Day 1: Welcome to Israel!

After many hours of traveling, the MBI chanichimot have finally arrived in Israel! Once they collected their luggage from baggage claim, they said goodbye to their wonderful flight chaperones, Jacob and Toviah, and were soon greeted by their tzevet (staff) at the arrivals atrium in Ben Gurion Airport. 

After gathering for several group photos, they boarded the bus to the Kiryat Moriah youth hostel in Jerusalem, where they will be for the next couple of nights. Once on the bus, they learned the MBI seat belt song. Whenever they board the bus on the program, they will be reminded to wear their seat belts in a silly, musical way!

After the group arrived at the hostel, they spent time getting to know each other and their madrichimot (counselors) in the beautiful Kiryat Moriah hostel courtyard. They did an initial round of names and played a GTKY (Get to Know You) bingo game, allowing them to learn more about each other. They also split into rotating smaller break out groups to meet each other and answer some fun questions together. During this time, the MBI chanichimot were also split into their kvutzot for the program. There are two kvutzot this summer, and each kvutza has chanichimot from each of the machanot (summer camps) in it. While they will travel around to each site and stay in the same accommodations each night with the entire MBI group, they will do most of their learning and peulot (activities) with their respective kvutza. 

The kvutzot are named after mountains in Israel - Ramon and Arbel. Ramon is a mountain in the South in the Negev Desert, and Arbel is a mountain in the North near the Kinneret. Each kvutza then received MBI hats. One kvutza got purple ones, and the other got turquoise ones!

Once in their kvutzot, the chanichimot discussed how they are feeling coming into the summer, shared some goals and expectations they may have for themselves, for their kvutza, and for the larger group, and talked about how they want to make space for individual and collective growth throughout this experience. The madrichimot then went over the program rules so we can ensure that the program can be as safe and awesome for everyone participating in it, and emphasized the importance of coming to them if they have any issues or concerns during the summer. 

Another very important part of the afternoon was learning the MBI 2019 song! Each summer, the MBI tzevet will write and teach the chanichimot a special song that is unique to their MBI year.  

After dinner, the chanichimot had a peula about Shmirat HaChaim (Preservation and Protection of Life). They discussed Shmirat HaChaim as both a Jewish concept, and something that is also put into practice. The chanichimot spoke about wanting to take responsibility for each other during the summer, and how important it is for everyone to feel supported and cared for by their peers. The madrichimot then went over the schedule for the rest of the week so that the chanichimot all know what is happening. We hope that they will get a good night's rest to prepare for tomorrow, the first siyur (day trip) of MBI!

A small note - the chanichimot who ordered SIM cards have received them, though they are not set to activate until 12:00 am on July 4th. They should be working then. If they are still experiencing issues, I will call Israel Phones.

Stay tuned for more tomorrow!