Nearing the end of the Klita Orientation Seminar

As we near the end of the Klita Orientation Seminar I finally found a moment to look back on the past week. The last time I wrote was my very first night in Jerusalem and already its weird to see how much life has changed. When I compare the things I’ve done and the discussions I’ve had over the last week with what I would have been doing in London, I know I made the right decision to come.

Early Thursday morning we moved from Beit Shmuel to Beit Ben Yehuda which is on Roshav Ein Gedi. Unfortunately for me (and totally nothing to do with the amount of stuff in my suitcase) upon arrival the zip promptly fell apart.

Rather than mention every mundane security and technical discussion we had alongside peulot, I will instead briefly highlight some of the more interesting goings-on. On Thursday we had a fantastic peula on Israel/Zionism. Alongside appreciating the opportunity to have this kind of discussion amongst people with similar whilst very different views, It began to occur to me how interesting it would be when some of the vast differences in opinion (e.g. between the Liberal and Reform Shnatties) came into light during discussions. My group's personal discussion focused on the impact of the Haredi Jews on the opening of malls and public transport in Israel on Shabbat. As it stands no public buses run and the shopping malls get fined if they open. Some of the points made included the concept that Israel is a secular state and therefore the Haredi shouldn't necessarily have control of Shabbat. We also discussed that shopping/transport on Shabbat would not be compulsory even if available and could and should therefore be a personal choice. Also that being Israeli and Jewish are two different things and that you shouldn’t necessarily be forced to observe Jewish practices so strictly just because you are Israeli. Interestingly somebody pointed out that Haredi Jews are not really Zionist? And that Jewish observance feels more important in London as it brings you closer to Israel and this is therefore not necessary in Israel. We later had a discussion on 'Shnat and the big J' i.e. Shnat and Judaism run by an educator who I later discovered had a particular ability to take anything you say and intentionally twist it to the extreme to prove a point. It's a particularly frustrating and backward technique as it pretty much makes you have no desire to participate because he also refuses to let you justify a point after twisting it. Later that evening we had a Sniffim Introduction. This was basically an opportunity for each movement present to describe and explain the way their movement works. NFTY, RSY, LJY, Netzer Barcelona and Netzer Germany are the 5 movements that make up this years Shnat Netzer. All I'm going to say is NFTY is mahusive! And Netzer Spain have an amazing video on youtube which would make anyone want to go.

On Friday we went on a wander round Jerusalem and the old city with one of the Southern Shnatties pointing out interesting and relevant landmarks. Unfortunately for me, due to my complete and utter lack of a sense of direction, I could not recall a single place he recommended! That evening we went to Kol HaNeshama for Shabbat which was a slightly confusing but different experience to FRS Friday night services to say the least. After dinner our Oneg Shabbat was a typical RSY (or I should say Netzer) singsong and a little activity where everyone was given a balloon with someone’s name on and they had to make a card for that person and put it inside the balloon. Then we swapped balloons, popped them and read the messages.

Our Seuda and Havdala services on Saturday were some of the best I’ve ever participated in. I think to try and explain what we actually did now would be lose most of the atmosphere and what actually made it special so due to my literacy incompetence I won't even try. That afternoon the Southern Shnatties took us on a guided tour of Emek Refaim and down town Jerusalem. Again many really useful places pointed out, none of which I can remember.

Finally onto today. This morning we woke up ridiculously early to get an 08.15 bus to the Sataf (the forest). After a sleepy Ma'amad amidst the trees focused on the concept of 'We don't have to, we get to' we continued onto our afternoon of volunteering. Apparently somebody thought making us pile rocks into buckets in the midday heat was a good idea...not so much! After dinner one of the Tzevet led an Israel update, obviously resulting in much conflict and difference in opinion. Amongst the topics we discussed were Gilad Shalit, the division of men and women on more than 100 bus routes in Israel and the street segregation in the Haredi neighbourhood (and the old city on succot).

So here I am at 12.30 on Sunday night and on reviewing the week I don't honestly think I can explain how excited I am for the next few months. Its a great group of new people, an opportunity to discuss lots of controversial and interesting topics and a chance to spend time in places so different from home it's both exciting and terrifying at the same time....but I can't wait.

And on that note Laila Tov

Love to all

S x