March 10th 2012
Dear Parents, Shalom,
Well, it is now exactly four weeks into
the programme and, as the Director of English Speaking Machon, I just wanted to
write to let you know how things are going from our perspective and to share
with you a few of the highlights from this opening period, though hopefully
your children have also been keeping you up to date with what is happening on
the programme from their point of view.
In general our feeling is that Machon has
started really well; the atmosphere among the Machon community seems really
good and the vast majority of them are really enjoying the programme and the
early stages of the learning. In particular this last week there has been a
feeling that they have finally started to settle into a routine and that this
is, for most, a very positive thing. In the very first week the idea was to set
up the big questions that will accompany and confront us throughout the
programme; questions of Jewish Peoplehood and our connection to Israel, to
Zionism and to leadership and community. On Monday, after taking just one day
to get them settled into to their new home at Kiryat Moriah, we took the whole
group on a 2 day desert-based tiyul (trip/hike) down to the Judean
desert area. The main aim, apart from seeing that area, was a group bonding one
where people could start to get to know and make friends with people from the
other youth movements with their very different ideologies (we have 6 movements
this year; Habonim Dror, Hashomer Hatzair, Netzer, Betar, Hineni & Hanoar
Hatzioni) as well as those from other cities and countries (we have Australians,
South Africans, New Zealanders British and an American on this Machon). All
told, we have 87 Machonikim (as we call them) in the machzor (cohort).
In particular we wanted them to get to
begin to bond within their ‘Chavura’, the small group framework that the
Machon is structured around. To that end, much of the desert activities were
done within these chavurot including various desert hikes, and survival and group
challenge style activities. As a whole group we slept out under the stars for the
night, and had an evening bonfire where they cooked their own dinner followed
by a peula (programme) to start to get to know the tzevet (staff
team) better. On the Tuesday there was more beautiful hiking trails and a lovely
barbeque lunch. Overall the tiyul was really successful, especially the hiking
and the bonding elements. Then, later in the week, we went out from Kiryat
Moriah to see some key sites that symbolise for us the big educational
questions mentioned above, such as the Old City of Jerusalem, including the Kotel
tunnels, and we also devoted a whole morning to exploring what kind of
community they wanted to build and what would be the norms of behaviour that
they would want their community to live by. Finally, towards the end of that
first week we presented then with the educational programme and got them to
make their choices about what classes they wanted to be in from the many
options available.
Thus, at the start of the second week we were all ready to move more
into class mode and actually started with the various lessons in earnest. There
are 5 basic areas of learning on Machon: Judaism, Israel/Zionism, Hadracha (youth
leadership), Hebrew and the Story of the Jewish People, which is an overview of
Jewish History. As noted, in each area the Machonikim have various choices of
courses, some based on different content and some based on the style of
learning that they most wanted. Some classes are more lecture-based while
others use more interactive programmes. As well as the classes in these main
areas, there are a few other slots in the week when they can choose from a
range of sessions covering a whole variety of different topics. To give you some
idea, the options for this first part of Machon included such courses as "Sport
as a way to understand Israeli society”, The Shoah: Memory & Meaning”,
“Improvisational Drama” and a "Jewish Identity through Coaching"
workshop. As part of these main topic areas there is also a weekly Israel
Update class focussing on what's going on in the news in Israel and a course helping
them to understand the different Streams of Judaism by bringing in someone each
week from the various different streams to speak and answer questions about
their own lives and what it means to them to be a Modern Orthodox, Reform,
Secular Cultural or Ultra-Orthodox Jew respectively, in terms of both their
faith and practice.
We were able to organise it such that most people got their first or
second preferences for the classes, though within the first week or so of lessons
anyone who really thought they were in the wrong place could ask to swap
classes and we tried to allow that whenever possible. Things have now pretty
much settled down and we the tzevet are pretty pleased with the level of
participation and learning going on.
Once a week we get them out and off the campus for educational experiences
in places other than Kiryat Moriah. Each Wednesday we have a full-day trip called
"Yom Yisrael" to see important sites around and near the Jerusalem
area. The first of these days focussed on our connection to the land of Israel and
included a visit to Tel Gezer to contrast the old and the new and to the Tayelet
to see an overview of the whole of Jerusalem and then process the day. The
second Yom Yisrael was spent in Tel Aviv and explored the connection between ‘old’
Tel Aviv as the first Hebrew City and the new, ultra-modern city. There were
three choices on offer for the Machonikim to explore this theme; through being
in the neighbourhood of Neve Tzedek and then looking at the medium of
contemporary art, being in the area of Little Tel Aviv and then exploring the
medium of graffiti as a way into looking at contemporary social issues and
finally being in Old Jaffa and then learning about High-Tech Tel Aviv. The third
Yom Yisrael just last week looked at the issue of Jewish Jerusalem and explored
the different ways in which Judaism is experienced and practiced in Jerusalem
and included a visit to both an Ultra-Orthodox and a Secular Yeshiva, finishing
with a chance to process the day and reflect on how what they saw both meshed
and contrasted with their own thoughts and feelings.
There are also a various other special elements
throughout the week. On Sunday afternoons they have an In-Depth session where
they can choose one of the above 5 main Machon learning areas to specialise in
and look at in more depth. Twice a week, on Sundays and Wednesdays, they meet
in their chavurot small groups to do group building, reflect on what they've
been learning and thinking about and plan activities for the rest of the
Machon.
