Kehillah 2008 Updates

July 22, 2008 - Welcome to Jerusalem!

Dear Nesiya Family and Friends,

Welcome to Jerusalem! All four groups have arrived! K1’s first view of the city will be taken from Har HaTzofim (Mount Scopus) near Hebrew University. K2, K3, and K4 will take their first glimpse from the Tayelet (Haas Promenade) in Talpiot overlooking Jerusalem's Old City and the Dead Sea.

Before I go on, I want to provide you with a security update. This afternoon, there was an attack in Jerusalem, apparently of a terrorist nature. The incident involved a bulldozer, which struck a bus and at least two cars before the driver was shot by police.

No Nesiya groups were in the area at the time, and all participants and staff are safe and accounted for. We are notifying the participants of the incident and, along with the rest of the country, are continuing with our program.

We have been in touch with the security authorities, and they have advised us to continue with our itinerary as planned. As always, we will continue to monitor the evolving security situation, and will make any changes necessary in order to ensure the highest standard of safety and security for your children.

If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to be in touch with me or to call our office in Jerusalem (011-972-2-561-1996).

***

Back to our update -- let’s see what everyone has been up to the past few days –

This past Shabbat and Arts Workshops included a series of firsts for Kehillah 2008:

1st First: All Ks were together to celebrate Shabbat as a Nesiya community and participate in Arts Workshops. Having all four groups together (142 participants!) is a huge endeavor and was also a huge success. Participants had the opportunity to meet new people and discover each other’s unique thoughts and talents.

Arts workshops were offered in music, drama, visual arts, movement, creative writing, and digital media and continued exploring the Galil unit themes of community. Participants persevered through the unseasonably hot weather and enjoyed working indoors (with air conditioning!) and in shady areas. We succeeded in having an “arts happening” in which all arts workshop participants could see and comment on each other’s projects and discuss their creation processes. (Those involved in the hiking workshop enjoyed a separate itinerary – see below)!

Shabbat was spent at the beautiful Har Hermon field school, right below the Har Dov mountain in the Golan. One of the Friday night service options included a nature walk to the nearby Banias springs. The Shabbat morning creative text study focused on the story of the two and a half tribes in the Book of Numbers, who negotiate with Moses for permission to live outside the land of Israel. This morning session erupted into a dynamic conversation considering the differences between Jewish life in the Diaspora and Jewish life in Israel.

2nd First: Hiking trip offered in place of arts workshop! The hiking group spent two days in the Galil and Golan exploring the Banias, sleeping out at Mitzpe Ofir, hiking down to Kibbutz Ein Gev, eating lunch in Rosh Pina, and, of course, devouring watermelon and enjoying an evening barbecue. The hike was led by Michael Even-Esh, who worked for 15 years with Livnot U'Lehibanot as nature guide, teacher and Educational Director. Today Michael works as an independent guide, and lives in the Golan Heights.

3rd First: Roughly 40 participants fasted in observance of the Seventeenth Day of Tammuz, which commemorates the breach of the walls of Jerusalem before the destruction of the Second Temple. The fast day falls on the seventeenth day of the Hebrew month of Tammuz and marks the beginning of the three-week mourning period leading up to Tisha B'av. Participants who did not fast ate regular meals and everyone joined together for the break fast meal.

4th First: The Nesiya 2008 Kehillah Talent Show! Pictures will soon follow… Saturday night, participants enjoyed sharing their various talents with each other outside the framework of a structured arts workshop. There was lots of singing, dancing, joke telling, and fun to be had!

Kehillah 2008 has arrived to Jerusalem and will now embark on the next unit of the program – Taking Place: The Struggle for Renewal in Judaism and Israel Today – which includes time in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Rahat (near Beer Sheva) or Kaseifeh (near Arad). Each of these three locations will underscore a different experience relating to this theme and the realities of Judaism and Israeli culture today.

*Information about Home Hospitality*

This upcoming weekend is the Home Hospitality Shabbat, during which your children will see another side of Israel by spending time in an Israeli home. There have been several questions raised regarding this weekend, so I am going to explain a bit about the structure and logistics.

Participants will be with their hosts from Friday, July 25th through Sunday morning, July 27th.

By now, most of your children have been in touch with their host families. Several of the participants are planning to spend the weekend in the home of one of their Israeli peers from the Nesiya program. Nesiya staff is in touch with the hosts to confirm the visit with them and to explain the transportation and security guidelines for the weekend.

Based on all the different host locations, we have planned a private bus route that will stop at several central points throughout Israel, where the hosts will pick up your children. Sunday morning, a bus will pick up the children from the same locations where they were dropped off, and will take them to the group meeting point in Tel Aviv.

We have written a number of security guidelines for the Home Hospitality Weekend, which each host is obligated to follow. All of the adult hosts have signed (or soon will) a form indicating that they are committing themselves (and their children) to the guidelines for the entire weekend. The guidelines explain: participants are not allowed to travel by public transportation, not allowed to cross the green line (unless you give prior permission), and are not allowed to visit any crowded public places that do not have security. The guidelines also make clear that participants are expected to adhere to all of the rules of the program, as detailed in “Our Culture.”

Additionally, we have explained to the hosts that the health insurance we’ve purchased for the children applies throughout the weekend. Your children will be reminded of their passport and policy numbers. Should you hear from your children during the weekend about a health concern, please instruct them to call the Nesiya senior staff and/or the Harel Insurance hotline (they will receive a list of emergency phone numbers).

If you have any further questions or concerns about the Home Hospitality Weekend, please do not hesitate to email me.

Although there are many guidelines and logistical details, we’ve found that the home hospitality weekend is one of the highlights for the North American participants. It’s a special opportunity for them to experience authentic Israeli culture, as well as to take a small break from the intensity of group living. They will be spread throughout the country from Haifa to Beer Sheva and we look forward to hearing about their adventures!

B'Shalom,

Yael