Dear Parents, Shalom,

Well, it is now about three and a half weeks into the programme and, as the Director of English Speaking Machon, I just wanted to write to let you know how things are going from our perspective and to share with you a few of the highlights from this opening period, though hopefully your children also have been keeping you up to date with what is happening on the programme from their point of view.

It seems to us that the Machon is in general going very well so far, the atmosphere among the Machon community seems really good and most of them seem to be really enjoying the programme and the early stages of the learning. In the very first week, straight after getting them settled into to their new home at Kiryat Moriah, we took the whole group on a 3 day desert-based tiyul (trip/hike) down to the Massada and Dead Sea area of Israel. The main aim, apart from seeing that area, was a group bonding one where people could start to get to know and make friends with people in from the other youth movements with their very different ideologies (we have 5 movements on Machon, Habonim Dror, Hashomer Hatzair, Netzer, Betar and Hineni), as well as those from other cities and countries (we have Australians, South Africans and New Zealanders on this Machon).

In particular we also wanted them to get to begin to bond within their chavura, the small group framework that the Machon is structured around. To that end much of the desert activities were done within these chavurot including various desert hikes, a navigation exercise and a blindfold 'trout' walk. As a whole group we slept out under the stars for both nights, there were evening bonfires and a lovely barbeque on the beach by the Dead Sea and we did a great early morning climb of Masada to be there for the sunrise. The tiyul was really successful and their feedback showed how much almost all of them had enjoyed it, especially the hiking and the bonding elements.

The week after they came back from the tiyul we started to move into the various lessons in earnest. There are 5 basic areas of learning on Machon � Judaism, Israel/Zionism, Hadracha (youth leadership), Hebrew and the Story of the Jewish People, which is an overview of Jewish History. In each area the Machonikim have various choices of courses, some based on different content and some based on the style of learning that they most wanted. Some classes are more lecture-based while others use more interactive programmes. As well as the classes in these main areas there are a couple of other slots in the week when they can choose from a range of sessions covering a whole variety of different topics. To give you some idea, some of the more popular options for this first part of Machon included such courses as Israel Advocacy, an Introduction to Arab culture, the 19 letters of Samson Raphael Hirsh, Drama and Israeli society through music.

After they gave all their choices on the second day just before the tiyul, the team worked out who could do what and in almost all cases most people were able to get either their first or second choices. Within the first week or so of lessons anyone who really thought they were in the wrong place could ask to swap classes and we tried to allow that whenever possible. Things have now pretty much settled down and we as a staff team are pretty pleased with the level of participation and learning going on.

Two to three times a week we get them out for educational experiences in places other than Kiryat Moriah. Once or twice a week we have half or full day trips to important sites around and near Jerusalem. So far these trips have included a visit to different sorts of communities in and around Jerusalem including an Ultra-Orthodox community, a Mechina (a pre-army gap year leadership programme for young Israelis) and a couple of "alternative" communities. We also did a tour of the Old City including the fascinating Kotel Tunnels tour, the tunnels that run under the Western Wall.

On Wednesday afternoons everyone is involved in some form of 'meuravut kehilatit' (community involvement) experience. The idea is to get off campus and become involved in some way in the community of Jerusalem. Many of the options involve some kind of volunteering or hadracha experience that gives them a sense of involvement in, and commitment to, different aspects of Israeli society though there are also some non-volunteering choices as well. This time we have 9 options that are running, more than ever before which is very exciting. In terms of volunteering style activities, a large group are helping teach English to disadvantaged Israelis, some are working on the creation of a community garden in a deprived neighbourhood, a small group are working with disabled adults at an organisation called 'galagalim', a group are teaching after school activities such as music, dance and media at a local school in a difficult area, a large group are involved in a social justice project where they must research an area of social need and then plan and run a small scale project that can help with their issue, a few are running an English speaking fun club at Kiryat Moriah for local children and finally some are involved in practical tzedaka work including a rotation of different activities such as picking fruit and vegetables for an organisation called 'Table to Table' which provides food to families living below the poverty line and helping renovate houses for ex-soldiers in need.

