In some respects, the seeds of Israel’s current crisis were sown in a lavish New York hotel in the mid-1980s. It was here where Benjamin Netanyahu, acting as Israel’s representative at the United Nations, first met Donald Trump. After their very first meeting, Netanyahu identified Trump as a malleable enough Read more…
On the 1st September, 9 Jewish volunteers from the youth movements LJY-Netzer and RSY-Netzer embarked on a 6-day trip to Calais, where we volunteered for Refugee Community Kitchen (RCK), a charity that provides meals for the refugees in Calais. The charity aims to serve hot, familiar food to a population Read more…
Simply put, this was nothing other than a day of national disgrace for Israel. The sickening violence of the Israeli forces, who killed 62 Palestinian civilians and wounded more than 1,200 others, should have sent reverberations across the country and beyond. But instead, in many circles both within and Read more…
It’s been a few weeks since Netzer Veidah 5778, and it’s time to reflect on what went on – motions passed, discussions had, and ideology thought through. Here’s what happened: We started our asephot on Veidah with somewhat lengthy standing orders to decide the exact details of how our debates Read more…
By Kathy Brown One of LJY Netzer’s four pillars, which make the core of our movement’s ideology, is reform zionism, and in addition to this Netzer Olami (of which LJY Netzer is a part of) is the Zionist youth movement for progressive Jews through-out the world. With all this being Read more…
by Jack Walton Spending two and a half months in a closed agricultural community with nothing around but the dessert, wildlife and the mountains may not seem appealing to most Jews from a comfortable suburb near London. Certainly at the begining of my time at lotan I was overwhelmed by Read more…
by Georgie Isaacson Centrepoint was founded in 1969 by Reverend Kenneth Leech and since then has worked tirelessly towards giving homeless young people a safe and happy future, currently providing this for over 9,200 homeless 16-25 year olds. This has been done through alleviating homelessness in short term – providing Read more…
by Kathy Brown For four magical days once a year, liberal Jews from all over England gather for an incredible event; Veidah. This is an event unlike any other run on LJY Netzer, and personally, my absolute favourite. On this event, Galim and Bogrim (all members aged 16 to 25) Read more…
by Jess Mindel The past week, me and Dan Smith were given the incredible opportunity to represent LJY-Netzer at the URJ Biennial in Boston. The URJ is the Union of Reform Judaism based in America, the “offspring” of the WUPJ and they hold a conference every two year in which Read more…
By Avi Stone Having not attended either of the Veidot (if that’s the plural) last year, I was quite taken a back when I heard the theme of the year. Perhaps my initial discomfort was due to the seemingly privileged decision of a fairly white middle-classed group to appropriate a Read more…
by Lauren Keiles With Israel being tightly examined with a magnifying glass by the world, we realised that as a Reform Zionist movement, our education on Israel needed to go beyond learning how to make Shakshuka and dancing to songs in the Israeli charts. When we voted at Veida for Read more…
Ollie Whiteside tells all about his top 50 reasons why YOU should go on Shnat 5779! Kef Live communally Learn about ecology Build a mud dome Eat fresh dates Make the desert bloom Travel the country Stay with a host family Learn Hebrew See a mulitcultural Israel Eat Falafel Befriend Read more…
This month our past Shnatties have written about the differences of living in an intentional community as opposed to a functional one. On Shnat, a vital part of the experience is about being part of a Kvutsah. This can be a stark contrast to that of University. Both Jess and Read more…
By Josie Drapkin As the summer holidays began and the exam period ended I felt an enormous feeling of relief and joy but most of all I was filled with excitement and apprehension because this summer I was going on Israel Tour; a once in a lifetime chance to Read more…
By Jessica Baker I‘m watching the sun rise as we drive to the warehouse. I’m measuring 3.5 litres of oil into 8 huge pots to start the process of cooking 160kg of rice. I’m crying as I watch two small boys play in a carpark. I’m sitting around a bonfire Read more…
by Emily Larkin All six British Shnatties arrived roughly 3 weeks ago, and we’ve had a great time so far and eager to continue this nine month journey! The first week, we stayed at Beit Shmuel, in Jerusalem. In our opening, we met the three other Shnatties in our Northern Read more…
by Simon Lovick “His Majesty’s government views with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people…it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done that might prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities” – The Balfour Declaration, 1917 The Middle East is Read more…
This year, we are introducing something new: the current and past Shnattie Blog! This week, we are hearing from our Shnatties from 5777, who returned just 4 months ago. Since then, they have all lead on Machaneh Kadimah, with some of them heading to University, and others taking different directions Read more…
March of the Living By Hannah & Hila For Hila and I, it wasn’t our first trip to Poland. Hila found that the approach on March of the Living was different to her first trip as it was based around the needs of the Brits. The trip was based Read more…
Yom ha’atzmaut (Israel’s Independence day) is a very special and happy day, although we cannot celebrate this day without mentioning Yom Hazikaron, the memorial day for the fallen soldiers. Every year these two days are one after the other, so then when we celebrate the existence of the Jewish State Read more…