A recurring theme we've been focusing on throughout the past few weeks is one on the struggles leading to the creation of the state of Israel, as well as the struggles that continue to this day. We've looked at the tensions between Revisionist and Labor Zionisms, learned about the hardships of the Mizrachi and Russian communities in Israel's primarily Ashkenazic society, and critiqued Ben Gurion in giving the religious sect of Israel the right to control many aspects of Israeli structures (marriage, bus systems, etc).
Most notably, we've had many discussions about Operation Pillar of Defense, Israel's eight-day mission to attack Hamas military centers and officials in response to rockets continuously coming into Israel from Gaza over the past few years. We alluded back to Rabin Seminar, where we discussed the altered mentality of Israeli society from one seeing a near peace to one obsessed with security measures, and questioned how necessary violence really is and the alternatives to it. Throughout the course of the operation, Workshoppers checked the news as often as possible, giving one another updates as new events occurred. At last, a ceasefire was finally announced on Wednesday.
On Wednesday night, a speaker came to talk to us from Breaking the Silence, an organization that collects testimonies from Israeli soldiers about misconduct that they experienced or witnessed in the occupied territories. I found the speaker absolutely fascinating. One thing he said that stood out to me was not, in fact, an infuriating example of abuse in the West Bank (such as soldiers posing with dead Palestinians), but a quick remark he made about not being permitted to speak at Hillels on college campuses throughout the United States. I feel that organizations refusing to show or shying away from showing an alternative perspective to what they promote is a common action that I've seen in the past few years. For example, an organization once came to my high school to, in the group's opinion, teach us "proper" Israel advocacy, which included not openly critiquing Israel's actions. My school did not invite a group with a counter perspective to speak to students. Even Workshop--a program that I'm gaining so much from and that yes, encourages open discussion and constant questioning of just about any situation--also, in my opinion, does not educate enough from the perspective of opinions that are not conducive to it's biases. An example of this is showing many videos criticizing West Bank settlements, but not showing videos or inviting speakers that share views from settlers' perspectives. I've taken part in both a right-leaning Israel program (Muss) and a left-leaning Israel program (Workshop), and I strongly feel that the best way to form a strong, knowledgeable opinion about almost anything is to learn about it from a multitude of perspectives. To avoid giving such an education or to pointedly refuse, as Hillels did with the speaker from Breaking the Silence, is, to me, essentially denying others the freewill to form an informative opinion.
Anyway, we've celebrated many simchas (celebrations) during the past few weeks! Last Thursday was my roommate, Amit's eighteenth Birthday. To celebrate, Amit had a Bar Mitzvah themed weekend! This included an out of town dinner, a Bar Mitzvah service, a kiddish, a casino-themed party, and a post-Bar Mitzvah brunch. All Workshoppers who remained on campus had roles that they acted out throughout the weekend. There was the Bar Mitzvah boy (Amit, of course), his parents and siblings, the grandparents, the religious, divorced, and baby cousins, the seventh grade friends, the Rabbi and Chazzan, and many more! I played Judy, the president of the synagogue's women's club, as well as the DJ at the party. The weekend was spectacular! Everyone became really passionate about playing their characters and truly acted like they were at a Bar Mitzvah! I would also like to add that the food was absolutely delicious, provided by the "caterer" Nic Levy, and his "sous chef," Julia Devarti.
On Friday, us Workshoppers celebrated Thanksgiving! We split ourselves into different va'adot to cook various parts of the dinner. I was on the vegetarian va'ad, along with Anya and Sophia Weinstein, a galilnik who stayed with us on Workshop for a few days! The three of us made a scrumptious lentil soup, as well as a beautiful tofu stir-fry. Other va'adot made mashed potatoes, roasted potatoes, roasted yams, cauliflower, broccoli, three types of string beans, salads, rotisserie chicken, stuffing, cornbread, apple pie, sweet potato pie, cinnamon twists, fried dough cookies, chocolate-chip cookies, and surprise ("if-you-dare") cookies. The cooking went on from Thursday night up until the meal began Friday night. It was such a warm feeling to see everyone working together to prepare our Thanksgiving feast! When we finally sat down to our meal, I found myself eating the most delicious food that I've had all of Workshop, and it was so nice to know that we had all made it together!
The past week also included a few more fun activities! On Thursday night, Anya, Sophia, and I decided to venture to Kfar Tavor. After buying ingredients at the Supersal (an Israeli grocery store) for our part of the preparation for the Thanksgiving meal, the three of us went to the cafe that a few of us went to back at the beginning of October. Yet again, the food was exceedingly tasty, and I was not disappointed! We then found ourselves caught in a rainstorm as we left the restaurant to meet our taxi, and we remained soaked until our return to the kibbutz. Once we put on warm clothes, we gathered the Galil girls and enjoyed a chocolate cake that we'd purchased at the Supersal. All in all, it was a great night!
Julia and I ran a game-show-style chevrati for our kvutza one night, along with the help of Sophia. Us game-show hosts would read out ridiculous facts about kvutza members, and the kvutza--which was split into four teams--competed in guessing whom each fact described. The teams were awarded points for their success, and at the end of the game had the opportunity to spend the points that they had earned at a "store" that Julia and I set up. The store contained cheap, useful items (plastic containers, notebooks, socks, etc.) that Julia and I had bought in Afula a few weeks back, and kvutzamates spent their points on items that were not intended for themselves, but for another member of the kvutza that each person was assigned. Kvutzamates then decorated their items, and are expected to give their gifts in creative manners throughout the week!
The coming week will be our last week of semi-normal Boneh scheduling before we begin Habo History Seminar and then Boneh Sikum. It's a bit hard to believe that Boneh will soon be drawing to a close!
