Midway through the week - Midway through the trip!

Contributed by Gabrielle Finestone

We started day 3 of community week by meeting all together at the Beit Vancouver community center and wishing a big, happy birthday to one of our most amazing fellows: Yonim! We presented him the gift that we all pitched in to get him. Earlier in the week, Yonim discovered that he had left his mandolin in Sde Boker, our desert hostel. After many calls to the elusive hostel staff, he was convinced that the mandolin was lost for good. So, two Israeli fellows, Emunah and Ofek, decided it would be a good idea if each fellow contributed to purchase Yonim a new mandolin. The mandolin was purchased but then the original mandolin was found, so now Yonim has two beautiful mandolins! 

After singing "happy birthday," and enjoying some home-baked treats made by Emuna and I, the staff led us all in a program about memory: collective Jewish memories, personal memories, and national memories. It brought up a lot of interesting questions such as: Which memories have shaped Israel/America? How do our personal memories shape our identities? How does our perception of events impact our opinions? 

The theme of this day was community. After our session on memory, we headed to Mutav Yachdav (Better Together), a community organization dedicated to bettering the Kiryat Shmona area through community engagement, projects, and events. We had time in small groups to discuss questions about different approaches to bettering communities. The staff of Mutav Yachdav explained their approach, which values treating the community members as equals and meeting their wants and needs rather than coming in from the outside and imposing projects on the community before engaging with them directly. 

After that we drove to Kfar Blum where we ate lunch and participated in a program created by the leaders of the day where we discussed water culture in our different communities, SF and the Upper Galilee. Finally we began our rafting journey down the Jordan River complete with water gun/splash fights! After drying off, the leaders of the day led a program about kibbutz culture with an emphasis on community, which included some yummy snacks, much needed after such a long day in the sun. Both cohorts completed their days with Maagalei Lailah (evening circles.) The American Maagal Lailah included yet another celebration of Yonim's birthday with some sweet treats. After a long day, fellows headed back to their host homes and hopefully are getting some good sleep so they can be well-rested for another busy day tomorrow!