More Special Interest Week Updates

Posted in Special, Uncategorized on 26. Jul, 2011

Kibbutz:

The participants got to visit three different kibbutzim to learn how they function and the different kinds of things they produce. One of the kibbutzim they visited was Kibbutz Yotvata, which is famous for its amazing and delicious dairy products. Once they got back to Kibbutz Ketura, they were split into groups and tasked with creating their own mock kibbutzim. They had to decide where it would be located, who would be members, how it would run, and what would be its “product.” Afterwards they had free time by the pool, a talent show, karaoke time, and finally, more free time at the pool. On their last day at the kibbutz, the participants went to the Kisui Desert to see the sunrise – a beautiful way to end a week of living on a kibbutz!

Volunteering:

The participants were thrilled to volunteer three days in a row at the same locations because they began forming bonds with the people they were working with. After a morning of volunteering around Jerusalem, they went to Lod and helped clean up a community garden. They weeded, painted, cleaned, and repotted plants in the garden, which is run exclusively by local volunteers. As a thank you, they were treated to a meal of Moroccan couscous, which was prepared for them by Mizrachi Jews. The participants took this as a learning experience and got to learn about that community of Jews. Later, the participants went on a very interesting tour of Emek Refaim, which is known in Jerusalem as one of the cool places to hang out, full of stores, restaurants, and coffee shops for the community.

The YJ participants took a tour as if they were handicapped – some of them were in wheelchairs, some were blindfolded, some had crutches, and some wore headphones to simulate being deaf. They were asked to pay attention and see if they were able to use public places in their conditions. The participants learned that there is an organization which gives out seals of “Social Responsibility” to public businesses, much like the Kosher Authority gives out seals to restaurants marking them as “Kosher”. This was a very interesting exercise and all of the YJ participants were intrigued by it.