September Ken Events!

This past weekend, September 15th - 17th, many successful ken and Eizor events were held around the country! From New York to California and in between, here are some of the exciting things that happend this weekend:

Michigan Ma'apilim Shabbat Dinner

The Ma'apilim Ken in Ann Arbor had their second Ma'apilim Shabbat Dinner on Friday the 15th. They had about 20 people in attendance at each of them. They made some exciting and important decisions about their ma'apilim ken, the first of which is that they are going to have a ken kupah!!! This money will go towards funding food & drinks for shabbat dinner and other activities they want to have as a maapilim ken, and to help this process they elected a gizbar.
They also decided to do a tikkun olam project as a maapilim ken, and they additionally decided to start a habo broomball team! If you live in Ann Arbor and want to sign up for the broomball team, registration will begin in October!

New York Darfur Rally

Around 100 members of HDNA marched in the NYC Save Darfur Rally on Sunday afternoon. Around 30 members of the New York Eizor were joined by around 70 Philadelphia chanichim and madrichim who drove up from the Galil Fall Seminar. Most people wore chultzot and proudly represented Habonim-Dror in this stand against the genocide in Darfur. There was a concert after the rally which many people also attended.

Maryland Kupa Brunch

The first event of the Maryland eizor was a huge success! Over 70 kids and twenty madrichim and madatz made it out to Clarksville, MD for the kupa brunch this Sunday. For a little over an hour we shmoozed and ate good food that everyone brought, and then we all came together for a machaneh-style hitkansut (flag raising and roll call). We explained the ken structure for the year, and introduced each tzevet katan to their shichva. We then sang Paneinu, as we do every morning at machaneh kayitz, because this kupa brunch marked the morning, the beginning, of our new ken. After that, each ken went with their madrichim for icebreakers and fun games. We ended the day and now everyone is looking forward to the Mosh Fall Overnight, which will be a weekend full of fun peulot and hanging out at Mosh, from Sept 29-Oct 1. The first event of Machaneh Shana was a blast!

California Ken Peulot in Irvine and LA

California boasted two peulot this weekend. They held one peula in Irvine for the Irvine and San Diego kids. About 9 chanichim came in from San Diego 12 from Irvine, totaling 21 kids and 5 madrichim. They hung out in a park and enjoyed the California weather. They split by ken for a part of it and took some time to name their Kenin. Ken Irvine now prouldy calls itself Ken Divine, while Ken San Diego will henceforth be known as Leggo my Diego.

25 kids attended the peula in LA, 6 of which are new to Habonim and will hopefully be quickly converted into Gilboa junkies. They hung out in the park and had pizza and a grand old time.

Galil Fall Seminar

Galil held its annual Fall Seminar up at machaneh this past weekend with record breaking attendance! There were about 140 kids and 40 madrichim at the seminar, which is more chanichim than they had at machaneh 2nd session! On Sunday, they drove to New York to and met up with Na'aleh to attend the Save Darfur Rally and park of Jewsapalooza. The whole weekend was a great success.

The Ken Resurgence!

Shalom Habonim Dror North America! I am your merakezet ma'apilim, Jamie, bringing you all of the latest in Ken news! There is a lot of buzz in the movement right now about our Kenim, and this blog is here to show you what the buzz is all about! From taking on mesimot to having multiple peulot a month, Habonim Dror kenim are reflecting an exciting surge in movement activity throughout the year.

For starters, I want to introduce to you our National Ken Tzevet, also known as our Rashei Eizor, and tell you a bit about the structure of this year's eizorim.

**But first, a few words about Ken structure: for those of you who may not know, an Eizor is a general area of Ken activity, which a Ken is a smaller group that meets together within that Eizor. The Kenim within in an eizor can be divided either geographically (ie: one Ken in San Francisco and another in Berkeley) or by age (ie: all of the Amelim and Chotrim that live in the Philadelphia area). Also, the term "Ma'apilim" refers to anyone in the movement who is post-high school and the term "Nachshonim" refers to anyone in the movement post-MBI through Pre-Workshop (11th and 12th graders).**

Anyway, getting back to the specifics, here is the scoop on The Eizorim of Habonim-Dror North America, 2006-2007!

EIZOR NEW YORK:
Affiliation: Machaneh Na'aleh
Rashei Eizor:
Jessie Karsif (Gizbarit/Techni) - Na'aleh native, MBI yudbet, Madatz 04 at Galil, Workshop 55
Stacie Shmokler (Rosh Kvutzah Tzeirot - younger kids) - Mosh native, MBI 99, Madatz 00, Workshop 51, Techni at Na'aleh 06.
Jeremy Tillinger (Rosh Kvutzah Bogrot - older kids) - Na'aleh Native, MBaeiou, Madatz at Gilboa 2004, Workshop 55
Danny Rosenhanst (Rosh Ma'apilim) - Na'aleh Native, Madatz 2002, Workshop 53

Eizor Structure: – There are four Rashei Eizor who oversee the Eizor but are each responsible for a specific thing. The kids are split into two kvutzot of younger and older kids – with a one Rosh Eizor overseeing each shickvah. They have Rashei Ken who are made up of Nachshonim (post-mbiers and post-madatz) who are split up and assigned to one of the kvutzot. They plan to alternate Eizor and Ken events. There is also an active ma'apilim ken in New York, and they will be having their first Shabbat dinner this Friday night in Park Slope.

