Day 1: Welcome to Klal Yisrael by Josh Satok & Fleur Jendroska
Today we arrived in Beit Schmuel to get started with the Israel Seminar of our Klal year and finally meet the other fellows. Starting with an introductory session, we got to know each other, our stories and what brought us here. In the afternoon we met Assael Romanelli to have our first session on community building and what it needs to form a group. We really enjoyed that and had a chance to open up and bond as a group.
When we then went to dinner in Hatzot, we got a surprise visit by the mayor of Jerusalem, who lit the Chanukah candles at the restaurant and came over to say Hi. Lastly, we got an interesting and personal tour about the area around the Shuk, by our Israeli Yiftach. After an exciting first day together, we were all ready to go to bed.
Day 2: Fighting Darkness with Light by Yiftach Shavit and Sedona Rosenberg
AD Gordon once said: “Light could never defeat Darkness if we will not recognize the simple truth that instead of fighting Darkness we must enhance the Light”. Monday night was an important, though a discomforting, reminder of that message. We went to participate in the inter-faith Hanukkah Candle Lighting at the first Station in Jerusalem, only to discover that there was a group of Lehava kids that had come to ruin the event.
In the beginning, people stood by and looked with a worried face over those kids waving huge black flags and over Baruch Marzel shouting different racist statements at the speakers. But after a few minutes, the music started playing again, and one by one people from the audience started to form a big dancing circle around Marzel and his gang. Cheering, singing, and dancing we surrounded them with light, until finally they decided to leave the premises.
I look back at this experience with mixed feelings: on one hand, it was a moment of inspiration and joy, being able to defeat Darkness by simply enhancing the Light. On the other hand, I looked around and saw mainly an older audience lacking younger people other us. To be completely honest, I’m not sure if I would have gone there if it wasn’t for Klal Yisrael. At the end of the day it helped me realize that a fresh and vivid spirit of young adults is so much needed to enhance the Light in the city that I love so much, and that this is really the true mission of me and my friends around here. In hopes for better days, I wish we’ll learn better how to increase the light instead of fighting Darkness, in joint efforts, kids, youth, adults and all the in-betweens.
Day 3: Early Start, Late End, and a lot in between by Naomi Henkel Guembel and Yevgen Bruckmann
Still so stirred and moved by the events of the previous night, we tried to imagine what the day would hold ready for us. Just as during the previous days, we also began this Tuesday with T’fillah, prayer. However, this prayer was special as we joined the organization Women of the Wall for their monthly Rosh Chodesh prayer. We therefore had to be ready by 6:15am to join them for Shaharit. As most of us never joined WoW for their Service, we just had a vague idea of what to expect. Women and men lined up into two different lines to go through the security check. Something that seemed noteworthy was that while it was noticeable in a lot of cases who belonged to what “camp”, everyone was able to wait peacefully together in line.
However, once we passed security and joined the sites of prayer – the female participants in the small corner in which the Women of the Wall were praying and the men at the main plaza close to the entrance of the women’s site- that feeling immediately shifted: hostile screams and whistles targeted at us as part of the WoW t’filah made it difficult to focus on the prayer. The women (we) finished the prayer service, even while facing serious yelling by some Orthodox women and men but most people were not bothered.
As we reflected on the events of the morning prayer, leaders of the Israel Movement for
Progressive Judaism (IMPJ) joined us and we talked to them about the future of progressive Judaism which showed us a hopeful outlook on the future and motivated us to take responsibility as (future) leaders.
“Where are you?”
This quote from Bereshit was basically the kick-off of Dasee Berkovitz’ inspirational workshop on ‘Spirituality of Leadership’. During the workshop we focused on active listening as part of leadership skills as well as on introspection. After the intense experiences we witnessed the day before and during the morning, this workshop provided a great opportunity to re-gather our thoughts and emotions. We also got to express our projects by very creative means: we drew out how we imagined our projects. Afterwards we discussed our ideas. It is truly inspiring to see that there are great projects in the making and to see the strengths of every single fellow in our cohort.
No doubt that this day just provided us with a taste of what is for us to come throughout this seminar as well as throughout the fellowship. We are excited to see what adventures we’ll encounter in the next days!
Day 4: The Transition To Tel Aviv With A Lot In Between! By Leah Palestrant and Hernan Rustein
A morning of T’filah was the perfect way to leave our Holy City behind – Hernán led us in a beautiful activity where we created our own Mizzuzot. And then Leah got to the guts of us with her explanation on the importance of Mourners Kaddish and what it has meant to her during the different stages of her life. Jerusalem on the back and some heart-felt T’filah, and so we were off to go to Kids 4 Peace.
