From The Desk Of The Mazkirim: February 2018
Shalom Channichim, Bogrim and Parents
A short and sweet update for February – with all of our national projects having been launched and the sign ups rolling in big time, especially for our Grade 10 Shorashim Israel tour, we have never been busier!
Each month a new edition of From the Desk of the Mazkirim will be sent out in order for all to keep up with what’s happening in the different spheres of the movement and to see all upcoming events nationally and within our kenim.
Aleh Ve’Hagshem
Jess Levitt Zac “Shekky” Fleishman Daniel Sussman
Mazkira Klalit S’gan Mazkir Klali Gizbar
(jess@habo.org.za) (shekky@habo.org.za) (daniel@habo.org.za)
Contents
- Ken Updates
- Shnat 2018 Update
Ken Updates
Cape Town
February saw a massive focus on Bogrim education as we ran our first two Friday Night Meetings (FNM) for grade 11s and older. The opening FNM celebrated the Ken and the Bogrim body and the second one was a peulah run by Zac Fleishman on the meaning and purpose of a youth movement. Both meetings were fun and engaging and set a good precedent for the caliber of meetings that the ken can expect for the rest of the year. We thank Tia Unterslak and Kayla Bagg for organising both FNMs and for their dedication to their tafkidim as Rosh Bogrim. We’ve been visiting our channichim regularly at across the different Herzlia schools and our events for channichim will be starting up very soon!
Johannesburg
With all of our channichim back at school, our madrichim back at university and our Shnatties comfortably in Israel, we have still managed to keep the ken active and alive throughout February. The Shnat Farewell at the beginning of the month was a heartfelt and intimate event, where family and friends of the Shnatties wrote them letters of best wishes on their way to Israel. The 4 Shnatties from Johannesburg will be truly missed throughout the year and we can’t wait to have them back on Machaneh! Members of the JHB Ken have been visiting King David’s Linksfield and Victory Park weekly, to see our channichim at break, to catch up with them and to tell them about upcoming events. Doing this weekly has been successful and we hope to continue to be able to show our channichim this consistency throughout the year.
On the 16 th of February, Shtillim and Bonim Rakazim ran a hugely successful Shtillim and Bonim Adventure Shabbat which hosted just over 20 channichim at the Bayit. The children had a wonderful time and we are really proud of the Rakazim for having pulled off such an outstanding event, as their first one yet!
This month, for the first time, we were privileged to experience Adeno’s ‘Makelwane- Your Neighbor’ Cultural Exchange Project in Soweto. Members from Habonim Dror and other movements were taken on a tour of Soweto before sitting down with some G
rade 10 and 11 students in the youth centre, where we helped them with Maths and English. After this, we were treated to a performance of song and dance by the locals. We are excited to continue this program throughout the year and can only hope to get more and more participants as the program progresses.
This month, we also launched Mini Mach 1 for 2018. The Mini Mach VP: Daniel Kartun, Adam Koor and Joey Avinir have been working hard with the Roshim of the various Shichavot to encourage channichim to sign up for this phenomenal weekend away. Our new campsite, Camp Zenith in Heidelberg, promises a multitude of new experiences for channichim with their top class facilities which include a Soccer field, Volleyball court, Putt Putt course, Basketball court, Fooseball table, Swimming pool, Gaga pit, Giant Chess, Paint ball, Obstacle course and Human Fooseball. On this mini mach we wil also delve into education of Shabbat and Jewish Identity to provide the Channichim with a holistically Habo experience.
Besides for Mini Mach, other things JHB members can look forward to include Bowling for Amelim and Sollelim, Shorashim Seminar for Sayarim and Hadracha training on April Seminar for Shavit and Givon. The launch of both April Seminar and Shorashim in the schools were hugely successful and we anticipate those programs will be filled up in no time. We cannot wait to announce our first Garinim event at the beginning of March and yet another Shtillim and Bonim event! Bogrim of the movement will also be invited to dinners with their shichavot once we believe they have time available to do so.
In other news, 5 members of our movement are going to Durban this weekend to spend Shabbat with the Durban Jewish Community and teach them about Habonim. We will tell them Adeno’s story, take Shul Service at the Orthodox and Reform shuls of the community and take the children Ice-Skating on Saturday evening. It promises to be an unforgettable weekend for all!
Finally, the Friday Night Meetings which have been held by the Roshei Bogrim, Amber Gordon and Bradley Mervis have gone off without a hitch, attracting atleast 50 Bogrim to the bayit, after Shabbat, each week! We have introduced new madrichim and Givon into the Ken, we have done South African Politics Didactic Encounters, we have played around with DIY and we are ready to delve into some more serious conversations about the movement and our Judaism. We are very excited for what lies ahead!
Shnat 2018
It has been 3 weeks since we landed in Israel. We have already engaged in an intense and informative opening seminar. We got a taste of what our peulot are going to be like throughout the year and we have spoken a lot about what kind of cultures we want to create on Shnat and what being a kvutzah means to us. The seminar allowed us to enter Machon (the first portion of the program, based in Jerusalem) feeling more bonded with one another and excited to engage with other youth movements. The first few days of Machon were quite a shock. The long days and demanding classes were a bit daunting, however, we are all very excited to engage in the educational syllabus here. The Machon program has done their best to bring us the best possible educators and to ensure that we are constantly engaged. So far we haven’t started official classes but have been getting to know the English speakers on Machon and done activities that have exposed us to Israel’s current events, nature and history. -Written by Hannah Fleishman and Jarred Fisher
Upcoming Events
National:
Givon and Shavit April Seminar – 3rd-8th April
Eyal (Grade 9) Seminar – Dates TBC
Nesher Shorashim Israel Experience – 26th June – 17th July
Machaneh 2018 – 12th – 28th December
Cape Town:
Mini Mach 1 – 16th -18th March, the Habonim Campsite.
The Amelim Amazing Race – This Sunday (4 March) at the Waterfront for all grade 8s.
Johannesburg:
Mini Mach 1 – 16th– 18th March, Camp Zenith, Heidelberg.
For further enquiries on any upcoming events, suggestions, feedback etc please get in contact with either Jess Levitt (jess@habo.org.za) or if it’s Ken Specific you can email Eden Plein and Erin Gordon (roshkenjhb@habo.org.za) or Gabi Saven and Zena Kruss van der Heever (roshkenct@habo.org.za) or feel free to call our offices, Cape Town (021 464 6763) and Johannesburg (011 786 7046).
Aleh Ve’Hagshem, Rise Up and Fulfil