MASA Building Future Leaders Conference

Hey Readers-  I'm back with somethin' new!

So I am writing from the 2011 Building Future Leadership Conference organized by MASA in Jerusalem. So, you may ask what is this conference with a crazy name and what is this strange name MASA. I'll start with MASA, which is an organization heavily funded by the Israeli government who organizes, sponsors, and markets lots of long term study programs in Israel. So, my program, Shnat Netzer, along with hundreds of other post high school, semester abroad, and post undergraduate programs is a MASA Recognized program. In addition to working with the programs directly, and giving substantial scholarships to long term students in Israel, they host a number of events throughout the year to bring together what is called the "MASA Community." These events are things such as concerts, lectures, etc, and their flagship event, the Building Future Leadership Conference (BFL). 

BFL is a one week conference for gap-year and post undergraduate participants on MASA programs. There are almost 500 hand selected participants who have come together for a week of learning through experience, lectures, and lots of other stuff. I am only at the end of the 2nd day, but we have already had a packed schedule.We started the first day with opening ceremonies including a speech from the CEO of MASA, which became the first of many times we have heard about being the "leaders of tomorrow" and the "keys to the future of Jewish programs in Israel." We also had a session titled ""The 5 Legged Table- Jewish Identity in the 21st Century" which was a great lecture by the dynamic speaker Avraham Infeld. We heard about Jewish leadership throughout history and were challenged on the ideas of who were actual leaders: the Jewish heroes we all know about, or those who worked behind the scenes. The rest of the afternoon consisted of getting to know our main activity and discussion groups and then some time to prepare for our evening gala.

We had a very nice gala dinner at which we heard from one of Prime Minister Netanyahu's top advisors who has been crucial in the transformation and development of Masa from the side of the Israeli Government. We also learned about an incredible organization, Nu (if you never look at another link of mine, look at this one), who creates T-shirts for a cause like you've never seen before. Their t-shirts, from the front, look like any other well designed graphic tee, but on the inside, close to the heart, is printed the story behind the artwork. Even more, each shirt supports a cause directly related to the story on the inside of the shirt. After a presentation from the company, we were presented with the shirts for the BFL event. On the shirt is a butterfly made of words connected to Israel, leadership, and the youth, and on the inside is a story about leadership that goes something like this:

In a small village, there was a little girl, and a wise man. The girl decided one day to try to fool the wise man, so she caught a butterfly, and headed to the man's house. She planned to ask the man if the butterfly in her hands was dead or alive, and depending on the man's answer, she would either let the beautiful butterfly go free, or crush it in her hands. She arrived to the old man, and proposed her puzzle. As if without thinking, the wise man answered, "Little girl, there is no answer, for the power is in your own hands. You have to decide whether to do good or to do bad"

This story relates to leadership because each one of us has the power to decide. To decide how to lead, what to lead, and where to go with our leadership. At the end of the night, we were all touched by the story and happy to have such a cool new (or should I say NU) shirt.

This morning, we started at Yad Vashem, the Holocaust memorial site and museum. As always, the museum was touching and heavy, but this time, we toured it from a leaders perspective. As we walked, we discussed how leaders, whether bad or good, had an impact on the Holocaust and what different styles of leadership did to the end results. In the afternoon, I attended a workshop on Campus Entrepreneurship, my first of 3 sessions on the topic, which covers how to create new and build already existing organizations for Jews, in support of Israel, or anything else, as we move to universities all around the world next year. Using some "cutting edge tools" and techniques, we began our preparation to be future leaders in college. 

