Many things have happened since my last post. So, I'm going to start at last Thursday, September 11th. Thursday morning, we awoke at 5 am in order to begin our hike of Har (definition: mountain) Tavor. After lots of perspiration and a couple liters of water, we made it to the top where we ate lunch and admired the grand monastery. We returned from Har Tavor at 3 pm, and, myself along with the other gizbarim, made a trip to the "nearby" city of Afula to open our kupah bank account. This began our first weekend on the kibbutz. The following two days were spent relaxing. We went swimming at the kibbutz pool, played many rounds of Set, and enjoyed watching some movies.
Sunday was the beginning of our first official week of Boneh. The day started with us splitting into two groups, our shiyurim (definition: classes). Each week of Boneh has a different theme which are referred to as modules. The module for the week of 9/14 was My Jewish Community. Many of the conversations examined being a secular Jew vs. a religious Jew, and we discussed how Jewish secularism has changed in America.
For example, during the early 1900s being a secular Jew often meant that you sent your kids to a school where they learned academic subjects, Yiddish language and literature, Jewish history, and social justice ideals. It meant being a member of Jewish sports teams, unions, and occupational organizations. But in the 1950s Joseph McCarthy opened a series of congressional hearings so as to rid the country of Communists. April Rosenblum, a writer, editor, and activist, stated, "They [Jews] became perhaps the most noticeable ethnic group that fell under hysterical anti-Communist scrutiny..." This was a turning point for American Jewry. Jewish communal activities became rooted in religion rather than the culture.
Within My Jewish Community module, we also discussed assimilation, anti-Semitism, and Israel. All of which are directly related to the Jewish diaspora. This past Thursday, we traveled to Tel Aviv to visit the Diaspora Museum. There, we discussed the destruction of the first temple and how that led to the beginning of the diaspora. We talked about how Jews formed close knit communities all around the world, even in China! The museum concludes with the thought that the diaspora is considered over when all the Jews around the world return to Israel. However, the museum is in a phase of reconstruction as this thought does not depict reality. Jewish communities outside of Israel are still thriving today.
Now, to back track a few days. On Sunday afternoon, after our shiyur (definition: singular of shiyurim), we began a new addition to the Boneh portion of Workshop, Projects. During this time Workshoppers are meant to find something of interest that is related to the movement and create a resource for Habonim Dror North America (HDNA). I am working with one other person on compiling articles and carrying out interviews on what it means to be leftist when it comes to Israel today. We will be examining what it means to be part of a Zionist movement, but also one that focuses on social justice and is leftist. One of the other groups is examining Israel and sustainability. Yet another group is creating two resource books on LGBTQ within the movement. One is a gender and sexuality educational compilation and the other is a book of personal narratives. But there's many more projects being done as well. I'm very excited to see everyone's finished projects.
We began our first Jewish Civilizations course this past week. I chose the Jewish Literature course. So far, we have talked about different theological texts and examined Jewish short stories. We have also discussed what makes a story Jewish.
Following Jewish Civ, we started Power courses. These are similar to chuggim (definition: interest groups). The one I have been attending is about evil. We have looked at evil in the Bible (Eve and the snake; Cain and Abel) and we have discussed the Stanley Milgram's shock experiment (interesting stuff, look it up).
Our Israeli Society course this past week focused on the Knesset (the Israeli parliament). We learned about the stance on many different topics of many different political groups. I also had the opportunity to take an online quiz to determine the political group with which I most closely relate. I got Hadash. The main policies and ideals of Hadash include...
~ Supporting the evacuation of all Israeli settlements, a complete withdrawal by Israel from all territories that have been occupied as a result of the Six Day War, and the establishment of a Palestinian state
~ Being active on social and environmental issues
~ seeing itself as a non-Zionist party, keeping with a Marxist opposition to nationalism
Unfortunately, of the 120 members of the Knesset, only two members are from Hadash.
That brings us back to Thursday and Tel Aviv. After the Diaspora Museum, we had a delicious falafel and baklava lunch in a nearby shuk (definition: market), and we concluded the day with a tour of a graffitied area of the city. Intricate pictures, blurbs, and political references covered the walls.
And that concludes the week.
Rosh Hashanah (definition: New Year) is in just two days, and I'm very much looking forward to the chag (definition: holiday)!
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