Shnat Netzer - Update 8

Dear parents, snifim and shnattim shalom!

This week started with a great mega event, organized by MASA. MASA is an organization that was created by the Jewish Agency for Israel together with the Israeli government 5 tears ago. This organization help bring thousands of Jewish Youth to Israel for long term programs. Along the year, MASA have functions and activities for the participants, and has one Mega event. This year's event took place on Sunday in Jerusalem. Over 3000 participants were invited to an event which included different stalls, a few speakers (among those, Yuli Adelstein, the Israeli Minister of Information and Diaspora; Nathan Sheranski- the head of the Jewish Agency), singers, dancers and a main concert- The Idan Reichel Project. The event was really great and enjoyable, and gave some perspective of our program as one of many options to come explore Israel.

Etgar- On Monday the Etgarniks had a half day simulation and discussion regarding emancipation. For their day trip, they visited Mt. Herzl as part of their Zionism class. Mt. Herzl is a hilltop and national cemetery in Jerusalem, Israel named for Theodor Herzl, the founder of modern political Zionism. Herzl's tomb lies at the top of the hill. Yad Vashem, which commemorates the Holocaust, lies to the west of Mt. Herzl. To read more about the place- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Herzl.

On Tuesday we had our Yom Tnua, we had a discussion regarding extreme ideologies- we watched 'Question Time' with Nick Griffin (some background can be found below, at the end of the parents report), and had a discussion about it. We finished with a great tfilah led by Neil, which spoke about change.

Machon was supposed to go to a siyur in Temple Mt. in the old city of Jerusalem. Due to recent events there, they had to change their siyur. They have been on a siyur about bereavement in Israeli society in the Palmach cemetery in Kiryat Anavim and Har herzel military cemetery. The time on Machon is getting more and more intense, as the participants are now preparing things (like plan their Machon Shabbat, Erev peula and more), but it seems all is going well!

Today, Thursday, we commemorate Rabin Day. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yitzhak_Rabin - this day has become a symbol of the need to respect other human beings and promote tolerance. Both Machon and Etgar had activities about the matter.

We wish you all a pleasant weekend,

The Netzer staff

Jeremy Taylor- Etgar

Greetings,

What a week it has been in Etgar! As our first week back after our Tiyul it was nice to get back into the swing of things. We started off the week with Dina Pinner, who lead a lesson on conversations and arguments in Judaism. We had a nice kehila (community) class led by our very own, Sarah Fassberg. We discussed parts of group asefot (meetings) and how to make them more effective and tolerable. As Madrich Shvu'i this week, this class helped Andrew and I lead a relatively effective asefa. After a short break we yet again, had a very informative Hebrew class, with Matan. After a yummy lunch, we ended our lessons for the day with Mark Lazar. We started learning about Haskala and Emancipation which led into the simulation we did the next day. Our eventful day ended with the opening MASA event, for all students who have just began a MASA gap year program. The highlight of the event was indeed, the Idan Reichel concert. Despite the amount of obnoxious students in front of us, the concert was very enjoyable for all. It was very inspirational hearing the range of music that the band creates. Much of the music is influenced not only by Israeli culture but also by Ethiopian and African culture.

The highlight of Monday was our simulation on Haskala and Emancipation with Mark Lazar. This peula style class gave us information on the different views about the fate of the Jewish people in the early 1800's in a creative and interactive way, which was appreciated by all. As usual on Tuesdays, Machon came over to Etgar for Yom Tnua. We had an intense discussion about options, in which nothing new was decided, followed by view the British television program Question Time. In the episode, the leader of the BNP, Nick Griffin, was attacked by the audience for his ultra right wing and racist views. This was followed by a discussion about whether or not someone with views such as Mr. Griffin's should be allowed on public televison and how do we teach our chanichim without indoctrinating them with our own personal views. The evening finished off with pizza and football.

On Wednesday we went to Har Herzl with Mark. We started off by going through and very obscure museum, which went through the life of Theo Herzl and how he became the father of modern Zionism. Even though the museum was quite odd it was still very informational and worthwhile. We visited Herzl's tomb and walked around the site and saw the memorials for the people who have died in terrorist attacks since the late 1800's, and various tombs of fallen soldiers. It was a pretty emotional experience. For me, the trip to Har Herzl gave me some more incite into what Zionism really is and it made me wonder how far will I go with the feeling that there needs to be a state for the Jews. It also made me question what I believe in and especially my view of Zionsim.  Tommorw our day is dedicated to Rabin Day , as it is the we remember the day Yitzhak Rabin, former Prime Minister of Israel, was killed . We will have many sessions of tolerance and peace. I look forward to seeing what the staff has for us tommorw.

Overall our week was eventful and enjoyable. The sad part is that it is one week closer to the end of Etgar.

Hope this report finds you well,

Jezza (Jeremy) Taylor

Etgar 2009

Emma Weleminsky- Smith- Machon

This week has been a classic crazy machon week. So much stuff goes on every day that it seems as though a month has gone by, rather than a week. Many of the people on machon spent shabbat at a Tribe (young united snagogue) weekend in Tiberius. Being in an Orthodox setting was interesting but challenging- a mehitza during services and some talks, separate dancing and swimming, shabbat lifts, a constant stream of food, very spiritual singing and educational activities from an orthodox viewpoint. Although some of the views expressed troubled me, it really helped me reassess where I stand, not just on religious observance but the nature of how Jewish education should be presented. The fine line between education and brainwashing, hospitality and bribery.

On Sunday unfortunately our planned trip to the Temple Mount and the Church of the Holy Sepulcher had to be rearranged due to riots (the way it has been covered in the media really made us think), but instead we went on a tour of the Palmach cemetery and Mount Hertzl. It was a very interesting experience, talking about the nature of Jewish remembrance, mourning, symbolism and defense. After this we went out to an Idan Raichel concert with loads of other MASA participants which was so much fun!

On machon we have also started a lunch and learn session with a local rabbi who is the Tribe representative in Israel- a relaxed Jewish chat over pizza was a welcome change to the intensity of some of our classes, like 'story of the jewish people', when you cover several massacres, crusades and centuries in every class!

But what makes this week scary, is that we have recently realized that we are over halfway through our machon experience. None of us want it to ever end.

Love from Kiryat,

Emma

Click here to read last week's update