Kayitz Netzer, LJY-Netzer’s two week Europe tour, returned this summer having been a huge success.
Four European cities (London, Prague, Budapest, Berlin) had their Jewish history explored and relived with the help of the excellent madrachot (Bethany Stone and Theo Cadbury) and the educator (Robin Moss). The group of 17 year olds who went cam back bonded, inspired and full of stories about the journey they had been on.
Benjy Cohen said this:
“Kayitz was, in a word, exceptional. Unlike Israel Tour, I had never expected to go on Kayitz neither had I any desire to. After Israel Tour I became convinced I wouldn’t want to go because it would never amount to how incredible Israel Tour was. I was wrong. Kayitz very quickly became my favourite LJY-Netzer experience ever. There was a much clearer sense of freedom and also a much closer Chanichim to Madrichim relationship (I thought so anyway). Having so much to learn in such a short space of time often makes me zone out or lose focus but the way Kayitz was ran managed to keep me from doing that. Every place we visited had a different theme/message we were exploring and learning about as a group which kept me engaged throughout the entire tour. As the group was so small it meant we were all one group rather than lots of little friendship groups. This meant nobody could feel excluded or ignored, people that had never been on LJY before were really part of the group. The sessions on the holocaust day were very interesting and some of them quite beautiful but they were all done without the day becoming a sad day full of silence. Two of the t’fillot we did were the two most moving t’fillot I have ever taken part in. One was on the tracks in Germany that took trains to the camps and the other was in an old synagogue with nothing inside it other than some inscriptions along the top. I know it sounds cheesy but the echo when we sung in there sounded like a community was singing with us. It was an experience like no other and incredibly moving. An example of how amazing Kayitz was is that when we missed our ferry and had to wait two hours, not one of the Chanachim noticed because we were so engaged in our songs and so excited and enthusiastic. This is proof that it was so amazing, enjoyable and also so well led. Accommodation, sessions, friends and leaders were all perfect. Overall Kayitz was by far the best experience of my life and I would do it a thousand times over if I could.”
For information about Kayitz 2013/5773 please email Robin Cooke: r.cooke@liberaljudaism.org
