Program Updates

Shalom Parents of Netivot 2008,

This is my final update to you.   I have just seen your children off at the airport and they are now in the aeroplane on their way home.  I am happy that the trip has been a great success and thoroughly enjoyed by everyone, but you will, of course, shortly be hearing from the kids themselves all their stories from the visit and their recollections (happy, I'm sure) of their time spent here.

Before taking my leave of you, I'd like to bring you up to date with the activities of the youngsters during their concluding few weeks.

Week 14, as from Sunday, December 14, started for the girls with a visit to Midreshet Yeud, in Jerusalem, which is one of the two official Midrashot, the other one being Midreshet Harovah, to which I referred  in my last update, for post graduate Bnei Akiva girls. 

On Thursday, December 18, after a week of regular studies, the group joined together
and travelled to Tel-Aviv.  The town, as you may know, was founded in 1909 and is therefore, these days, exactly 100 years old.   They visited a couple of well-known and important museums.  These were the Palmach Museum :
http://www.palmach.org.il/show_item.asp?itemId=8069&levelId=42792&itemType=0 and Independence Hall:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independence_Hall_(Israel)
where the kids learned about Israel 's battles leading up to the creation of the state.  No doubt that to sing Hatikvah on the very spot where Ben-Gurion read out the Declaration of Independence on the establishment of  the state was a powerful and touching experience.   They also, whilst in Kikar Rabin, in the centre of Tel-Aviv,  engaged in a lively discussion with our tour guide, Dorit, on the contrasts between Tel-Aviv and Jerusalem.

On the Shabbat, December 19/20, the boys were guests at the homes of their room mates whilst the girls spent an enjoyable Sabbat at Efrat in Gush Etzion, organized by their madrichot.

On the Sunday of Week 15,  21 December, the week of Chanuka, the boys and girls joined up and traveled South to spend four days at a JNF seminar in Nitzana. The kids had a most relaxing time in the peaceful desert, where they took trips and hikes and learnt more about Israel – and themselves.

On Wednesday, December 24, following the visit to Nitzana, the group attended a  Gush Katif seminar, which took place at the largest town of the evacuees, Nitzan.  Nitzan is a caravan town, where a few hundred families live in temporary caravan homes.  The kids were taken on a tour of the town by one of the evacuees living there, and heard the sad story of  how the Gush Katif settlers were evicted from their beautiful homes.  They were surprised to hear that today, more than three years later, the evacuees were still living in temporary quarters whilst waiting to be resettled in permanent homes. The kids met some of the children of the yishuv and were shown a very sad and touching film about the evacuation and their experiences and difficulties whilst trying to get resettled.  At the end of the film some of our youngsters were in tears, and I am certain that this visit brought home to them most forcibly and unforgettably the sad story of the evacuation.

The following day, Thursday, December 25, was spent at archeological digs on the outskirts of the town, Yavne, where our youngsters had the opportunity to do some digging.  Such an activity gave them, I'm certain, a strong feeling of closeness to their roots.   From there, the kids made their way to their final free Shabbat.

Week 16, December 28, the kids returned to their home base schools for their final week of regular studies.  The youngsters expressed their appreciation for their teachers, who had taught them throughout the course with commitment and had developed a close relationship with their pupils.  I take this opportunity to thank these rabbis and teachers for their dedicated work.  This week of studies was followed by a Shabbat spent by the kids at their schools.

Week 17, from Sunday, January 4 to the following Thursday, was spent by the boys and girls together at a Gadna army training course at Sde Boker in the Negev.  This Gadna activity is a popular feature of our programme, where the group joins Israeli high school groups, who receive IDF training prior to their conscription.  These training courses are run in an authentic manner, with the youngsters (both the Israelis, of course, and also our youngsters) wearing IDF uniforms, being subjected to army discipline, working hard and even engaging in shooting practice.  The sleeping conditions are fairly basic, as in the regular army.   Our kids, though working hard during their time there, enjoyed the experience very much and got a true feeling of what it is like to be a soldier in Israel.  I am sure they'll have pictures to show you from this activity.

