Boneh Learning Topics (continued)

After tiyul, we went straight into a four-day long seminar in Jerusalem. During Jerusalem seminar we spent the week looking at the different issues, topics and conflicts that arise in Jerusalem.   The two main ideas that we focused on was the “Conflict” and the relationship between Jews and Arabs in Jerusalem, and the religious secular divide in the city. We spent the first day of the seminar on kibbutz  preparing for the week ahead, watching different movies which created a basis for the conversations that we were about to have.  The first day in Jerusalem we visited the Knesset and had a walking tour of the Old City, looking at the historical background of Jerusalem.  The next day was focused on the conflict between Jewish Israelis and Arabs in the Jerusalem area.  We went on a tour of East Jerusalem with an organization called Ir Amim, and then returned to the hostel to hear a speaker who attempts to move Jewish families into East Jerusalem.  The third day of the seminar was focused on the role religion plays in politics in the country.  We hear from someone who works at the Israel Religious Action Center, he spoke about the hot topics that his organization deals with, like de-segregation on buses and the recent allowance for women to pray freely at the Kotel.  We spent the afternoon walking around a strictly observant neighbourhood and saw how these beliefs come into practice.  The last day of the seminar we visted Har Herzl and went to the graves of early Zionist leaders that we have learned about throughout Boneh. The seminar ended with visiting the Israel museum were we saw historical artifacts that are culturally important to the state.

In the youth movements module, our last module on boneh, we talked about the emergence of the idea of “youth” after the industrial revolution and how youth movements were created as a revolutionary way to address the questions and struggles of that age. The speaker was the Mazkir of the world Bnei Akiva movement who spoke to us about their ideology and how they movement addresses issues that are also central to Habonim.

We are just about to start our Boneh sikkum seminar where we will use the week to go over the many large questions and dilemmas that we have faced on Boneh.  We are sure it will be a bitter sweet week filled with a lot of reflection and hopefully some pool time on Kibbutz Revivim!

Revivim Sunset