for now LUSMSS

Report by Becca Esquenazi- Machon:

Dear Parents of Netzer,

This week has been a very relaxing and therapeutic one for us Machonikim. The weekend started off with a night in on Thursday due to our exhaustion from the previous week. We sat in Kiriyat, and talked for hours and hours before we decided to go to bed. The next few days consisted of the same thing, resting and unwinding in hopes of gaining a little more energy for the week ahead. Saturday night, before classes began the next day, a few of the Machonikim went to Tel Aviv for its 100-year anniversary celebration. The festivities consisted of a concert in a local park in Tel Aviv, showcasing various Israeli singers. I didn’t go, but I heard that it was a wonderful night for those who did.

Sunday started off with regular classes followed by a Siyyur in the hottest part of Israel, just outside Jerusalem. There, we crawled through various caves as part of our challenging day. We all really enjoyed this day and had a lovely experience. Most of our nights this week have consisted of Machon justsitting in each others room’s having a laugh and bonding with everyone. We also had a Machon birthday this week! Shachar from the Hanoar Hatzioni movement turned 18 on Tuesday. It wasn’t a traditional 18^th birthday, in that we did not have a night on the town. All of us surprised Shachar by dressing up as little kids and throwing her a dance party in the basement of Kiriyat Moriah. This night really bonded all of Machon and we all hung out and talked until very late, as usual. On Wednesday we had our weekly maravout (volunteering), which consists of  Jerusalem journeys, Beit Halgalim, which is volunteering for disabled young adults, teaching English to young Israeli children, and gardening. Our Maravout experiences are all starting to become part of our weekly life, which is good because it gives us experiences in Israel outside of the classroom. Following maravout, was our Wednesday night chugim. Unfortunately I was ill and not well enough to attend, but I had everyone report back, and many of the art chugim students finished their first projects, which were drawings on topics related to ourselves. The Israeli dance Chug learned 2 new dances, and the football Chug enjoyed another weekly game. Tonight, our friend Alice’s parents are in town and they are taking all of us out to dinner. After that we will probably go out and enjoy at our regular spot on Ben Yehuda street.

Shabbat Shalom!

Rebecca Esquenazi

Click here to read last week's update