Workshop 59: The Berlin Wall

Sunday, September 6, 2009

The Berlin Wall

This post was originally intended for last Sunday (the 5th?) but the internet pooped out and, you know. So just pretend this was posted a week ago:

So today was the big day; they split us into kvutsot (see glossary if you're confused). After something like 800 psyche-outs - getting into groups of about 20, doing some sort of crazy activity, and then getting back together as a group - they finally spilled the big news by putting a sticker with the name of a country written on it on each of our foreheads, and then we had to ask other people questions to guess the country, and then we had to figure out that the countries were all either in Europe, Asia, or Africa, and THEN we got into our respective continents, which turned out to be our kvutsot. Our real kvutsot. As in the 19 people we will work with, live with, and spend most of our time with for the rest of Workshop. Kind of intimidating.

Initial impressions: Nervous. Quiet. When our madrichim announced that these were our actual kvutsot and not just another psyche, there wasn't any cheering, just a lot of blank stares, which made me nervous. It was also the first group I was in that didn't give me any definite feeling, if that makes sense. I just didn't know most of the people in my kvutsah well enough to draw any sort of conclusion about how our year was going to go. Just scary. Permanent. But I'm sure it will work out.... right?

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Glossary

I realized that there are many terms I'll be using here that may need some definition, so I've compiled this little glossary which will hopefully help. I'll try to add words as I go along, but if something shows up which you don't understand, please just let me know and I'll add it to the glossary.

Avodot: Plural for "avodah," which translates literally to "work." While we're living on kibbutz, we'll work for four hours once a week in specific occupations (mine being the child's nursery).

Madrich: Hebrew for "counselor," the plural is madrichim. We have six madrichim, three from Habonim Dror North America and three from Hanoar Haoved, our sister movement in Israel (so they're Israeli, if that wasn't clear). Our madrichim aren't in charge of supervising us, rather they'll come once a week to run group-building type programs for the group. The rest of the days we'll spend in classes with other teachers and educators.

Kvutsah: Hebrew for "group," however the connotation is slightly different in Habonim Dror. A kvutsah is a group of people that chose to live together and form a close community based on certain shared values and goals. Kvutsah implies communication, trust, and respect, rather than just a random gathering of people. Our group of 58 is split into three kvutsot (plural), each consisting of about 18 people. Each individual group will set up their own structures concerning how we want to run our community and build our culture.
Peula: Hebrew for "activity," but specifically refers to the seminar-style programs written for us by our madrichim, which center around issues (such as interpersonal relationships, Jewish identity, Zionism, etc.) which are central to the pillars of the movement.

Kibbutz: An agricultural community. Israel was founded largely by the construction of many kibbutzim (plural). Originally they were founded on socialist values (basically give what you can, take what you need), and had many communal facilities such as communal dining halls, schools, and separate housing for all the children, but now the majority of the kibbutzim have been privatized and the focus is now more on individual gain. Many kibbutzim these days are no more than little villages. The kibbutz we will live on through December hasn't been completely privatized yet, and they still have a communal dining hall and many industries in which people on the kibbutz work, such as a wire and cable factory, cows, and agriculture.

Kupa: Literally translates to "box" in Hebrew, kupa is the system that each kvutsah sets up where everyone "gives what they can, and takes what they need." Everyone will give around $1500-1800 to kupa, and the kvutsah will decide as a whole how and when the money, which is our spending money, will be spent. My kvutsah agreed on an open kupa, where everyone takes according to their need for things such as free weekends, snacks, small personal purchases (like rings), personal necessities (like shampoo), etc. We're also budgeting for a few specific things like kvutsah apparel at the end of the year and tzedakah (charity). Kupa is ideally meant to build trust and responsibility among the group.

Chevrati: Translates to something like "friendly," a chevrati is a fun (and also usually random, crazy, and, at times, inappropriate) activity to do with the group.

Workshop 59

Sunday, September 6, 2009

The Berlin Wall

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