Set in the heart of East Jerusalem, Kids 4 Peace sits in a modest building behind a car maintenance shop, but its walls are filled with nothing but hope for the future of this beautiful land. We learned about their mission, starting in 6th grade and bringing groups of kids together from various background: Jews, Muslim, and Christians from Palestine and Israel. Kids grow up together until they get out from high school, them and their families can talk and understand each other through the different activities, programs, and travels together, but without renouncing to their differences, nor their claims.
After that we got to Tel Aviv and we were received by staff of Bina, a secular Yeshiva located in the south of the city. An in depth walk around the neighborhoods in process of gentrification allowed us to grasp the city’s history and problems. We then met with a group Tikkun Olam in Tel Aviv fellows, which deals with the problems of the refugees in the country. They told us how that reality is like from the inside and the challenges it presents for the refugees and the State and how they are handling it. In Bina, the basis for their action is the study of the Jewish traditional texts, as in any Yeshiva, without imposing halachic nor theological perspectives. We were also able to study some Talmud in chevrutot with the fellows.
Day 5 and 6: Community Bonding, Prayer, and Activism on Shabbat by Omri Stark
We began our weekend in a calm and easygoing manner by meeting as a group and discussing our individual projects. This was followed by a visit to the current exhibit of an organization called “B’zelem” which had the transgression of human rights by Israel as topic. The exhibition came into being as a project to mark 50 years of activity and as part of our tour a representative of the organization talked to us about the occupation and the pictures at display which were taken on the other side of what is called the Green Line.
In the evening we took part in a festive and amazing Kabbalat Shabbat at קהילת הלב Kehilat HaLev, which was led by the Rabbinical student Naomi Efrat, Noam Sperber and myself. The following Friday Night Dinner took place at the community together with members of Kehilat HaLev as well as Kehilat T’lamim – which is the community for young adults within the Progressive movement in Tel Aviv (and elsewhere in Israel). We had meaningful conversations and heard about additional frameworks in which living a Progressive and Pluralistic Jewish life to the fullest in the city that never sleeps (aka Tel Aviv) is made possible.
Apropos: City that never sleeps – after dinner we were on our way back to the hotel, walking down on Rothschild boulevard. There we met a huge group of Christians who were celebrating Christmas. Well, until they got stopped by police officers who told them to turn off the music. But since we are a group of activists, we saw the need to support the group and joined them in song as well as dancing and playing the toff. They greatly appreciated our support and satisfied from our adventurous day we went to sleep.
The next morning, we got up for our Shabbat Shaharit service which was led by Naomi, Fleur and Yevgen. We started with yoga, meditation, prayer, and Torah reading – all of which made it a meaningful and interesting experience. After Havdalah we went out to eat at Dr. Shakshuka and meet with no one else then the Dr. Shakshuka himself, who was very pleased to be photographed with us. Once we finished our delicious dinner, we continued to a karaoke spot in the heart of Tel Aviv. We had a blast and a fantastic ending to a marvelous seminar, which left us with a sweet taste until the next time we’ll meet in March.
Day 7: Conclusion of the Seminar by Gabi Levenfeld and Dominka Zakrzewska
Our first Seminar together has come to an end. During the week we spent together, we had the chance to get to know each other’s stories, experiences, and ideas. It is not every day that you get to hear points of views from Canada, Poland, Germany, Ukraine, US, and Israel – all in one room. The connecting point was our desire to develop and strengthen the Jewish Progressive communities in our countries, which are different in many aspects that influence the way that Judaism is perceived and practiced.
At the beginning we learned the importance of vulnerability in making real connections. We spoke about our stories, and primal truths, and we were starting to shape as a group. The next days focused on sharing ideas, studying texts, learning about issues that are important for Israel, and how these issues are dealt with by different organizations and persons. and of course, all this was accompanied by laughter and fun, getting to know other participants while going out together and eating pretty much nonstop. Also, during our time together we were sharpening our project ideas, and getting feedback and advice from our fellows and professionals we met.
What is great about finishing this Seminar, is that we know it is not really the end. We are going to work on our projects, and meet together very soon. All this would not have been possible without the wonderful staff that organized, and facilitated the activities, and of course the engagement and active participation of the fellows. Thank you to you all!
