Hey guys, Elli here.

 

All of us woke up this morning extremely fatigued due to the fact that the stray cat that Ben had named Carrot-Cake, kept us awake till the early hours of the morning by deciding to be the attention seeker of the group, and sneaking into the rooms, causing some of us to shriek into the night. In the morning we groggily made our way to our Shul, and shortly after excitedly made our way to the dining room, to have an exquisite breakfast.

 It is impossible to write without mentioning the current situation that Israel is facing with Gaza, so I'll say it straight; from breakfast till we made our way to Kibbutz, we updated ourselves as to what was going on, whether any more locations had been targeted, and discussed Israeli politics. At the same time we were all worried that our beloved Madrich, Peleg Dror would be drafted back to the army and would be sent to Gaza, fortunately for us, he is still on Kibbutz, and doesn't look like he shall be sent as yet.

 

We arrived at Kibbutz at 11:15, and an hour later we were at the bus park of Sede Eliyahu to begin our bike ride around the area. We were all excited to receive the new bikes because in comparison to the bikes we use for day-to-day riding, they were smoother, newer, and had both breaks working. 

The bike ride around the area was filled with amazing views of Tirat Tzvi, Jordan, and the Gilboa, intense bicycle races among the majority of the guys, and delightful sweets enjoyed by us all.

 

Later in the evening we had an 'anticipated' activity with our Hebrew teachers Hila and 'the Incredible Maliheh', who discussed in more detail with the group about the current situation and how they both were in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem when the sirens went off.

 

Just a final message before I finish; right now we are all incredibly safe, and there is no need to worry about us, instead you should all be worrying about the brave Israeli soldiers who have been called back to service, and their families waiting for them. Please send out your prayers and hopefully this unfortunate situation will be over very soon.

Goot Voch

Our weekend bagan at 8am on friday morning where everyone dragged their tired bodies to the kibbutz shule. Following prayers we all ate at the cheder ochel and the group enjoyed the fresh friday morning bread topped with vegemite - despite trying our very best it has not become a favourite among the israelis. 

We would spend the weekend in Shlomi, on the mediteranean coast but firstly we made a short stop over in the historical Zichron Yaakov. Here, we were very priveledged to receive a personal tour of Zichron by two residents, who made Aliyah with Bambi and her family. I think i can speak on behalf of the rest the students in saying that we learnt a lot about the amazinf history of Zichron Yaakov and its significance in the establishment of Israel. Though we were only there for a short time the incredible shule, friday afternoon atmoshphere and mouth watering shewarma will not be forgotton.

Upon arriving at shlomi many of us were refreshed after a nice shloof on the bus and were looking forward to what would be a great shabbat with the group, just as it had been three weeks earlier. Friday night service, lead by none other than Yaniv and Leron, was another highlight of shabbat as the scopus students created an atmosphere unlike no other. That night we played different games as a group and we were visited by the 'friendly' neighbourhood stray cat. We did not know if it was male or female but Ben thought a suitable name for it would be 'Carrot Cake'.

On shabbat we all rested well after another incredible week on kibbutz. In the afternoon we visited 'café dilemma', where we discussed some very controversial topics that the israeli goverment were faced with in the past few years. This activity gave all of us much to think about in relation to how israel is portrayed in the media as well as the importance of maintaining israel's jewish identity. We all got a lot out of what was another great program ran by Tamar and Peleg.

After, we were given a few hours for some more rest and relaxation which were mainly spent on the basketball court, where we took on a group from south america in an intense half court thriller. The Aussies claimed a convinsing win. No surprise Peleg held top score, rebounds and three points.

We concluded shabbat with seuda shlishit and then made havdala outside which was very spiritually uplifting and a great group bonding experience.

Saturday ended with a performance night featuring stand up comedy, all six verses of the australian anthem, kibbutz parody songs, lip syncing, skits and solo performances. This was truly a night to remember, filled with much laughter, especially when our madrichim put on a special show for us.

I can honestly say that this amazing program never fails to surprise me and it has produced another memorable group shabbat. I can only imagine what will be in store for us in the coming weeks.

Look forward to writing again,

Adam.

