Hi again,
My apologies for the delay in updating the blog - we experienced some slight technical delays which I hope will not occur again!

To give a short recap of the past few weeks… The workshoppers last Wednesday (17^th) picked radishes with the Shulchan l’Shulchan (Table to Table). For those who don’t know, Shulchan L’Shulchan is a great project which aims to feed and provide for needy families with fresh and healthy food. So combined with having fun and some time outdoors, everything the workshoppers are doing is going to a worthy cause too. On Thursday (18^th) the excursion was to the Museum on the Seam in Jerusalem. Museum on the Seam is a unique museum in Israel, displaying contemporary art that deals with different aspects of the socio-political reality. It is also called the Coexistence Museum as most of the material it deals with, calls for listening and discussion, for accepting the other and those different from us and respect. After the museum, the workshoppers had processing time with their madrichim, before departing for a free weekend.

Also last week was the first chavura session, which is the peer-led sessions where the workshoppers together with the UK participants, are split into smaller groups with themes. Each group presents their peula on Tuesday nights, and last weeks was on the Story of Job.

This past week the seminar theme was "Sovereignty" and covered the period of time between the Egyptian exodus and the Roman exile (the Temple Periods up until the destruction of the 2^nd temple in Jerusalem). This was a chance to explore a period of time where the Israelites were primarily living “at home” in (ancient) Israel.

The seminars explored the differences between Priests and Prophets, Leadership, Kings and Civil Society (with a focus on King Solomon’s reign), Hellenism vs Judaism (To what extent did the Jews (both their leaders and the masses) embrace the surrounding values and culture and assimilate, and to what extent did they rebel and attempt to keep their own values intact?) and also different examples of Jews revolting (the Macabees & the story of Chanuka, Masada & the revolt against the Romans, Bar-Kochva)

The Excursion on Thursday was to Horbat Midras, which are also called the Bar Kochba caves. These caves were considered an ideological strongpoint, but were also considered very impoverished (as comparable to the nearby Tel Maresha caves which were considered to be very wealthy, but lacking in Jewish symbols), and were a vital link in Jewish defence and rebellion. Some of the walking involved squeezing through small cave openings, which proved a bit too claustrophobic for some of the workshoppers! Afterwards, the siyur continued to the Tower of David Museum in Jerusalem. The museum covers the history of the city of Jerusalem across the past 4000 years, focusing on the main events of each period. Afterwards, the workshoppers had processing with their madrichim in Jerusalem.

Also this past week the workshoppers looked at Communication, Delegation and Motivation in the weekly Hadracha class. The peula involved each kvutsa making a newspaper within a certain time limit, and various problem solving ideas.

The chavura group for this week led a program surrounding the birth of Christianity, using a very unique method of TV and commercial slots in the moadon.

The upcoming week is jam packed, with a Solidarity Event on Sunday night for the Kidnapped Soldiers; and seminars on the theme of Survival and Preservation, looking at the time period of the Exile until Emancipation, with an excursion to the Diaspora Museum and Yavne; together with all the usual Boneh activities.

Shabbat Shalom

Hi again,
Last Wednesday morning the workshoppers picked Butternut Squash and Green Bell Peppers, with the Table to Table project once again at Kibbutz Kvutsat Shiller next to Rehovot. Afterwards, they had Hebrew classes on the Kibbutz. Last Thursday, the excursion was to Neot Kedumim, a biblical landscape reserve, situated near Ben Shemen. Neot Kedumim has recreated the physical setting of the Bible, in an attempt to bring the Bible and its commentaries to life. The excursi0n there was in order to get a more visual and hands on feel for the stories which the workshoppers are reading.
This weeks seminar theme was the Exodus, continuing on in the story, and seminars were held on Sunday and Monday. The workshoppers revisited the concept of "Freedom To and Freedom From", looked at the Ten Plagues and devised modern day plagues in society, Nachshon - someone who wasn't afraid to take a leap of faith, and the Ten Commandments as a possible fundamental structure which is needed to create a model society. On Monday afternoon, the workshoppers had Hadracha class, and discussed concepts crucial to working as a tzevet (team).
This week has Yom Kvutsa on Tuesday, avoda and ivrit on Wednesday and an excursion to Museum on the Seam in Jerusalem on Thursday.

