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