ANZAC Day

As dawn broke on the 25th of April 2013, the MSLPers headed off to a military cemetery located on Mt Scopus in Jerusalem, to commemorate Anzac Day. Upon arrival, we were greeted by an Australian man, Joe, who made Aliyah and now lives on a kibbutz in the Golan; as per usual, it was warming to hear the heavy Australian accent. Whilst sitting in the warm spring sun, Joe informed us of the role that the Australian and New Zealand soldiers played in both world wars and the significance of the particular cemetery we were in.

We joined a few other gap year programs for the duration of a ceremony in the cemetery, which consisted of the customary Anzac Day rituals. The ambassador of Australia to Israel spoke and many countries and organisations laid wreaths. The ceremony concluded with the Australian Anthem, a song we haven’t heard in a long time. 

Following the conclusion of the ceremony, we joined one of the Aviv groups and travelled with a JNF guide to a few significant sites. We started at the Prophet Samuel's grave, followed by a holy Mikva and quarry. 

Our tour was then continued in Tel Aviv at the park by Hayarkon River, where we ate lunch at a memorial donated by in memory of the victims of the bridge collapse in 1997. This was followed by a visit to a memorial wall with all the names of Australian families and associations, including Maccabi Australia, that donated money to the Hayarkon Park.

It's amazing for us 18 year old Australians to be able to get together on the other side of the world and commemorate such a meaningful and important day for Australia. And to have visited some of the sites and view projects run by JNF that Australians have contributed to. All in all, it was a very long but meaningful day.

Lest we forget.

Tamar

Kibbutz, where are all the people???

G’day!

It is hard to believe that we have passed the halfway mark of MSLP. Reflecting on the last couple of months, we could all agree that the adventures and activities have allowed us to truly immerse ourselves in Israeli culture. Over the chofesh break for Pesach we were given a much-needed opportunity to recharge our batteries, with everyone staying in various cities throughout Israel before entering a new phase of the program. For the last 3 weeks we have been staying at Kibbutz Yechiam located around in the far North of Israel. Life on kibbutz has been a change to our lifestyles, as many have questioned if there is civilisation where we are staying!

Each week we have been volunteering at the local school, where we take the school bus with the kids and involve ourselves in their programs. For those that volunteer at the junior school, a large amount of the time is spent in the sports classes, teaching new games and learning new Hebrew words while speaking to the kids who absolutely love us! 

At the secondary school, we have been teaching English and participating in physical education classes. The highlight of going to the school has definitely been the soccer and basketball matches against the locals, where we work up a sweat and reveal the Australian spirit!

  

Our Hebrew abilities have been put to the test as we headed back to “school” for Ulpan. Whilst the beginners may not be fluent, it has definitely taught us the fundamentals of the language that will allow improvement to be rapid. For the intermediate and advanced classes, this time has been an opportunity to fine-tune speaking skills whilst also working on communication skills. A special mention must go to Ryan for his determination and relentless work to learn and advance his Hebrew at a rapid rate.

This month has also seen the birthdays of Arielle and Zoe, as they took the large step from childhood into the real world. Mazel Tov!

Without a doubt, the highlight at the Kibbutz has been Seudat Shlishit each week (the third meal of Shabbos, just before it ends) where we feast on chocolate, chips and more chocolate! We have also enjoyed the opportunity to leave the Kibbutz to visit the local town of Nahariya. All the vital necessities are in this town; shawarma shops and Aroma coffee, what else does one need!

Regards to everyone back in Oz,

Jarred

PS: Look out for Part 2 of Kibbutz, coming very, very soon to a blog near you J 

Circus and Soccer Shenanigans!

 Hey ya!

It has been  a crazy, jam packed few weeks since leaving Tel Aviv and embarking on the next stages of our journey here in Israel. Though shlepping our suitcases on public busses from location to location can become tedious, it is certainly worth the hassle for the amazing opportunities we have experienced on a weekly basis!

To finish off our time in Tel Aviv, we had an amazing day learning circus skills from real performers! We tried our skills on the tightrope, stilts and trapeze! It is easy to say that we had an enjoyable time. However, sadly, our time in Tel Aviv needed to come to an end. Saying goodbye to our apartments in Tel Aviv wasn’t easy (mainly because we had to clean), and none of us knew what to expect from the MASA leadership summit in Jerusalem… 

When we rocked up and our first impressions were fluffy hotel beds, spacious showers and a Michelin star quality lunch, I think we were all willing to embrace whatever it was we were going to experience that week. Turns out, it happened to be one of the greatest weeks we will experience here in Israel. We interacted with 400 young leaders from all over the diaspora, engaging in discussions and programs all aimed to build future Jewish leaders around the globe. My personal favourite part of the experience was conversing with some of the representatives from the Russian community, learning about their Jewish upbringing (or sometimes lack thereof) and realising how fortunate we are to grow up in the various Jewish communities of Australia and America. 

Before we began our Chofesh period, we spent 3 days in Jerusalem, which on this occasion, was anything but normal. Some guy who runs a country south of Canada was here was a couple of days and they decided that he shouldn’t get an authentic experience of traffic jams and honking horns. Consequently, all the streets were shut down; bus lines didn’t run as normal; a helicopters was circling above our hostel at all hours and generally chaos and confusion reigned. Yet in the middle of this, we ran a very informative and enjoyable model seder to prepare for chag. 

The last day together, we all trooped to the national stadium in Ramat Gan to watch a World Cup Qualifier between the underdogs, Israel; and a Ronaldo led Portugal. Our predictions ranged Portugal winning by between four to 6 goals. A capacity crowd created an electric atmosphere with a spine tingling rendition of Hatikvah. 

As the game started, an enormous roar reverberated around the ground. Then in only the first minute, Portugal scored a soft goal with their first corner. The crowd was silenced and we all thought about how bad this might get. But amazingly, Israel rallied and by half time were up 2 – 1. The crowd were dancing in their seats as the home team scored again to make it 3 – 1. No one dared say it, but everyone was thinking the same thing: could Israel actually win? Could they beat Portugal and take one step closer to Brazil? But Portugal pulled one back to make it 3 – 2. 

As Israel defended desperately and the clock ticked over 90 minutes, it looked like a historic win was in the making. But alas, three minutes into added time and a scramble in the box let to a mix up and Portugal equalised in the most disheartening of fashions. The final whistle was blown and Israel walked away with a draw, a very good result in the overall scheme of things, but despondent in the knowledge that 3 points were snatched away in the dying seconds.

With that, we all headed off in our own directions, getting ready to celebrate Pesach, the festival of freedom, in the Land of Israel. We have had an incredible time together for the first 2 months, and now was a chance to revitalise and refresh ourselves for a huge 3 months ahead.

We all miss home like crazy, but being here on this excellent program with such great people makes it all worthwhile!!!

Shabbat Shalom :)