Kaveret rolling into motion

Dear Parents,

I hope everyone has had a great week and is looking forward to a nice and relaxing weekend. The past few weeks for the workshoppers have been full of excitement and adventure, as well as some new discoveries in their communal lives.

The Kaveret program has been going for about 4 weeks now, and most of the tzevetim (small groups of madrichim) are getting to be well established in their volunteering projects all over the north. Each city (Karmiel & Akko) are split up into 3 different volunteering projects, and all of them are based in or around the cities in which they live.

For the Akko group - they have three tzevetim, of which one works in a school and after-school club in Haifa, one works in a school in Akko, and the third works in the co-existence tzevet, dealing primarily with Israeli Arabs in villages in the surrounds.

For Karmiel - they have one tzevet who works in a school and club in Carmiel, one in a school in Tzfat, and the third tzevet is partnered with some of the Akko kvutsa in the co-existence tzevet.

The group spends 3 days a week in the schools, of which half a day is committed to a 'yom tzevet,' a time when they can sit down with the guides who are assisting them and partnering them through the experience, for learning and dealing with some of the more difficult questions revolving around their experiences with Israeli youth.

Hebrew has also started up again after the break, and it gives the workshoppers another avenue to continue improving and raising their level of hebrew. Now that they are immersed within Israeli society, not just in their projects but also with shopping, travel, and other daily interactions, every bit of Hebrew can only help in their experience of Israeli life.

The group has also been going through an intense hadracha (leadership) theory course on Thursdays, and has delved into questions of what it means to be a leader, personal example, working as a group, as well as many other relevant issues in being a leader within the movement and machane.

The workshops groups also had their first Poland preparation seminar a few weeks ago, and began to explore the Shoah and the way that we view and remember it today, both in the movement and within our home communities. They will be doing their second preparation seminar in the 2nd week of February, where the groups will be spending two days at the Ghetto Fighters' Museum near Nahariya, a museum that was built and maintained by survivors of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. It will definitely be a big highlight, and will deal with lots of questions and impressions of the Shoah and how we see it today. Of course it won't be long till we will be on a plane and off to Poland ourselves!

So that's where things are at the moment on Workshop. With the Gaza operation over, we are hoping that life will return at a slightly more non-exciting level and pace, but that the steam train that is Workshop will continue rolling along at high speed!

I will endeavour to add some photos of the workshoppers in their living environments, both in their houses in Akko & Karmiel, and in their volunteering projects, in the next blog update.

Until then i would like to wish you all a safe and relaxing weekend.

Regards,

Leon.