On the non-volunteer front, a group of 13 do "Jerusalem Journeys" where they visit and walk around less well known neighbourhoods in Jerusalem and also learn some basic guiding skills while others are getting out into Jerusalem in order to practice their Hebrew out and about in the city. It is of course very early days but already after the first couple of weeks many have talked about the satisfaction they are getting from these activities and a feeling for many that they are not just taking and learning but also giving something back as well.

There are also a couple of other special elements throughout the week. On Sunday evenings we have a slot called 'Sunday Selections' which is optional but where we bring in to Machon, among other things, some exciting guests including contemporary Israeli artists. The first week we had a band called Remedy come in which was a very up-beat start to this series of events. Tuesday afternoons is time they spend in their separate youth movement groups with their own movement madrichim and Wednesday evenings is a special programming evening, some of which later in the programme will be run by them for each other, some will be run by us and some will be a Beit Midrash style informal Jewish texts study evening which will be optional. So far we have had a Movements Ideology presentations evening and a Machon Idol group singing competition. We also took them last Thursday evening to a special MASA organised Israeli arts evening which consisted of a concert by the group 'Subliminal' and a chance to take part in workshops with famous Israeli artists such as the renowned writer Etgar Keret and the famous Bat Sheva dance company. This was also a great chance for them to see their many of friends who are on other MASA programmes.

Every other Thursday morning we have a new slot called Open House. Most of the education on Machon is organised in courses lasting anything from 4-12 weeks but on this morning we bring in some interesting outside people and offer a fascinating range of one-off sessions that they can do without needing to commit to a whole course. We try to cover different content and methodologies and for the first week some of the sessions offered included: the history and future of Zionist Youth movements, Israeli Folk Dancing, Kabbalah and Mask Making for Purim.

Most weekends they are free from Thursday evenings until we start classes again on the Sunday morning. They can of course stay at Kiryat Moriah if they wish but this is also a great opportunity for them to go off and explore other parts of Israel and see family and friends around the country. When the weather becomes a bit more certain, many will also no doubt choose to go hiking and camping on their weekends. We certainly encourage them to make the most of their time here and to do such things and are always available to give help and advice about places they might visit if the need.

Finally, earlier this week it was of course Purim. Being in Israel during the Chagim (Jewish holidays) is one of the great experiences of Shnat and Machon. On Saturday evening when it is Purim in most parts of the country but not in Jerusalem, many of them spent the evening in Tel Aviv to experience the street parties and clubbing scene that goes on there during Purim and of course alcohol played its part since it is one of the Purim mitzvas!.

Then on Sunday afternoon some of the group ran a masquerade activity for everyone else to help them get into the Jerusalem Purim spirit. We the Machon then offered a choice of classes looking at different aspects of the Megilla and then there was an option of different going to listen to different Megilla readings around Jerusalem for those who wanted. In the evening there was a joint Fancy Dress Purim party and competition together with the South Americans which took place at a club that we had hired out for them. There are almost 200 South Americans on the Spanish Speaking Machon and thought there class time contact is limited by language we wanted to give them the opportunity to start to meet a few of them at least and to be able to start to get to know them in their non-class time.

For Shushan Purim itself on Monday morning there was a joint fun Purim drama style activity, again with the South Americans, and in the afternoon they were free to go off into different neighbourhoods around Jerusalem as they wished, to experience Purim in the city. In particular, those that, instead of staying at Kiryat Moriah or going to the more touristy spots, made the effort and went and found unusual neighbourhoods to join in the street parties and atmosphere really got a lot out of it

I think that is all for now and I hope that I have been able to give you a small flavour of the programme thus far and what has been happening. We the staff are very much enjoying working with the Machonikim, both individually and as a group. I hope to write again in a month or so, just near to the Pesach break, to give you another Machon update.

Until then, best wishes to you all and we hope you all had a great Purim whatever you were doing.

Haggai Kimmelman and the Machon staff team