The Shabbat following this activity was a final Room Mates Shabbat.  It was a successful Shabbat for everyone.  Many close friendships had been formed and I feel certain that many of the   youngsters will be keeping in touch with one another.

The kids spent Week 18, their final full week, on a tiyul to the Negev and Eilat, which was a visit to which they had been very much looking forward throughout the programme.  The week was spent very pleasurably, snorkeling in the Red Sea, hiking in the mountains around Eilat, and engaging in numerous other activities, all of which made their final tiyul a great success.  They were happy to be enjoying warm, sunny weather whilst for the rest of the country, it was a cold, rainy week.

The last few days of their visit, during the Shabbat of January 16/17 up to their departure on the Tuesday, January 20, was spent by the kids at their final location, Kibbutz Migdal Oz in Gush Etzion.  If you recall, they had spent the first Shabbat of the programme also at this same kibbutz, so it was as if the wheel had turned full circle.  I myself joined them at the Kibbutz and I was delighted by the joyous atmosphere and the exuberance of the youngsters.  Two greatly loved guests of the Shabbat were Rav Steve Gar and Mordechai Zeller, who have been teachers and tour guides throughout the programme.

The final three days, 18, 19 and 20 January, were devoted to closing sessions and touring.  We visited the Gush Etzion Museum , Har Herzl and Yad Veshem.  We were given a final shiur from Rav Steve Gar and had a final Bnei Akiva session with Ilan Osrin from World B'nei Akiva.  We also had closing sessions with Yeladim Netivot staff, Dovi Paritsky, Mimi Lax and myself.  On our final night, Monday January 19, we had our farewell party which was a touching occasion.  The kids spoke about what they had gained from the programme and many of the youngsters felt that the experience had changed their lives. The kids spoke about what they had gained from the programme, and many of them stressed that they had developed feelings of love and closeness towards Israel and that the experience had, in fact, changed their lives.

Today, Tuesday, 30 December, our last day, we went to the Kotel, and stood next to this holiest place in the world and sung the beautiful song:”Acheinu” about our brothers in danger, which did, of course, have a very special significance for all of us, when our soldiers have just fought a war and though a cease fire has just been declared, many are still in danger.  Following this, for the final time in the programme, we sang Hatikva.

The programme was B"H a big success, and its great success was in no small part due to the work put into it by the following people, to whom I wish to give heartfelt thanks:

First and foremost, our dedicated and excellent madrichim, Ryan, Ella and Michal.The staff of “Yeladim-Netivot”, under the leadership of Dovi Paritsky and my colleagues, Mimi and Dorit. To Jeremy Herz ,who is Merakez (President) of B'nei Akiva, Australia, and to World Bnei Akiva, and especially Ilan Osrin. Also very special thanks are owed to Rav Steve Gar, a teacher and guide, who put his whole heart into the organizing and running of this programme;

May I also thank you parents for entrusting your children to us and I also want to thank the Australian schools for their trust in us in sending the children, and last but not least I must thank the youngsters themselves for being so marvelous throughout the whole programme.  Though I have only just parted from them, I am already missing them and hope to see them again soon here in Israel.

I gave the kids a magazine in which the whole schedule for the 19 weeks of the programme is contained, and once the kids are with you, I think you'll find my updates more comprehensible if  you check  the schedule whilst reading the updates.

I cannot close this update without referring to the fact that this particular visit of your children had a very special significance for the kids since it came at a time when our brave and wonderful soldiers were fighting a very tough war against the Hamas terrorists in Gaza.  Thank goodness they managed to greatly weaken the terrorists, and let's hope the future will bring us greater peace and quiet!
 
L’Hitraot B’Israel,Kol Tuv

Dani Yemini