February Half Term Events
LJY-Netzer February events have now all been and gone leaving behind memories, photos and tired madrachim. Below are write ups from some of them and some epic pictures. Enjoy!
PAW 12
This year’s Plagim Activity Weekend (PAW) was an event like no other. 7-11 year olds from London and Surrey made the journey to Bristol joining young Liberal Jews from the West Country for three days of LJY-Netzer filled kef (fun). An action packed tochnet (timetable) was provided by an exceptional tsevet (staff team) involving dancing, arts and crafts, education and prayer. Saturday night began with a candle lit Havdallah service creating a relaxing start to an otherwise energetic weekend. Veggie sausages, chips beans and broccoli ensured full tummies all round and was followed by a team based quiz. On the Sunday participants were taught about the differences between democracies and dictatorships, philosophised about the nature of God and showed off their moves on the dance floor. Breakfast on the Monday was an Israeli style treat with home made shakshuka, salad and sweet black tea, all enjoyed to the sounds of Balkan Beat Box and Hadag Nahash (modern Israeli music groups).
So there we go; three days of non-stop LJY-Netzer fun. See you all on Machaneh Aviv (Spring Camp)!!!!!!
NAW 12
Have you ever wanted to build dens out of sleeping bags or houses out of crisps and chocolate spread? Stroke a skunk or have a snake slide across you and your friends? Shoot bottle rockets into the air or attempt to eat a donut that is hanging from string without using your hands? Well these are just some of the fantastic activities that Nechalim got up to on the Nechalim Activity (mid)Weekend! Fifteen chanichim descended on Northwood and Pinner Liberal Synagogue to embark on (arguably) the most exciting Nechalim event since records began. The event started off with some classic getting to know you games to bond the group as one, followed by a creative active prayer service where the chanichim had to throw a ball into pots in order to decide the direction the service would take. Pudding that day was served up in the form of a food themed evening session involving apple bobbing and malteaser football and all this before a calming dorm time and bed. Day two was the day everyone had been waiting for. You could feel the excitement in the air. A session on God and Spirituality (our theme of the year) allowed the chanichim to explore their feelings towards God and discover the times they feel most spiritual. Everyone then got to let their creative juices run wild as they designed bottle rockets to shoot up into the air and all the time excitement was building for the Activity part of the activity (mid)weekend. After lunch the waiting was over as Lucie from Jungle Fortress Animal Sanctuary drove into NPLS car park bringing with an array of animals including a snake, skunk, tortoise, rat, cockroach, mouse and bearded dragon. She did a fantastic show for us where everyone got a chance hold the animals and learn all about how they act in their natural habitats. It really was a fantastic activity! It isn’t often you get to stroke a snake and hold a cockroach all in the same day! Luckily for the chanichim the fun didn’t stop there. For the rest of the weekend the chanichim learned about the Parent Circle Family Forum (our charity of the year) and sang song for peace as well as writing letter for all the Norwood participants who are going on Israel Tour as part of our social action project of the year. And of course no LJY-Netzer sleepover would be complete without its fair share of chanting and singing! Everyone on NAW had a wonderful time and we cannot wait to see you all again on Machaneh Aviv!
YAW 12
How to begin describing a totally YAWsome weekend? (pun intended). Located at the fantastic Kingston Liberal Synagogue, no snow or wind stopped the 15 LJY-Netzerniks coming from all over the country. With spirit high and boredom low this event screamed ‘LJY-Netzer’ with creative prayer, ideological education, lots of singing, and lots of fun. Throughout the weekend, chanichim were split into three teams: The Goths, The Gangstas, and The Hippies! Desperate to win points, teams had to embark on emotionless dance-offs, TV game shows, pitch-black maze searches and intense air-guitaring. The main team event of the weekend, accounting for the ‘Activity’ in ‘Yamim Activity Weekend’, was the ‘Yamazing’ Race. What connects these things: fallen-down ‘phone boxes, a ‘Harry Potter’ filming location, a Saxon monument and a lost contact lens? They’re all things that the amazing Yamimniks had to find around Kingston and Surbiton! With cryptic clues to sites of local interest, and then challenges to do at each of them, the three teams Gangstas, Hippies and Goths raced against the clock to finish first while spending as little of their budget as possible. The good people of Kingston didn’t know what had hit them as Gangstas strode into shops begging to play a CD clue, Goths asked passers by to help find a dropped (and also imaginary…!) contact lens, and Hippies stockpiled popcorn and mini-eggs. In the final dash along the River Thames and across a muddy cricket field, every second mattered in the desperate attempt to triumph in the Yamazing Race! Once points had been allocated and bellies refilled the weekend continued in KLS. Yamimniks learnt all about LJY-Netzer’s social action initiatives, as well as engaging with our new social action project of the year, Norwood!! Norwood is a UK-Based Jewish charity that supports people with learning disabilities and children and families in need, both within the Jewish community and people in the wider community. Dozens of Purim-themed bingo cards were made for the charity’s use, and temporarily our own as we finished off with a game ourselves! It’s safe to say that the weekend ended on an absolute high, after two spirit-filled days of fun, ideological stimulation, and community.
