Netzer Machaneh Ligdol Nobunye 2014
Written By: Kendyll Jacobson (Rosh Machaneh 2014)
Netzer SA celebrated 35 years of fun, family and learning. After months and months of preparation and counting down, Netzer’s summer machaneh of 2014 finally arrived. All our channichim made their way down to Glen Cairn, Cape Town on the 11th of December to let the festivities begin. About 60 kids from Durban, Joburg and Cape Town participated in camp this year.
The madrichim body – made up of 20 young volunteers – met from the 7th of December to finalise the activities and schedule to ensure that every day was packed to the brim with fun and education in relation to Netzer’s five main ideological pillars.
We also had the highly anticipated ‘Big Days’, which were Colour Wars, Unity Day, Tiyul and Tikkun Day. Our Tiyul is normally a hike up a mountain but we changed it up and had a beach walk along Long Beach – along the way we stopped at a shipwreck, had lunch and had a ma’amad service. Unity Day saw us exploring Israel and South Africa and what it means to be a Zionist in the Diaspora. We also had a 35th birthday visitors’ day Shabbat on Friday the 19th. Parents of Netzer, bogrim (graduates), Rabbonim, progressive congregations and friends of Netzer all came and participated in the most inspiring Kabbalat Shabbat followed by Shabbat dinner and speeches. This event captured the essence of Netzer and left everyone feeling inspired about the rest of camp.
I think it is safe to say that our kids and madrichim had the best time and we will all be heading back this year.