Shabbat And Sunday In The Galilee

Saturday evening, MBI concluded their visit with their new Israeli partners with a Tekes, a ceremony to mark their new found bonds. In Hanoar Haoved, the tekes is taken very seriously, it is something that a lot of time and energy is put into. This one on Shabbat featured musical performances and speeches given by both Hanoar Haoved chanichim (participants) and North American. Over the course of the previous two days the two sides learned a lot from each other. Our chanichim shared what it was like to be Jewish in North America, where being Jewish is personal commitment. And their chanichim shared what it was like in Israel, where Jewishness surrounds them. In addition to more general topics, dialogue was facilitated by madrichim (couselors) on the current situation in Israel. Both sets of chanichim had the chance to hear from the other side about how they relate and make sense of it all. They also had time to simply have fun together and were able to share aspects of both cultures in Habonim and Hanoar Haoved like music, games and shabbat traditions. After the mifgash (meeting) our chanichim stayed one more night on Kibbutz Ravid while the Israeli chanichim headed home.

Reading aloud at the tekes...

Sarah, MBI educational director and a madrich  (couselor) from Hanoar Haoved say a few words...

An activity with Israeli peers earlier in the seminar.

Sunday, in the morning, MBI was right back at it. They went on the Majressa water hike, in stream near the sea of Galilee. The stream is located on a natural reserve and runs off into the Sea of Galilee. As you can see, they had a ton of fun...

Heading down stream...

After they dried off they learned about Jordanian-Israeli relations at E'e Shalom (The Island of Peace) where two rivers meet on the Jordan border.  Specifically, they learned about the transfer from being enemies with Jordan to friendly neighbors in 1994 – then how the peace was tested by the massacre of 7 school girls in 1997 by a Jordanian soldier – then the King of Jordan himself flew to Israel to apologize to Israel to keep the peace. They discussed what it takes to build and keep peace, and how we can overcome mistrust.

In the evening, they moved into their hostel at Kibbutz Afikim just south of the Sea of Galilee where they will call home for the next couple of days. After settling in they had some pool time and got ready for dinner. Later was a bonding activity with painting and music by bus and kvutza. During Tnua Achot, they were split into even smaller groups. This activity was meant to help reorient themselves back with their groups they will complete the rest of the program with. 

More to come on Monday!