EIZOR PHILADELPHIA:
Affiliation: Machaneh Galil
Rashei Eizor:
Ben Profeta - Galil native, MBA 02, Madatz 03 at Mosh, Workshop 54, 2nd year Rosh Eizor
Brian Cohen - Galil native, MBI yud, Madatz 02, Workshop 531/2, 2nd year as Rosh Eizor
Shlicha: Adi Inbar
* Ben and Brian live together in a Bayit in North Philly, along with two other ma'apilim*

Eizor Structure: Eizor Galil has a tzevet made up of post-Madatz as madrichim and lots of ma’apilim. They plan to hold one major Eizor event a month and one peula shickvah a month where each shickvah meets somewhere. They have established a Tzevet Katan for each shickvah, each of which has a mesima and a chinuch theme for the year! They have about 26 or 27 people working for Eizor Galil and are calling themselves "TEG" (short for tzevet eizor galil). They will also be sending out an Eizor newsletter every week (which will hopefully be posted on this blog) with updated info about each peula.

EIZOR DC-BALTIMORE:
Affiliation: Machaneh Moshava
Rashei Eizor:
Mattan Shuchman - Mosh native, MBI 2000, Madatz 01, Workshop 52, Habo-U Fall 05, 2nd year as Rosh Eizor
Lori Zeller - Mosh Native, MBaeiou, Madatz 04, Workshop 55
Rashei Ma'apilim:
Ben Meiselman - Mosh native, MBIyud, Madatz 02
Aaron Kutnick - Mosh native, MBA, Madatz 03, Workshop 54
Rosh UPZ:
Ben Wolf - Mosh native, MBaeiou, Madatz 04
Shlicha: Einat Refaeli
*Mattan, Lori, Meiselface, Aaron and Ben all live in a bayit together in College Park*

Eizor structure: This Ken has a unique structure. They host one eizor event a month and one ken event a month l'fi shickvah. However, the ken events all happen in the same place at the JCC in Rockville, MD where they gather and then split into kvutzot to do peulot, and then come back together for Rad Hayom, etc. Their tzevet is made up of mostly ma’apilim from the Maryland-DC-Baltimore area, as well as some Nachshonim, where everyone is integrated onto a tzevet gadol, within which each tzevet katan is a mix of ma’apilim and nachshonim. In addition, there is a very active Ma'apilim ken in the DC area.


EIZOR MICHIGAN AND EIZOR CHICAGO
Affiliation: Machaneh Tavor
Rashei Eizor:
Oren Brandvain (Rosh Eizor Ann Arbor/Detroit) - Tavor native, MBaeiou, Madatz 04, Workshop 55, Racaz T'nua Bet (writes B'tnua)
Yelena Adelman (Rosh Ma'apilim Ann Arbor/Detroit) - Tavor native, MBA, Madatz 03
Leora Kanter (Rosh Eizor Chicago) - Tavor native, MBaeiou, Madatz 04, Workshop 55
Shlicha: Moran Lencer

Eizor Structure: Since Eizor Tavor is so spread out it is actually broken up into two Eizorim: Eizor Ann Arbor/Detroit, and Eizor Chicago. There will be a peula in Ann Arbor once a month for everyone and and additional peula once a month split into older and younger kids. Oren and Yelena are additionally working on building up the Kenim in Detroit and Kalamazoo. The tzevet is a mix of Ma'apilim and Nachshonim, and there will also be Ma'apilim peulot taking place in Ann Arbor on a regular basis.

In Chicago, and they've decided that they want to function more like a tzevet shichva at machaneh than a traditional tzevet ken. Instead of having one rosh ken they have 2-3 roshei peulah for each individual peulah on the calendar, as well as a series of vaadot for things like tikkun olam and ken shwag and listserves for kids and parents. There are not very many ma'apilim in the Chicago area and the Ken has been struggling for a while, but with several dedicated Rashei Ken and an enthusiastic Rosh Eizor, this year holds great potential!

EIZOR TORONTO:
Affiliation: Machaneh Gesher
Shaliach: Eitan Grinspoon
Rashei Eizor:
Liat Papular - Gesher native, Madatz 04, Workshop 54
Shira Bromberg - Gesher native, Madatz 04
Michelle Glotnick - Gesher native
Emma Sobel - Gesher native, Rosh Gesher 07

Eizor Toronto has been very active so far this year! Toronto is the Eizor’s biggest ken; the surrounding areas are small but developing. Some areas just outside of Toronto are working hard to build kenim but have found it difficult because of numbers (chanichim and ma'apilim). They don't necessarily want to be a Toronto based ken but because the majority of their chanichim are in Toronto, it's hard but they are working harder!

