The week started with the magical view of a white Jerusalem, our shnatties woke up Friday to a peaceful, quiet, white morning full of snow, and it hadn’t snowed in Jerusalem in the past four years so our shnatties received a very nice treat.
On Sunday morning the Etgarnicks said good bye to Ariel and Noa who started the Spanish speaking Machon this week, and now we have Netzer representation in all 3 programs, Etgar, English Machon and Spanish Machon- GO NETZER!
The week is finishing with the celebration of Purim, where with the help of Queen Esther our lives were saved. Last night our shanties went to a small reading of the Megila on Zion Sq, which was done by women and in order to empower women. And today they will be going to the congregation of Kol Haneshama for the big reading of the Megila.
Today is not only Purim but it is also the international Women's Day, this week brought some important events/issues for women in my opinion that I would like to share with you,
This week the legal age to get married in Israel was changed form 17 to 18, which doesn't seem like much of a difference but it is a step forward, the idea behind it is to try stop the marriage of minors (especially women) that by the age of 18 are already mothers, or because of early marriage are actually deprived of studying in the university, or having a career, etc.
This week Israel is also trying to pass a law which would set a minimum weight for Models, meaning that if a model weighs less than the stipulated weight, companies will not be able to hire her, the idea behind this is to stop women from starving themselves in order to be models or in order to look as their favorite model.
We want to wish all of our women a great day, I really believe that behind every great man there is an even greater women.
I am attaching pictures from a small tiyul that Etgar had and from a Purim party that the Etgarnicks prepared for a kindergarten in Bet Shmuel
And in the words of our President Shimon Peres: "We were known as the people of the book now we are known as the people of facebook". You are welcome to follow us on our facebook page: www.facebook.com/netzerolami, where you can find more pictures of our lovely shnatties.
Michael,
Weekly report bu Shoshana B. (machon)
Machon Weekly Report (March 1-8)
We have just reached the end of the fourth week of Machon, which was busier, colder and then warmer and more exciting than any week yet.
Naomi left off on Wednesday telling us about the snow, which unfortunately turned to rain on Thursday meaning that our volunteering options in the afternoon (running a Purim carnival for a youth centre or community gardening) were cancelled. The combination of the rain and the snow was pretty unpleasant, and we spent the day running from the cafeteria for hot chocolate to classes and back. However, all was forgiven when we awoke on Friday morning for the first day of Shabbat Machon to the shrieks of naked South Africans running outside in the snow. It snowed properly this time, and there was something incredibly magical about looking out of the dorm windows and seeing the campus covered in fat white snowflakes.
Shabbat had been planned by the Machon Tzevet and everyone was staying at Kiriat Moria for both Friday and Saturday to participate in the activities. We had free time on Friday morning, so most of us slept in and ran various errands. Some of us went on a walk to the Kotel and the Old City in the snow, which was stunning. In the afternoon we had a Kabbalah Shabbat service as a Machzor, and then we were billeted out to various (very hospitable) English-speaking host families around the neighbourhood. Also some of us had more trouble finding the houses in the rain than others, most people really enjoyed having a home-cooked Shabbat dinner and meeting different people. The conversations were particularly interesting, and most of the families were quite religious and had made Aliyah, so there was a lot to discuss. By the time we returned later in the evening the snow had begun to fall again, and those who got back earlier joined an impromptu ruach session/snowball fight with the rest of the Machzor. Saturday morning we had our choice of shules to attend, as well as cultural services here at Machon. A few of us went to Shira Hadasha, an egalitarian orthodox synagogue where women lead the services as well, as well as Mizmor leDavid, a synagogue known for its dancing and singing. Seudia Shlishit and lunch were had together with the rest of Machon, and several programs in the afternoon until the Havdalah service where we finished the Shabbat altogether. It was a really lovely evening; it was great to see how Machon could have an intimate vibe with such a large group.
Classes continued to be (on the whole) interesting and challenging this week, with electives and in-depth courses as well as our regular classes. On Sunday night we saw a performance called the One Woman Haredi Show, which was a truly incredible and mind-boggling play in which an Australian actress created four extreme, extremely different Jewish women and involved us in a Q&A with each of them. It was definitely the highlight of the week! Monday night we had a program run for us by Noam’s chavura, which Becca, Jess and Sophie were involved in. It was based on conspiracy theories and involved some odd and quite scary running around in the dark being chased by clowns.
Tuesday we had Tnua time, so Guy ran an interesting program for both Machon and Etgar about the nature of capitalist societies and the way we treat people within them. Today we have a tiyul around Tel Aviv and are staying there for Purim celebrations tonight, which everyone is pretty hyped up for.
All in all, this week was a great and very packed one, but will only be topped by next week, when we go to the Negev on Southern Tiyul!
Weekly report by Emily K (Etgar)
Shalom everyone, mah korreh?
So, I’m sure as usual you’re all itching to know what’s been going on in Etgar, Well don’t worry- I’m here to tell you all about it. Get comfortable.
Wednesday mornings are for volunteering. We have a whole range of placements. I work at a secondary school teaching English to “difficult kids” with Kitty and Liz and we absolutely love it. Also it should be noted that these placements are all over Jerusalem and we all manage to get there weekly without getting lost or distracted. I can’t speak for everyone, but for me, that’s quite a success.
Also we’ve been learning lots of hadracha from the “SHAVEME” principle (it’s not what you think…) to more complicated and in depth lessons on how to run a budget and manage projects so we can all come home and help run our movements. Hurray.
Hebrew is going tov meod. The teachers we have are absolutely wonderful and we really are learning a lot very quickly. On the other hand, when we went to run a purim party for the Beit Smuel kindergarten on Tuesday it became quite obvious we have some way to go (although I can now talk about glue, feathers and glitter quite confidently).
The other lessons this week have also been fantastic. In Tanach we talked about the birth of Samuel and Liora (the head of Noa Telem- the Israeli Netzer branch) came to run a lesson on the rabbinic age which was amazing.
In other news, a few Etgarnicks hit Tel Aviv last night and found a huge shuk party full of purimy goodness. Tonight there are big festivities in Jerusalem and it promises to be a good one but right now we’re off to explore the city and admire the costumes and atmosphere. Should be excellent.
Other things you may wish to know:
- “The dojo” (chill room) has undergone a makeover
- Jeff makes an extremely ugly girl but Dan Ratan has great legs for a mini skirt
- The “Sprite Day” t-shirts are hours away from being ordered
Much love xx
x