This past week, the theme on Boneh has been the introduction to the Tanach. On Sunday, the workshoppers had Hebrew class in the morning and then in the afternoon looked at stories of Creation and Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, after a general Biblical Overview. The 1st two chapters of Genesis were looked at from a feminist perspective and the story of the Garden of Eden was looked at from a somewhat obscure 17th century Socialist perspective of Diggers and Levellers which provided a very interesting discussion for all.
On Sunday night, on their own initiative, a number of workshoppers travelled to Beit Shemesh in order to donate blood at the Magen David Adom station. As you may or may not know, there is currently a blood shortage at the blood banks across Israel.
On Monday, the workshoppers had Hadracha class in the morning where different leadership theories and methods were discussed in a conventional Leadership vs Management dynamic, together with a more relevant Habonim Dror hadracha context. This was followed by Yom Kvutsa, together with each kvutsa's respective madrichim.
Most of today was in seminar sessions. In the morning, there was a session on Noah, and a session looking at the Tower of Babel. After recapping the story of Noah and the great flood, we related to the issues of breakdowns in society and the corruption which exists in our lives. The Tower of Babel story, a rather bizarre addition in the middle of the chapter, looks at communication and language and the scattering of peoples across the globe - we used this to talk about common language in our kvutsa, movement and lives. In the afternoon we summarized the week and looked at Joseph and Dreams, using our own dreams as a trigger to see how well we can intepret them! In the late afternoon, the chavura planning groups split up to begin planning their activties. Chavura is an opportunity for the workshoppers to plan in mixed groups, evening programming on topics such as The Story of Job, the Russian Revolution, The King David Hotel Bombing and Chanuka.
Tomorrow all the workshoppers will be back at Kibbutz Kvutsat Shiller to pick fruit with TableToTable, followed by Hebrew classes in the afternoon.

Yam L Yam

Hi all,
The workshoppers started tiyul early last Sunday in Achziv, with a short tekes (ceremony) of filling a water bottle from the Meditteranean, which symbolised the journey we were about the set off on, together with all the other Habonim Dror participants from all around the world - Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, England, Brazil, Argetina and Uruguay. Altogether, there were approximately 200 people participating in this years tiyul.
On Sunday we hiked part of the Cziv trail, which is near Montfort and Goren Park. The hike ended with the workshoppers arriving to the campsite by foot, just in time for sunset and to set up the campsite. The hike was relatively short (4 hours) but had a very steep incline at the end, which proved very challenging for most of the workshoppers!! For dinner we had a giant barbeque, followed shortly by a world musicale hosted by our very own workshoppers.
On Monday we set off with a short bus ride to Elkosh bridge, and walked along Niria river bed, to Hirbet Homema (near the base of Mt Meron) and then proceeded to climb up to the top of the Meron. Mt Meron is the 2nd highest mountain in Israel, and has stunning views of the entire region. Most of the group then continued down Meron, along towards our campground for the night, Nachal Amud. The Nachal Amud camping ground is situated on the Cross Israel Trail, a very busy hiking track which goes from the north of the country, all the way to the south. Camping right next to us, were 400+ high school chanichim from Hanoar HaOved V'Lomed, our Israeli sister movement!
On Tuesday the workshoppers set off to hike the Upper Nachal Amud trail, but unfortunately, about 45 minutes into the hike, we got a weather update from our cheder matzav (situation room) of the Moked Teva (Nature Hotline) which, due to a heat wave warning, did not let us continue the length of Nachal Amud. Instead, the workshoppers spent some time in the Schia Pools, small pools of water along the track and rested and played games with the other hiking groups. After lunch, we were allowed to continue on another 1.5 miles/2 km and then along a different track towards Sfat, which once again had a very steep incline (anyone familiar with Sfat will know that it is in a very mountainous area!). A short bus ride took the workshoppers back to the Camping Ground. Upon arrival back, the workshoppers were met with the famous sight of the spinning roasting chickens, which provided a sumptous feast for dinner (With vegetarian options of eggplant and tomato stew provided of course!)
On Wednesday, we got up our earliest yet - 5am! - in order to pack up the campsite and after a short bus ride near to Kibbutz Hukuk, start the final leg of the hike, primarily through banana fields, and all the way to the beach at Kibbutz Ginosar. We finished with a short tekes, involving the bottle of water which we had filled up and carried from the Meditteranean to the Kinneret, and the distribution of Yam L Yam shirts!! After that everyone rejoiced in some swimming time and the chance to have a shower finally, before boarding buses back to their destinations for the Simchat Torah chag.
A great time was had by all, and some workshoppers made great friends with various other Habonim Dror participants from around the world. The next worldwide Habonim Dror event, the Rabin Memorial Seminar weekend, will be at the beginning of November.
This upcoming week, the workshoppers return to the usual Boneh schedule. This weeks seminar theme is an Introduction to the Tanach - looking at stories and interpretations from Creation, Noah, Abraham and the founding fathers and mothers.