This year, they are thinking of running more 'kvutza specific' peulot ken. Our first test is with Tikkun Olam, we can't wait! In two weeks time we have our third peulat-ken: Creating and debating; what makes a leader? A week after that we have our annual FALL SEMINAR in Niagara Falls Ontario! The theme this year is "Finding the 'I' in Israel". Registration is already way up, we're expecting a great turn out! November 4th is our annual Rabin Memorial Service. Habonim has arranged that a number of other Youth Movements, including Young Judea and Hashomer, will come together to commemorate our late Prime Minister, Yitzhak Rabin.

EIZOR VANCOUVER:
Affiliation: Machaneh Miriam
Rashei Eizor:
Nadav Barzelai- Miriam native, Madatz 01, Habo U aleph
Steve Beck - Miriam native, MBaeiou, Madatz 04, Workshop 55
*Nadav and Steven live in a Bayit together with two other Miriam Ma'apilim in Vancouver*
Rosh Ma'apilim:
Ariel Goldman Jones - Miriam Native, MBI 2000, Tzevet Miriam
Shlicha - Naomi Kassel

Eizor Structure: Eizor Vancouver is comprised of Kenim in Vancouver, Seattle and Victoria, with Vancouver being the primary hub of activity. There were 60 kids at their reunion in Vancouver this month and they had one in Victoria as well. They are hoping to have one event for all of Eizor Vancouver each month and then twice a month having Peulot shickvah for younger and older chanichim separately. Their Ken Tzevet is made up of a few Ma'apilim and mostly Nachshonim as Rashei Ken. In Victoria, there is also an active Ma'apilim ken.

EIZOR NORTHERN AND SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA:
Affiliation: Machaneh Gilboa
Rosh Eizor NoCal:
Itamar Landau - Gilboa native, MBI 01, Madatz 02, Rosh Gilboa 06
Rosh Eizor SoCal:
Tohmer Soltes - Gilboa native, MBA, Madatz 03, Workshop 54
Rosh Ma'apilim SoCal:
(Ben) Sager - Mosh native, Madatz 03, Workshop 54
Shaliach - Yair Castel

Eizor Structure: California is a big state, but these guys are ready to take it on! Eizor Gilboa is split into the Bay Area (in Northern California) and Los Angeles and Irvine (in Southern California). The Bay Area is divided into Berkeley and San Fransico. The ken tzevet in NoCal is made up of two Rashei Ken from the post-Madatz kvutzah and a few Ma’apilim. The ken meets twice a month – once for Kabbalat Shabbat or Havdallah and once for a Sunday peula. There is also a growing Ma'apilim Ken in Santa Cruz that will hopefully see some activity this year.

In Southern California, they have 6 ma’apilim in the LA area. There are Kenim in San Diego, Irvine and LA, with the largest number of chanichim in LA. They don’t really have the strength in numbers to divide up by shickvah, but they plan to have peulot once a month in LA and want to have additional peulot every other month in the Irvine area. They are also looking to do some outreach for machaneh Gilboa. They have a Mazkirut structure to their ken, with Nachshonim making up the Rosh techni and Rosh chinuch. In San Diego they have some Pre-madatz stepping up to be Rashei Ken.

EIZOR MONTREAL:
Rashei Eizor:
Sofia Corporan - Mosh native, MBA 02, Madatz 03, Workshop 54
Dustin Hellinger - Galil native, Madatz 04, Workshop 55
Rosh Ma'apilim:
Paul Gross - Tavor native, MBA, Madatz 03, Workshop 54, Racaz T'nua Bet (b'tnua)
Ruth Stevens - Galil native, MBI 00, Madatz 01, Workshop 52, Merakezet Chinuch Gilboa 06

Eizor Structure: Eizor Montreal is unique in that it is solely a ma'apilim ken, but a very active one at that! Between Mcgill, Concordia, and a smattering of other Universities, this year Montreal is home to about 25 active Ma'apilim! They have a weekly breakfast (a tradition started over 10 years ago) and regular chinuch peulot, and have recently begun discussing possible Mesimot for their ken. These ma'apilim are looking for new ways stay active in the movement throughout the year!

So there you have it folks! A brief, yet impressive run down of the Kenim of HDNA 2006-2007.

Here are some dates (that I know about) of up upcoming Ken events from now until the end of September:

New York:
Friday September 15th - Ma'apilim Shabbat Dinner in Park Slope, Brooklyn
Sunday September 17th - Save Darfur Rally and Jewsapalooza in NYC
Sat Sept 23: rosh hashanah/Coney Island: peulah by shichvah

Philadelphia:
Friday Sep 15th - Sunday Sep 17th: Galil Fall Seminar at Machaneh. The seminar will attend the Darfur Rally in NYC on Sunday

DC-Baltimore:
Sunday September 17th - Kupa Brunch
Friday September 29th - Sunday October 1st - Fall Overnight

Vancouver:
Sunday Sep 17th - Seattle Reunion 2pm
Darfur Rally in Vancouver 2pm
Friday Sep 29th - Friday night dinner for Vancouver ken, 6 PM

I will continue to post events as I find out about them!

*If you want information about any of these events, feel free to email me at ma'apilim@habonimdror.org and I will put you in touch with someone from that eizor*

That's all for now! Check back in for regular Ken updates from your friendly Merazkezet Ma'apilim!!!