We all dressed up into nice outfits that night since it was Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, AND Shabbat! After writing what we were thankful for, reciting the blessings over the candles, the kiddush, and the blessings for Hanukkah, we began eating! We all left dinner feeling very satisfied and full. It was so nice being able to spend Thanksgiving with workshop, however, I'm sure many of us missed spending it back at home with our families.
Hanukkah didn't just fall on the one day of Thanksgiving though, we celebrated it all 8 days! Every night we all met in the Stones kvutza moadon, lit the candles, and all sang together.
My birthday also fell on the 7th night of Hanukkah! When it turned 12:00 AM, we were in the middle of an asepha (meeting) and my friend Aliyah ran across the circle and tackled me to the ground saying "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" After the asepha, everyone in my kvutza sang "Jump down, turn around" and then lifted me up on a chair 19 times. I then went to bed since it had been a very, very exhausting and long day. At night my kvutza surprised me with a chocolate peanut butter cake. And when I say surprise I really mean surprise. I was in the bathroom and when I came out, everyone in my kvutza was yelling at each other. I thought it was just a joke, but then one member of my kvutza got really mad and demanded that we all meet into the moadon to have another asepha on respect. Both of our gizabarim (the people that handle our kupa money) came in and told us that someone had taken 400 shkalim out of their wallets and that whoever did needed to confess. When no one said anything, Aliyah shut off the lights, and brought in the cake with candles in it! It was an awesome birthday, and I'm so happy I was able to spend it with my kvutza.
This past week we had HHH Seminar (Habo History Hagshama). Everyday we left kibbutz and traveled somewhere new. Most of these trips were to kibbutzim around the north of Israel to listen to guest speakers and learn about their take on the decline of the kibbutz movement, along with just learning about their respective kibbutzim. On Sunday, December 1st, we traveled to Hatzer Kinneret, along with the cemetary where some famous Zionist thinkers were buried. We went to these 2 spots on MBI, but it was still interesting seeing and learning about them for a second time. The next day, we went to Kibbutz Kfar Hanassi, a kibbutz founded by Habo UK. We heard a guest speaker, Ariyeh, and then traveled to 2 more kibbutzim, Amiad and Yisrael. Fun fact: Amiad was founded by our our madrich's (Nir's) grandparents. Also, Yisrael was founded by Habo South Africans, Australians, and New Zealanders. On Tuesday, we went to Jerusalem (Specifically Mt. Herzl) and listened to a representative from the World Zionist Organization talk to us about Hanukkah. Not going to lie, I was incredibly bored. It was pretty redundant, and most people couldn't stay focused. We then went to Kibbutz Mishol, an urban kibbutz in Nazareth Illit. We listened to Anton, a former member of Habo UK, speak with us about the kibbutz and his view on the kibbutz movement. On Wednesday, we went to kibbutz Eshbal, a kibbutz founded by HaNoar HaOved V'HaLomed. Thursday was one of my favorite days though, because we got to go to Haifa, one of my favorite cities. We first went to an HDNA panel, and listened to Ruth Stevens, Gil Browdy, and Tamar Levi speak to us about their involvement in the movement. We then split into 2 groups and went to either the 56 bayit, or Tamar's house to hear Amit and Crook's kvutza speak to us. I was in the group who went to the 56 house, which was unbelievably nice. A few representatives from their kvutza spoke to us about the Garin Aliyah process. We then had a hummus and pita lunch along with some fresh vegetables. Afterwards, both groups all met back together and we had a short peulah with our kvutzot to end the seminar. It was an incredibly long and tiring week, filled with a lot of guest speakers and not enough sleep. However, it was such an interesting seminar and I do feel that I learned a lot about the kibbutz movement and more about Habonim Dror's involvement in it.
This week we are on Boneh Sikkum Seminar, which means we get to cook our own dinner! I made dinner on Monday night with Hannah W, Sarah K, Aliyah, Jess, Chief, Micah, and Michael. We made brinner (breakfast for dinner), which consisted of chocolate chip and banana pancakes, broccoli and cheese frittata, and fruit salad! We also made a giant pancake for just those who helped make dinner. It was so good, and I basically filled up on the pancake before people even got there.
Soon we will move to Akko, but before we do, we have to clean EVERYTHING. That is, our moadonot, kitot, and yard space.
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