On Sunday evenings we have a slot
called 'Sunday Selections' which is optional but where we bring in to Machon,
among other things, some exciting guests including contemporary Israeli
artists. In the first week we had a one-woman show where the actress portrays a
number of clearly defined different characters from within Israeli society in a
very challenging way. Initially, for the first character, a Haredi woman, they
do not know that she is an actress and when she revealed herself as such, there
was an explosion of laughter and a release of some strong feelings and even
frustrations which her character had created. The whole evening was enormously
successful. In the second week there was no such session as it was Purim in
Jerusalem but last week we had a very enjoyable, high-tempo Israeli dance
evening. So far these first two such evenings have had 60 & 30 people attending
respectively which we feel is a great level of participation for an optional
activity at the end of a very intense Machon day.
On the Tuesday afternoons and evenings is
a time slot that they spend in their separate youth movement groups with their
own movement madrichim. Wednesday evenings is a special programming evening,
some of which later in the programme will be run by them for each other, some
will be run by us and some will be a Beit Midrash style informal Jewish texts
study evening which will be optional. So far we have had the first Beit Midrash
on the theme of ‘Making Mistakes’ to which about 40 people came (it was really
fascinating having teachers drawn from various different Jewish streams and
approaches), a "Dancing with the Stars" group dance competition run
by the tzevet and, last week, a Youth Movement Ideology evening where,
in formal presentation style, representatives from each movement group
presented their movement’s ideal vision about how they want the State of Israel
to look and what it means to be Jewish for their movement and then they answered
questions about these issues posed by other movements. As well a serious and
impressive level of debate during the evening there was also a great level of ruach
(spirit/atmosphere) and lots of inter-movement chanting.
Finally for these 'special' programming
elements, on Thursday afternoons there is a slot that depends on what movement
you are in. Some of the movements have a second block of time that they can
spend concentrating on building their kvutza (movement group) and learning
about their specific movement's ideology and values whereas other movements are
in involved in some form of 'meoravut kehilatit' (community involvement)
experience run by us. The idea is to get them off campus for a second time in
the week and become involved, in the widest sense of that word, in some way in
the community of Jerusalem.
There are four such meoravut kehilatit options
running this time; a group that are helping teach English in a bilingual school
(Hebrew & Arabic), a group working on the creation of a community garden in
a deprived neighbourhood, a group called "Tzedkak Rounds" who are
involved in practical tzedaka work such as picking fruit and vegetables for an
organisation called 'Table to Table' which provides food to families living
below the poverty line, and finally a group who do "Jerusalem
Journeys" where they visit and walk around less well-known neighbourhoods
in Jerusalem and also learn some basic guiding skills.
A week or so ago it was of course Purim. Being in Israel during the Chagim (Jewish
holidays) is one of the great experiences of Shnat and Machon. Purim began in
most parts of the country, though not in Jerusalem, on the Saturday evening and
quite a few of them chose to go across to Tel Aviv for the evening to
experience the party scene that goes on there for Purim. Then on the Sunday, as
a lead in to Shushan Purim in Jerusalem, we had a choice of special Purim
themed learning sessions including such topics as “Esther & Vashti: a look
at Feminism in Judaism”; “Fast or Feast: contrasting Purim & Yom Kippur”
and “Does it matter whether Esther & Mordechai really existed or not?”.
Monday morning was a little bit of sleep-in to deal with their Sunday,
Jerusalem party night experiences followed by a Purim Carnival/Fair organised
by their madrichim, together with a group of Machonikm who volunteered to help
plan and run it. Finally, in the afternoon they had free time to go off into
town and see how Purim is celebrated in different Jerusalem neighbourhoods. The
vast majority took up the opportunity, got dressed up in some very creative
fancy dress outfits and headed off to various different areas, including many
going off to see how the Ultra-Orthodox in Mea Sha’arim celebrate the festival.
Then they all came back eager to share their different stories and experiences
with each other.
Most weekends they are free from
Thursday evenings until we start classes again on the Sunday morning. They can
of course stay at Kiryat Moriah if they wish but this is also a great opportunity
for them to go off and explore other parts of Israel and see family and friends
around the country. When the weather becomes a bit more certain, many will also
no doubt choose to go hiking and camping on their weekends though a couple of
weekends ago some of the more hardy group members went anyway and their luck
was in as the weather held and they had a great time. We certainly encourage
them to make the most of their time here and to do such things and are always
available to give help and advice about places they might visit if the wish.
Last Shabbat however was one of the two
weekends where we do ask them all to stay for a ‘closed’ weekend and where we
have Shabbat activities that we do all together. On the Friday evening, after a
brief communal welcoming in of the Shabbat together at Kiryat Moriah, they all
went out to be hosted for Shabbat dinner by different families around the area,
some being their staff and teachers on Machon and others being friends of the
staff and people who work for the Jewish Agency and are based at Kiryat Moriah.
On Saturday morning they had a choice of participating in one of three services
we ran on the campus; a Modern Orthodox service, a Reform service and a secular
cultural service. Together with a festive Shabbat lunch, a dilemmas programme
exploring pluralism in a Jewish context and the staples of Seuda Shlishit (the
3rd Shabbat meal) and a very spirited Havdala, it all made for a
very laid-back and special Shabbat which seems to have been really enjoyed by the
machzor. For the second Machon Shabbat later in the year a group of them will
be planning and running everything for the rest of the group rather than being
done by the staff as it was this time.
I think that is all for now and I hope
that I have been able to give you a small flavour of the programme thus far and
what has been happening. Next week we are going off on our one week 'Southern
Tiyul, where we will be exploring the South of the country. We the staff are
very much enjoying working with the Machonikim, both individually and as a
group. I hope to write again in another month or so to give you another Machon
update.
Until then, best wishes to you all.
Haggai Kimmelman and the Machon staff
team
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