After their morning hike, they had a delicious falafel lunch. They then went to a ken (youth movement center) of HaNoar HaOved VeHalomed, our Israeli sister youth movement, where they learned about the activities of Kiyyum Meshutaf in the Jerusalem area. Kiyyum Meshutaf means shared existence in Hebrew.
While there, they met with a few Arab chanichimot who are a part of Kiyyum Meshutaf. The MBI chanichimot got to learn about the goals of Kiyyum Meshutaf - creating an inclusive, shared space for Israeli Jewish chanichimot and Arab chanichimot to meet and learn together. They also learned about what it is like growing up and living in Jerusalem, and what it is like to be a part of HaNoar HaOved VeHalomed. Similarly, the chanichimot from HaNoar HaOved VeHalomed had the chance to learn about Habonim Dror North America and what is like growing up in the United States and Canada. At the end, they all taught each other rikud dances from their respective youth movements!
After visiting the ken, the MBI chanichimot got back on the bus and headed to the Ramada Royal, where they will be staying for first Shabbat of MBI. When they got there, they had some time to shower and get ready for Shabbat.
Shabbat on MBI is often a very special time of the week for the chanichimot. One of the activities is mishpachot, a chance to sit with other chanichimot from their home machaneh and share with each other how their week was and what they may be looking forward to for the next. It's a great time for them to check in about how they are feeling, and rewind from the past few days alongside familiar faces.
Because there are chanichimot from all of Habonim Dror North America's machanot, they get to learn the many unique Shabbat traditions practiced at other machanot. While there are often similarities in various traditions, each machaneh may sing Kabbalat Shabbat songs in a different order, may sing to different tunes, or have their own style of saying the Shabbat prayers! It's a chance to learn how Friday night Shabbat is done at other machanot, and a great opportunity for individuals to share the traditions they may have grown up with at home.
This week, the chanichimot from Machaneh Moshava got to lead everyone in a lively Kabbalat Shabbat!
After Kabbalat Shabbat, the chanichimot gathered around to hear Sara tell the Rosh story. Each week, Sara will share with the chanichimot a lesson, tip, or insight in story form with hopes that it gives them something to think about or reflect upon as they enter the new week.
After Shabbat dinner, the chanichimot participated in another Friday night Shabbat tradition - rikud! Many of the chanichimot are probably used to doing rikud from growing up at machaneh, when the whole machaneh community gathers and dances into the night! MBI is a great way to learn different dances that may be done at machanot different than one's own.
Just so our families know, I will not be writing blog posts on Saturdays, so you will get a recap of their Saturday on Sunday's posting.
Shabbat shalom!
Thank you,
ReplyDelete