In the evening, we had a program in the style of "open space" programming put on by ROI which is " a global community of young Jewish leaders... [whose] objective is to cultivate a prestigious international network of young Jewish leaders in their 20s and 30s who are at the forefront of local, global and virtual initiatives that offer innovative and diverse paths for connecting to Jewish life. Very simply stated, it is a form of free anarchy in a program. We began the program by writing any topic we desired on paper on the wall and assigning it to a different letter or number. We then had two different rotations where we were allowed to freely attend any of the topic discussions at different points around the hall. Although I, as were many others, were skeptical at first about how this would work with 500 people, it turned out to be very cool. According to the "Rule of 2 Feet", at any point that we did not feel comfortable or useful in a discussion, or anytime we felt like moving, we were allowed to move to a new topic. This allowed us each to cover many topics, and although people were constantly moving, discussions continued as each new person"Who is a Jew, and who decides", "Social Workers' Strike in Israel", "Racism", and even "Judaism and Black Magic," where we made comparisons of the two beliefs and traditions, and made a huge list of some serious and some funny compare/contrast points between the two. If I can get my hands on the list, I will post it sometime soon. 

I ended the night with a forum on opportunities with Masa Israel in North America in the future. There are lots of opportunities to get involved in different Jewish and non Jewish communities I have been part of in the past and will be part of in the future, so I am already excited, but keeping my options open for the future. 

We have another 4 days of packed leadership programs, so its off to bed for now, but I will definitely post about the rest of the conference sometime soon. Take care, and think about that butterfly next time you make a leadership decision. 

I'm out. Ethan.

p.s. sorry about no pictures this time. I'll try to get some from the conference for next time. 

Talkin' Bout A Revolution

Shalom and Happy March. I know it has been almost a month since I last wrote, but there have been some big transitions since I last wrote, and so its been crazy busy. As the title implies, there's lots of change and craziness in the region, so I figured I would keep with the trends. But all joking aside, everything in Israel is fine, actually great. Its interesting being so close to lots of revolutions, but the feel of society and culture hasn't changed a bit. Every once and a while, a bit more than usual, there are heightened security risks because of political unrest in the region, but we are all still very safe as is Israel and all the people in it.

So, what have I been up to? Well, I moved to Jerusalem, and I have begun the part of the program called Machon L'madrechei Chutz l'Aretz or for English speakers, Institute for Youth Leaders from Abroad. It is a educational program where the Netzer participants join with about 60 participants from other movements and join in learning and experiences that will make us better Jewish leaders when we go back home. We have lots of classes, but I will get to specifics later. The first few days of Machon, we had an introductory and bonding trip, with some hikes, lots of outdoor group building activities and numerous opportunities to get to know each other. The camping trip was in the Northern Arava, so it was fun to be back in the region where we spent our first month (on Kibbutz Yahel). The first day, we had a long hike with lots of group building. We had a beautiful view of Ein Bokek and the Dead Sea most of the day, and it was lots of fun getting to know some new friends. On Machon, we are broken up into homeroom style groups, which are our core groups. Most of the bonding trip was spent with them so we could know each other. The second day of the trip, we hiked part of Ein Gedi, called Nachal Arugot, which was beautiful. It is a harder and longer hike than the classing Ein Gedi hike, but lots of fun, and ends with beautiful waterfalls and big pools we swam in. After the hike, we went to the beach of the Dead Sea for BBQ lunch and bonding games. We got close as we were challenged with some fairly difficult tasks. Although, some of the tasks that I have run while working the Migdal at GUCI, so we had a bit of an edge sometimes. While completing the tasks, we got a glimpse of a desert sandstorm, which have been frequent because the lack of rain. It was strange but made the sun look so cool.

When we got back from the trip, we had a free evening, then started on our real orientation week. We learned how Machon works, about classes, policies, and all that fun stuff. For the free weekend, I trekked down to Beer Sheva to spend some time with Cousin/Aunt Terri and some Israelis from Camp Sabra (in the US). It was lots of fun to relax for the weekend, and as soon as I got back on Sunday, classes were rolling.

So for my schedule. Each day is packed with classes, besides some free evenings and some special afternoon activities some days. Here are my classes:

Hadracha: This is a leadership class. I chose the technique track, where we learn a lot of the really nitty-gritty stuff about Jewish Youth leadership. It's a great class, and my teacher, who is the director of Machon, is incredible. We use tons of visual aids and models to learn, and I leave every class so satisfied.

