By Camila Ferman from Habonim Dror Brazil.
My name is Camila, I am part of the Brazil shnat kvutza, more specifically, from Rio de Janeiro.
Talking about shnat concisely is a difficult task. In addition to being an experience that lasts several months, our program is divided into three very different sections: kibbutz, Machon and commune. We were at Kibbutz Revivim for about two months, we were in direct contact with some of the pillars of our ideology. It was a crucial moment for the deepening of kvutzatim ties and the idea of collectivism. This experience also provided us with a clearer dimension of the Kibbutz movement and a better understanding of the functioning of this sphere of society, which was important for the founding of the state and for the creation of Israeli identity. During that time, we worked in different areas of the kibbutz, this gave us a broader vision of the day to day in this environment, we did ulpan, which was essential to provide more confidence to the chaverim at the beginning of the shnat.
At the end of the kibbutz period, we had the chance to participate in the Taglit program, adapted to our group’s requirements. After 10 days of traveling through Israel, we were presented with different quests and narratives, asking us questions that we had not asked ourselves in the first part of the program. This allowed us to begin our studies at the Machon LeMadrichim, more attentively and with an open mind.
In the second stage, we lived 4 months on a campus in Jerusalem with young people from all over Latin America and the United States. During this period, the future bogrim have fixed classes on essential subjects for the return and other electives to improve skills and / or a deepen more specific subjects. In general, the main topics addressed are education, Zionism, leadership, and Jewish identities, generating resources to face adversities that we encounter in our lives and motivate us to build projects.
In addition to the training program for the bagrut, this year the Machon gave us the option to participate in the “Mechina”. In this second alternative, half of the kvutza shnat lived with Israelis on a daily basis, exchanging perceptions on the concept of Zionism and diaspora and creating connections between Jews from different spheres.
After a long learning period, we will spend about two months in a commune in Holon. The routine is a combination of volunteer work, classes, tiulim, household responsibilities, and kvutzati time. Our goals are to build a united group for a healthy work dynamic for the return, to live a more collective lifestyle within an urban environment, and to align our ideas and expectations for tnua in Brazil. As we are still at the beginning of this phase, there is still much to discover and rethink our objectives. Likewise, we certify that the commune is essential for a harmonious fulfillment of the shnat.