Miscellaneous Update
Monday, August 22nd, 2005Well, not much has really been happening over the last week-or-two. We finished kibbutz last Sunday, which was a bit upsetting, but also, like Machon, it was good to finish another part of the program and move on. As much as kibbutz was great fun, it was time for it to end. And so it did.
On Sunday morning, after packing up the house we were living in, we moved into “History of Habo Hagshama [Fulfillment] Seminar”. Pretty much we spent the next week touring around different kibbutzing established by Australian, New Zealand, and South African olim like Yizre’el, Kaddarim and Kfar Nasi, and how hagshama has changed from the kibbutz building times of the 1950s to 1980s, to the ‘new hagshama’ of today. We went to different kvutzot, like KGB in Jerusalem and the first kvutzah, Yovel, in Migdal Ha’emek, and learnt of the new hagshama, which involves less agriculture and more education and societal involvement, and an urban environment, rather than a rural one.
It was a great seminar, we had some great discussions at the different kibbutzim and kvutzot, and also many great discussions about the direction of Habonim Dror Australia in our summaries at the end of each day. Ultimately, we all got a lot out of this seminar, and we all had something to think about over chofesh, which we started straight after the seminar.
So now I’m on chofesh. It’s been very simple, easy, and relaxed, and also very family. A nice mix. On Friday night I went up to my cousin Lance’s kibbutz, Yiftah, in the Upper Galilee for a night to spend some time with him and his family which, as always, was lots of fun. We went fruit picking in the orchards on the kibbutz and got some delicious pears and nectarines, and also went on a tiyul to the Tel Dan National Park. Pretty much, it’s a whole bunch of springs at the foothills of Israel’s tallest mountain entirely in Israel, Mt Hermon, and has Israel’s most pure and beautiful water. Mmmm…
Then I went down to Jerusalem to relax with Nurit, Dad’s cousin. For the first two nights I stayed at her place and went out with her, relaxed a bit, and saw a great movie called On A Clear Day, a wonderful Scottish comedy. Then she went on up North with one of her friends for a few days, so she very kindly left me her flat. So, I’ve now got the flat to myself to relax, and just catch up on some sleep for a few days. But, to avoid boredness, I invited Prokel to stay here, which is nice to have some company, so we’ll probably go out in Jerusalem tomorrow and enjoy it like we used to almost every week on Machon.
It’s late, so I’d better get to bed, past 1am. Good night to all.