AZYC Opening Seminar

Shnat begins in late January with a seminar for participants from the six Australian Zionist youth movements. The weeklong introductory seminar starts as soon as the participants step off the plane at Ben Gurion airport, and is always full of energy and fun.

Hashy Opening Seminar

Our opening seminar is the first chance after the excitement of AZYC seminar to stop, take stock, and begin to engage with the real Israel. The seminar is an intimate chance for participants to get to know each other better, as well as their madrich (leader) from the Israeli movement.

Machon

The Machon Le’Madrichei Chutz Le’Aretz (Institute for Youth Leaders from Abroad) is run by the Jewish Agency and has been operating for over fifty five years as the uppermost Zionist youth leadership development program. Machon was first established in 1946, and is located at Kiriyat Moriah in East Talpiot, Jerusalem. All Australian youth movements excluding Bnei Akiva participate in the Machon program, alongside (subject to each year) movements from countries such as New Zealand, South Africa, Great Britain, Canada and South American.

The Machon has a four-month educational curriculum and adopts classroom style learning using the top educators in Israel. The Machon seeks to encourage its participants to deal with a wide range of subject matter. Throughout each week there are sessions devoted to hadracha (leadership training), ulpan (Hebrew), Jewish history and Israeli history, as well as electives that cover topics from Hebrew film to the basics of the Torah. The comprehensive Machon program deals with theory, values and practical skills. Machon also runs a collection of tiyulim (tours) and siyurim (excursions) to allow participants to see Israel from the Galilee to Eilat, and Jerusalem from the ancient ruins of David’s Palace to the controversial security wall.

Masa Le’Polin (Trip to Poland)

Hashomer Hatzair shnat participants from all over the world prepare and then go together on an eight or so day trip to visit both the home of Hashomer Hatzair and the site of the Holocaust. Using a mature mix of texts, discussion and ceremonies, and run by knowledgeable and experienced guides, the trip walks through both the uplifting and the intensely tragic history of the Jews of Eastern Europe.

Kommuna

Kommuna (commune) is an intensive two-month volunteering program. Based in an apartment in Nahariya, kommuna gives participants an experience of urban, communal life. Fully responsible for their own budgeting, cooking and cleaning, the group must use the bonds they have developed throughout the year and learn to how to run a functional household.

While the participants learn to live together within the house, they also learn to give of themselves in social justice project outside of it. The volunteering varies year to year, but often includes working with olim (newly arrived immigrants), the mentally or physically disabled or disadvantaged Arab communities. Essentially, kommuna combines the hadracha (leadership skills) that the group has already learnt and their Zionism into a creative force to try and close the large gaps in Israeli society.

Holit

Kibbutz Holit, situated in the Eastern Negev, is the flagship kibbutz of Hashy’s World Movement, and the location of the final part of our shnat program. The three-and-a-half-month curriculum – a mix of informal and formal education on Hashy themes, tours of the area and work either in the fields or the garden – is designed to give both a theoretical and practical understanding of kibbutz life. Participants, who are adopted by a family for their stay, get to be a part of the community and a part of history as they help revive this once near-dead kibbutz.

The program on Holit also prepares the shnat group to come back to Australia and to become leaders within the movement. Members of Hashy from Europe, South America and North America take part in the program too, allowing members of our geographically isolated Australian ken (branch) to engage in something which we often forget is much larger than ourselves.

Hashy Closing Seminar

In late November or early December, the shnat group reflects on and celebrates what they have discovered about themselves and about Israel. The seminar wraps up the many and varied parts of the year.

AZYC Closing Seminar

Now lifelong friends after Machon, members of the six Zionist youth movements come together again to look forward to returning to Melbourne. The seminar focuses the participants’ minds to what awaits them when they finally return home.