WEEKLY UPDATE- 5.1.17
Dear parents, shnattim, bogrim, bogrot, communities and friends shalom rav,
We hope you are well!
On Tuesday this week we did a road trip to the North Galilee, to the very tip of our beautiful country. In Israel it doesn't take that long, as crossing the whole country from South to North takes less than 9 hour car ride…. (going from East to West by the way, is much shorter!). Soon after Orit, our talented Rosh Chinuch (Educational coordinator) and I left the center of Israel, we were greeted by the gorgeous greenery of the north, along with pouring rain. Ady, our Etgar director joined us as well, and we were on the move.
We joined the group in the Tel- Chai college, where they were hosted in a library, that like many other buildings and enterprises in the Galilee, were founded by the United Jewish Israel Appeal (UJIA) and the generous donations they get.
Due to the rain, the plans for the day had to change, resulting us going to do some ice-skating and freezing even more :)
Later, the brilliant Amir took us to a lookout seeing the Lebanese border and Lebanon itself, which is a mile away from where we stood.
It was really great seeing the shnattim so happy and refreshed after their long Hanukkah break. And now it is time to get back into the routine, which includes a lot of volunteering, but more than that- communal living. Once I read a sentence I treasure: "The most complicated relationship I had, is with myself". I find it really true and challenging. Take this, and multiple it by 13, and this is how one might feel about living in one huge villa, together with 12 other 18 y/o! While it sounds like a dream to live with like-minded youngsters, one (and all) need to learn how to take care of themselves- how to cook, how to wash, how to clean, how to keep the house tidy. And even if this goes completely smoothly (it rarely does…), this is only one aspect of communal living.
Communal living requires a huge effort from each of its members, in order to make it a successful one. We are slowly introducing to the group ideas such as cleaning roster, different committees who will be in charge of different aspects in the house, i.e. running fun activities for each other; arranging weekend activities; run Ma'amadim (creative prayers); guided reflection process etc. On our reflection program we speak about three steps to all journeys- Departure à Road of trials à Return. Two months into Shnat, we can definitely say that the departure stage is over, and now begins the road of trials!
Speaking of communal living, you should check this article written by Emma Jacobs on the topic, which was published in The Guardian!!! Well done Emma!
We can see the potential of our shnattim and this group and hope that we will all grow stronger!
Wishing you all Shabbat Shalom!
Weekly update by Asha and the community
Please join us for the Netzer Olami Veida Olamit opening!!
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Netzer's visit to Shanghai
In December, Shira Appelboom (current Federal Mazkira and ex- shnatti) and Joel McCarroll (Incoming Federal Mazkir and ex-shnatti) reported on their attendance at Limmud China and conducting Netzer activities for the Kehilat Shanghai community.
Limmud China was an amazing event which attracted almost 200 people. We ran programs about Tikkun Olam, expressing Jewish identity, Chanukah and taught many songs. During the week we had a number of home visits where we ran further activities for the kids in the community and taught prayers to those who we hope will be the future song leaders (and guitarists) of Kehilat Shanghai.
We were hosted by Kehilat Shanghai for their regular Shabbat dinner, which was full of friendly faces and lots of music. We also had the opportunity to present Netzer to the Kehilat Shanghai board and discuss the prospect of a partnership and future Netzer-Shanghai activities. We hope to see some of the kids on our winter camps next year!
We would like to thank Kehilat Shanghai for the opportunity to work together. It truly was an amazing Netzer experience. A special thank you to Arie Shreier for coordinating the visit, and all those who hosted us and welcomed us so warmly.
We look forward to future activities with Kehilat Shanghai!
Shalom,
Shira Appelboom and Joel McCarroll
In the Parashat Hashavu'a corner, we will direct you to the World Union for Progressive Judaism's column "Torah from around the world", where each week another Progressive Rabbi writes about the weekly portion. For this week's portion-
Having fun ice-skating :)
Wishing you all Shabbat Shalom,
Lior and the Netzer staff
This may be the first weekly update you receive directly from us, and is part of our goal to have more direct and open communication with all our partners in this program
if you think there is anyone else that should receive this weekly updates, please send me their details
As always, the local Netzer Branch is always there for you as well
