The last full day of MBI - hard to believe where the time has gone! The group woke up, had breakfast, and then met with someone named Zev who spoke with them about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The chanichimot had expressed an interest in learning more about this topic together, before they returned to North America, and even continued chatting with Zev about it through lunch!
After reflecting upon some of the main educational topics they learned about this summer, they had time to prepare for their tekes siyyum (closing ceremony). The MBI tzevet invited many friendly faces to the tekes, including some former madrichimot of some of the chanichimot who are either living in or visiting Israel. Pairs of chanichimot spoke about what they learned the past few weeks on MBI. It was very beautiful, and incredible to hear in their own words about what this experience has meant to them. You can view some of the tekes speeches below.
After the tekes, the group had dinner, and then Gilboa led Havdallah for everyone. As per tradition on the last night of most Habonim Dror experiences, everyone then had a fun final messiba (party)!
The next morning, the group awoke, gathered their belongings, and boarded the bus to the airport. Once at the airport, they had time to say goodbye to this experience and their time in Israel, as well as the new relationships they built over the course of the past month. After lots and lots of hugs and a few tears, they said goodbye to their American or Canadian counterparts and went through security with their flight chaperones, Toviah and Jacob.
We are grateful that it was a smooth send off and that the flights left on time... and now they are on their way to all of you! While we are incredibly sad to see them go and to wrap up another MBI summer, we cannot wait to see what is in store for them in the future!
Thank you to all who followed along with the blog to catch up with MBI on their summer adventures! I'll be turning it over to email for the rest of the day to continue updates about their travels.
