Well shnat celebrated it's first month together a few days ago, and it has been a month to remember! Last week, after getting to experience the uniqueness of sukkot on kibbutz (or in wider israeli society for those who travelled to family), the shnatties took part in an activity that a lot of Israelis embrace during the holiday period - hiking!
The shnatties headed off from kibbutz last Sunday, and headed to Achziv beach, just north of Nahariya, for the traditional beginning ceremony of Habonim Dror's annual yam le yam (sea to sea) hike. After getting to meet their counterparts from Australian, New Zealand, and South African Habonim, representatives from each country came to fill up the 'ceremonial bottle' with water from the mediterranean sea, which would stay with us for the four day trek to the kinneret.
From the beach, the group took a short drive to the beginning of the trail for day one - nachal Cziv (Cziv stream). The hike goes through a beautiful valley in the galilee, and crosses one of the famous landmarks in the north, The Montfort Fortress (seen in the picture below).
That night, the shnatties camped out in Park Goren, the biggest JNF park in the north of Israel.
In the morning, the shnatties headed out on a bus to Elkosh bridge, for the beginning of the toughest hiking day. They hiked through the morning and early afternoon, and eventually arrived at the foot of Mt Meron, the second largest mountain in Israel. But they didn't stop there! They soldiered all the way up to the top, and then came down for another great Israeli import - the Poyke! Poyke is a large and very heavy cooking pot that makes great stews and meals.
That night the shnatties camped out with everyone else at the Har Meron field school.
The next morning, we arose bright and early and headed back to the place where the group had finished hiking the previous day, the top of Mt Meron. The shnatties then continued down the other side of the mountain, and through the northern part of one of the well known hiking trails in Israel, Nachal Amud (Amud stream). The group ended up on the outskirts of the ancient and mystical city of Tsfat, and with the kinneret firmly in their sights, they headed to our final camping site, next to Kibbutz Ravid.
For our final evening, the group (well the meat eaters at least) had a chance to experience one of the esteemed dishes of yam le yam's of the past - the spinning chickens! As seen below, these chickens are roasted over burning coals in the ground, and are delish! But don't worry vegetarian lovers - there was more than enough vegetarian food to go round as well.
The final day was a short 3-hour hike from the campsite down to Ginnosar, the beach on the kinneret where we were to finish 4 days of hiking, sweating and general roughing it with nature.
We completed the hike with our final ceremony, where the 'ceremonial bottle' of mediterranean water was dumped on the grass by the kinneret, marking the long journey that the shnatties had made over the previous 4 days, and marking the new and amazing friendships they had created in their mixed hiking groups, with Habonim movement members from around the world.
The only sour point of the tiyul, as some of you may have heard, is an injury that happened to Elena, the North American workshop madricha, due to a freak accident. A large branch fell of a Eucalyptus tree that we were under, and unfortunately fell onto Elena's back. It was a little worrisome to say the least, but now Elena is back at home and on the healthy road to recovery.
This week, the shnatties will be back to regular scheduling on boneh, and they have their first siyur (day trip) next week. We will also be having our annual Rabin Seminar in 2 weekends time, where shnatties from around the world will come together again, for some serious discussion about Rabin's legacy, and what our role is today in standing up and educating for peace and democracy.
Until next time, take care!
Leon.