Hebrew: I am in my highest Hebrew class thus far. For those of you who know Ulpan levels, I am in Kita  ב+. This is a huge step up from my last class, and although it is a challenge, I am excited to greatly improve my Hebrew.

Israel Update- Politics: This is our modern Israel class, and I am in the political track. We learn lots about the current political system and events, and other world events that relate to Israeli politics. For example, this week we talked about the revolutions around the Middle East and the current J-Street (a left wing Pro-Israel PAC in the US) conference. The growth of J-Street will impact US/Israel relations, so we are all excited to see what happens.

Israeli Society through Music: We look at lots of Israeli and Diaspora music as we discover more about Israeli society. We are currently looking at music from  the 70's in Israel and the US. It's cool to see that although the situations in each country were very different at the time, lots of the music matched up in style and intention.

Story of the Jewish People-The Jewish Bookshelf: We study texts, from the Torah to modern day books, as we examine, in depth, the history of Judaism and its followers.

Zionism/ Israel: Pretty self explanatory, right now we are learning about the roots of Zionism, and we will get to modern/different types of Zionism by the end.

In Depth Focus- Zionism: We go more into the challenges and questions throughout the development of Zionism.

In addition to all these classes, every Wednesday, I have a class/elective on Israel Activism. We plan and partake in social action for the betterment of Israeli society, and learn lots about political activism in Israel. It is a great new perspective on activism and I can't wait to get involved in some big projects. Also, every Thursday afternoon is called Yom Israel, where we take trips out and learn about Judaism, Israel and Zionism as we tour some off the beaten path sites. This past week's trip was an intro to Israel and Zionism in the field, and it was very interesting as we visited a layered archaeological site that represents many different socities who lived in this land. It was beautiful, and succeeded by a tour of the old border with Jordan and some history of the Old City. Unfortunately, my camera died, so I don't really have pictures of anything we saw, except a few landscapes.

We have lots more going on every week, such as encounters with different groups of teens from Israeli society, Sunday selections, where we get an opportunity to learn, usually through something with the arts, and evening programs or Beit Midrashim- really cool and personal study sessions with some great educators. The week is packed, but we have amazing classes and teachers, and are constantly having fun and learning new ideas, so we stay motivated to keep going.

As Machon goes on, I will get more in depth with all of my classes and activities, but for now, its just a sampling.

Two more things I want to talk about.

Last Saturday, I attended a rally in the center of Jerusalem against racism. Although it was all in Hebrew, when I tried, I found I could really understand what was going on. It was really cool, with estimates of 1200-1500 attendees, all from youth movements in and out of Israel. Although it was anti-racism, it was run by a very left wing Israeli movement, so it turned to be pro Reform, Secular, Ethiopian, Russian, and Arab in Israel. It was a great experience to take part in a political rally in Israel. As can be seen in the pictures, there were all different groups there. A big one was called שלום עכשיו (Peace Now). It was joined by a few different political parties, such as מרצ (Meretz, a left wing, Zionist, social democratic party), and עבודה (Avodah, the Israeli Labor Party). There were some great speakers and musicians, and it was lots of fun.

 And last but definitely not least, I had a great Saturday with a whole group from St. Louis, including my Cousin/Aunt Terri again. We all toured around the old city in the Arab market, had lots of good food, visited cool sites and lookout points, and did some good shopping. It was fun being back in the market and seeing some merchants and friends again. One in specific, a Jeweler named Yosef, who thanks to my mom, knows the whole family, was really happy to see me again. When I walked into his shop, he gave me a great big hug, and told me that he was busy so to show the people I was with around the really cool store. It was lots of fun, and he and his brothers who run the store made me feel so welcome, and now I can't wait to go back. It was a great St. Louis/ Arab Market filled day, and a great end to the intro to Machon. 


I am now well into the program, and loving it all. I will continue to write about Machon and other stories, so be on the lookout. This upcoming week, I have a special leadership conference, which I am really excited for, so I will try to update sometime during the week. Hope all is well back home, and keep in touch. That's all folks!


-Ethan