Days 32 and 33: Last Day of MBI

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.

Day 31: Dado Beach and Welcoming in Shabbat

MBI had a long awaited beach day today! They went down to Dado Beach in Haifa to catch some waves, relax by the sea, and eat a delicious falafel lunch!

As MBI heads into their last Shabbat together, they are also beginning their Sikkum Seminar (Closing Seminar). They started to reflect upon their time together in Israel, all of the siyurim (day tours) they had over the past few weeks, as well as what they want to bring back to North America and HDNA. We are excited to hear all of the stories from this experience that they will share with friends and family back at home, and cannot wait to see what they will bring to the ken, machaneh, and Bonimot Tzedek!

This evening, Machaneh Miriam led Kabbalat Shabbat! They all sang songs and recited the prayers under the beautiful orangey-pink glow of the sun setting. Next, Sara, our Rosh MBI, gave her weekly 'Rosh story.' After Kabbalat and the Rosh story, everyone went to dinner. They ended the evening with a Shabbat classic - rikud!

Day 30: Exploring Haifa

Today, MBI went to Haifa! To start their day, they went to learned a bit about the city of Haifa and its demographics, including Jews, Arab Muslims, Arab Christians, Druze, Bahai, olim (immigrants), secular, Haredim, etc.

Later on, they went through the shuk for an afternoon activity. Each person got the name of another person in their kvutza, and they were tasked with getting them a small gift, like cookies, watermelon, other fruit, and more! Afterwards, the group went to the beautiful Bahai Gardens, where thousands of visitors of the Bahai faith come to complete their pilgrimage each year. While there, the group learned about the Bahai faith, and had time to see the whole downtown area of Haifa from the promenade at the top. 

The group went back to their hostel for some free time and dinner, and got to watch the sun set over the Mediterranean. They ended the day by participating in a chill evening activity together.

Day 29: Sailing Across the Kinneret

Today, after much anticipation, the MBI chanichimot put the finishing touches on the rafts, heard a last safety briefing, and sailed across the Kinneret! As you can see from the following photo, posted on Hanoar Haoved Vehalomed's Facebook page, the MBI rafts, designated by the Habonim Dror flags on the far right, are among more than a dozen rafts! While it is not actually race to see which raft will make it to the either side first, the groups participating in Rafsodia always like to engage in some friendly competition. One of MBI's very own kvutzot - Kvutza Ramon - was second to make it to the other side! As each group arrived to the other side of the Kinneret, they had time to watch and cheer on their peers.

Everyone finished the Rafsodia experience with a great sense of accomplishment and pride in their work they did together. This evening, they had time to process and debrief the experience, eat delicious ice cream, and then rest after an intense, but exciting past few days. Tomorrow, MBI will travel to Haifa.