Blog for Thursday the 15th

It has Surely been an exciting week full of mixed emotions on the kibbutz. As you probably all know,  Israel is fighting with Gaza (in the south). Fortunately we are not being directly affected but all of us are still in a way impacted whether it being a billet brother, parent or sister being called for the reserves, or family living close to dangerous areas. Even though this is the case, the kibbutz (including us) still carries on with its normal activities.

On a brighter note, today we went on a 9km tiul (tour) walk through the ramat yisaschar, a valley with great views and other stuff...

Keep those I love Israel statuses coming!!

Steiner

First time down Ben Yehuda

Jordana and Maddie here:

 

Having so much fun in Israel, can't believe we've already been here for 2 weeks! Time has passed so quickly. Today our madrichim organized a surprise for us and we went to this amazing hot springs place where we swam in the beautiful hot water. We were all very excited to be right on the Jordanian border! 

Last Shabbat we had a free weekend which everyone really enjoyed. Some went to past Zionist madrichim, some reunited with their family members and some saw friends that had made Aliyah. We went to Ben Yehuda Street for the first time and we loved it so much but the most important part of our weekend was definitely learning how to eat garinim (sunflower seeds) the Israeli way from Avinoam's family. 

It is both of our first times in Israel and we still can't believe how lucky we are to be here! Kibbutz life is so different to what we had imagined yet we've had so much fun and met so many amazing people who we already love. We're excited to see what the next few weeks bring us and we promise to keep you updated on the kibbutz gossip! Missing everyone, behatzlacha for exams and ask your Hebrew teachers how to use 'stam' correctly before you come to Israel otherwise the Israelis will laugh at you! 

Free weekend

Zio Mads

4/11/12 Kibbutz Blog

Hey guys, we just completed a full-on yet action-packed and fun-filled day. The boys day began with their usual tfillah with our mechanech Moshik. After completing a truly inspirational and passionate tfillah, the boys met up with the girls, who had just finished praying with rachel, another teacher, for our first lesson of the day, pirkei avot. 

After three lessons of school including one dreaded lesson of hebrew, we then hopped on a bus and travelled to Chavat Eden. Despite the boiling weather, we all worked the land until 1:30, where we returned to school for lunch. After eating the equivalent of a hippopotamus, the boys realized that they would be having their first sport lesson which happened to fall right after lunch. 

The sport lesson consisted of running, chin ups, sit ups, jumping, skipping, push ups and of course more running. This was a very new experience for the boys, who are used to ballroom dancing in sport. After sport, the boys met up with the girls, who had just had a Hebrew lesson, for two more lessons of Hebrew. Once the long school day had finished, everyone had one hour to get ready for a Poyka, which is similar to a stew. 

The Australians and the Israelis hiked up a mountain for an unforgettable night. We all did our part in preparing and cooking the delicious meal. When the Poyka was cooking, we all enjoyed some fun activities which our madrichim had prepared for us. After getting to know the Israelis even more, we then began to eat the scrumptious Poyka. After some more talking and playing, we then said our goodbyes and returned home to rejuvenate for the next day. 

Michael Alter

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Hi Mishpacha

School Days

Hi guys, Steins here

 

Today was another great day with lots of highlights.

Let me begin by telling you about the 3 lessons of art in which we begun painting a white wall white. Finally when the wall was white, we started painting things to do with science on the wall.  Like the solar system and evolution  we then preceded to have our daily 3 Hebrew lessons. We even had a test (I failed).

We Then had a history lesson with our mech teacher but instead of talking about the cold war or Israel's history, we ended up talking about all the stuff o.j. the kibbutz which we did or didn't like. This was fun.

After school, we did some volunteering work. We set up a supply line where everyone was given a job of placing an item in a bag. About half way through we started running out of wine but we kept going and packing until all we had left were cupcakes and tinned olives.

We then returned to the kibbutz where some of the boys went for a run and then gym.

At  night we listened to a guest speaker who was talking converting to Judaism and living in a kibbutz. This was very interesting. Sherelle made a cracking thank you speech.

The day then finished with a normal chill in the moadon (clubhouse) and basketball match which the Australians got smashed in..

We then went to bed.

Tomorrow we will have an excursion which we are all stoked for.

 

That is all.

Steiner out