Poland

The HDNA workshoppers and HDUK shnatties outside Grochov, a training farm in Warsaw, for Dror members in the 1930's and 40's.
As everyone is aware, we have all returned safely from our Poland journey, after surviving the extremely cold temperatures! Everyone is currently on chofesh - winter break - and are due to return to the program on January 3rd. We will post in the coming days a wider update.

Quick Update

I hope you are all doing well in this post-Hanukah holiday season. I spoke to Vered briefly yesterday and it seems as through the trip is going quite well. It of course is cold and a very intense, emotional experience, but all in all in Vered was quite satisfied with how things are going.

After they get back on Sunday they will head back to the Kibbutz to process and wrap up the Poland trip. Monday morning begins their chofesh and the Workshoppers can be picked up on Kibbutz or they will head out to meet family wherever you are located.

Also when Vered gets back from Poland she will give an update that will include more information about the seminar weeks and their locations during that time. For those of you who will be seeing your Workshopper whether in Israel, Europe, or North America I hope you have a great time reuniting. And to those who will not be seeing their children I hope the chofesh affords your Workshopper perhaps with some more time to be in touch and reflect on their experience thus far.

Starting tomorrow I will be at a retreat center outside Baltimore for our annual Winter Seminar/Veida. I will be reachable by the Habonim Dror cell phone and will have limited access to the email during this time. As always if there is an urgent matter or emergency please call me on the Habonim Dror cell phone.

Have a great break and I look forward to the start of the next exciting chapter of the Workshop tochnit!

The final week of Boneh certainly finished with a bang, with busy pre-Poland preparations taking place all week. The seminars focused on sikkum (conclusion) of the Jewish History course the workshoppers have been participating in throughout Boneh. Workshoppers were challenged to think about their Jewishness, and understand that just as we have been influenced by history and decisions made throughout, we in turn have a role as the makers of history and a duty to create in a positive and educationally based manner.

The excursion during this week was to the Palmach museum, a very unique and interesting museum in Tel Aviv which looks at the elite strike force of the Hagana and its critical role in securing Israel's independence. This was a great way to finish the siyurim on Boneh.

There were 2 chavura sessions during the week, where mixed groups of workshoppers and shnatties from England prepared processing and concluding peulot for the Boneh period.

On Thursday afternoon a final tekes (ceremony) was held where each kvutsa made a presentation and the madrichim/rakazim (coordinators) also said a few words. That night a lovely barbeque dinner was organised (see picture above) which really turned into a feast!! Most impressive were the delicious cakes at the end.

Friday and Saturday have been filled with cleaning and packing. Tonight the workshoppers have organised having havdallah and a musicale, before setting off for the airport in the early morning hours.

If you have questions while we are away, please contact the HDNA central office. Otherwise, until next week...

Hi everyone,
This is the final week of the boneh segment of workshop. Currently, the workshoppers are on their way back to Netiv HaLamed Hey from their final pre-Poland seminar. The seminar was held both at the Shlomi youth hostel and the Ghetto Fighters Museum on Kibbutz Lochamei HaGetaot. It was a very intense seminar which covered a lot of historical background to the Shoah, and introduced a lot of the dilemmas faced including our relationship and duty as youth movement members, to the atrocities that took place. The museum was fairly empty for most of our time there, so we were able to go through exhibitions in depth, and also sit and have discussions throughout the museum. We also watched a fascinating documentary "Confessions of a Hitler Youth."
Last week, the subject of the seminars was modern Israeli society, from roughly the time of Independence (1948) to the Camp David Summit in 1977. A whole slew of information was covered - the Declaration of Independence and the Law of Return, and the basic situation in Israel during the 50's and 60's (mass immigration and subsequent absorption; beginnings of tensions between Sepharadim and Ashkenazim; etc) and the main wars fought in Israel - Independence; Sinai Campaign; 6 day war and the Yom Kippur War. While there is still a lot of more modern Israeli history to come, this will be mainly covered in classes during the Kaveret portion of the program.
One of the kvutsot had avoda (work) on Netiv Halamed Hey, while the other kvutsa picked clementines with Table to Table. The Hadracha classes looked at Games and Peulah (program) planning (1 kvutsa) and Counselling and Duty of Care (the other kvutsa).
The siyur (excursion) last week was to Mt Herzl and Givat Hatachmoshet (Ammunition Hill) in Jerusalem. Mt Herzl is the military cemetery in Jerusalem, and largest in Israel. It is the burial site of many great Israeli leaders, as well as thousands of soldiers and policemen. Ammunition Hill is a site near Mt Scopus, where one of the bloodiest and most difficult battles of the 6-Day war took place. Today, the site serves as a memorial to all those who fell in battle in the 6-Day War.
This week ahead is looking very hectic with Boneh sikkumim (concluding peulot) and a few chavura groups, together with the final hebrew classes, a siyur to the Palmach museum, the general cleanup and the Poland preparations. If for some reason you did not receive the Poland information via email, please contact Michael Kanter. I will post at least one more blog update this week before we depart for Poland. Until then...