http://www.yearcourse.org start painting your future today Thu, 02 Feb 2012 09:56:55 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 http://www.yearcourse.org/2011-2012/section-3-2011-2012/masa-shabbaton-leaving-the-american-bubble/ http://www.yearcourse.org/2011-2012/section-3-2011-2012/masa-shabbaton-leaving-the-american-bubble/#comments Thu, 02 Feb 2012 09:53:49 +0000 BenjiLovitt http://www.yearcourse.org/?p=6199 This past weekend, I was invited to a Shabbaton by Masa  … Read more. The idea was to bring American and Israeli teens together to get to know and discuss with each other about issues pertaining to Israel. The weekend started with a friendly game of paintball. As I was running around in a red jumpsuit with orange paint being]]> http://www.yearcourse.org/2011-2012/section-3-2011-2012/masa-shabbaton-leaving-the-american-bubble/feed/ 0 http://www.yearcourse.org/2011-2012/section-3-2011-2012/making-a-difference-at-aleh/ http://www.yearcourse.org/2011-2012/section-3-2011-2012/making-a-difference-at-aleh/#comments Tue, 31 Jan 2012 12:12:12 +0000 BenjiLovitt http://www.yearcourse.org/?p=6194 you can do so here for updates on the program and Israel itself! Rachel Gluckman, Naperville, IL; Section 3 chanicha   … Read more             Coming from Arad, a small town in the middle of the desert, to Jerusalem, the heart of Israel, has been a huge transition for those of us in Section 3. There’s]]> http://www.yearcourse.org/2011-2012/section-3-2011-2012/making-a-difference-at-aleh/feed/ 0 http://www.yearcourse.org/2010-2011/section-2/chafla-in-the-zulah-a-kibbutz-adventure/ http://www.yearcourse.org/2010-2011/section-2/chafla-in-the-zulah-a-kibbutz-adventure/#comments Thu, 26 Jan 2012 11:22:15 +0000 BenjiLovitt http://www.yearcourse.org/?p=6182   … Read more             “Hey, we’re going to have a chafla in the zulah tonight. Wanna come?” Natalie asked. I was helping her fold a large duvet cover, and as I matched my corners together, I tried to process the sentence. I was sleepy and slow, but even in that state, I realized that the]]> http://www.yearcourse.org/2010-2011/section-2/chafla-in-the-zulah-a-kibbutz-adventure/feed/ 0 http://www.yearcourse.org/2011-2012/section-3-2011-2012/finding-a-balance/ http://www.yearcourse.org/2011-2012/section-3-2011-2012/finding-a-balance/#comments Tue, 24 Jan 2012 08:11:13 +0000 BenjiLovitt http://www.yearcourse.org/?p=6177 Read more]]> http://www.yearcourse.org/2011-2012/section-3-2011-2012/finding-a-balance/feed/ 0 http://www.yearcourse.org/2011-2012/staff-contributions-2011-2012/the-art-of-judaism/ http://www.yearcourse.org/2011-2012/staff-contributions-2011-2012/the-art-of-judaism/#comments Thu, 19 Jan 2012 15:06:07 +0000 BenjiLovitt http://www.yearcourse.org/?p=6171 Kol HaOt  … Read more seeks to showcase Jewish history, values, and texts through a synthesis of the performing, visual and culinary arts. The class’s curriculum]]> http://www.yearcourse.org/2011-2012/staff-contributions-2011-2012/the-art-of-judaism/feed/ 0 http://www.yearcourse.org/2011-2012/section-3-2011-2012/marva-to-jerusalem-what-an-adventure/ http://www.yearcourse.org/2011-2012/section-3-2011-2012/marva-to-jerusalem-what-an-adventure/#comments Mon, 16 Jan 2012 14:38:38 +0000 BenjiLovitt http://www.yearcourse.org/?p=5963   … Read more                   You know when you haven’t written a friend in a while and you have so much to say that you don’t know how you are going to do it all? Well, that’s what I’m about to attempt (good luck…to me). Since I last wrote on the blog, I have]]> http://www.yearcourse.org/2011-2012/section-3-2011-2012/marva-to-jerusalem-what-an-adventure/feed/ 0 http://www.yearcourse.org/2011-2012/section-1-2011-2012/negevtiyul/ http://www.yearcourse.org/2011-2012/section-1-2011-2012/negevtiyul/#comments Thu, 29 Dec 2011 12:35:04 +0000 BenjiLovitt http://www.yearcourse.org/?p=5930 Read more]]> http://www.yearcourse.org/2011-2012/section-1-2011-2012/negevtiyul/feed/ 0 http://www.yearcourse.org/2011-2012/section-2-2011-2012/final-adventures-in-tel-aviv/ http://www.yearcourse.org/2011-2012/section-2-2011-2012/final-adventures-in-tel-aviv/#comments Tue, 20 Dec 2011 14:45:18 +0000 BenjiLovitt http://www.yearcourse.org/?p=5888   … Read more   In Israel, the Jewish state, you would never expect to run into Hindus. The other night, walking around Tel Aviv, I ran into Hindu’s. Literally ran into them, they were dancing in the street when my friends and I walked into their dancing. On Friday, my friends and I had a plan to go to Tel Aviv]]> http://www.yearcourse.org/2011-2012/section-2-2011-2012/final-adventures-in-tel-aviv/feed/ 0 http://www.yearcourse.org/2011-2012/section-2-2011-2012/my-hanukkah-song/ http://www.yearcourse.org/2011-2012/section-2-2011-2012/my-hanukkah-song/#comments Mon, 19 Dec 2011 15:58:10 +0000 BenjiLovitt http://www.yearcourse.org/?p=5879   … Read more             When asked to compose a song for Hanukkah, I didn’t want to make it cheesy by any means. We have all heard the Adam Sandler Hanukkah song, and I felt like as a poet I could offer much more information on the actual concept of Hanukkah while simultaneously expressing the way I feel]]> http://www.yearcourse.org/2011-2012/section-2-2011-2012/my-hanukkah-song/feed/ 0 http://www.yearcourse.org/2011-2012/section-3-2011-2012/hiking-shvil-yisrael/ http://www.yearcourse.org/2011-2012/section-3-2011-2012/hiking-shvil-yisrael/#comments Sun, 11 Dec 2011 07:34:17 +0000 BenjiLovitt http://www.yearcourse.org/?p=5868 Read more]]> http://www.yearcourse.org/2011-2012/section-3-2011-2012/hiking-shvil-yisrael/feed/ 0 http://www.yearcourse.org/2011-2012/section-1-2011-2012/campus-activism-seminar/ http://www.yearcourse.org/2011-2012/section-1-2011-2012/campus-activism-seminar/#comments Mon, 05 Dec 2011 10:04:08 +0000 BenjiLovitt http://www.yearcourse.org/?p=5849   … Read more Last week, all of Section 1 and Shalem participated in a four-day seminar, sponsored by the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs. During this time, we stayed in a hostel in Jerusalem and learned about the history of Israel, the history of countries who “took part” in the Arab spring, and how to advocate for Israel when we return home]]> http://www.yearcourse.org/2011-2012/section-1-2011-2012/campus-activism-seminar/feed/ 0 http://www.yearcourse.org/2011-2012/section-2-2011-2012/thanksgiving-in-israel/ http://www.yearcourse.org/2011-2012/section-2-2011-2012/thanksgiving-in-israel/#comments Mon, 28 Nov 2011 12:10:07 +0000 BenjiLovitt http://www.yearcourse.org/?p=5843               Last Tuesday, our section head Joel asked us to recount a time when we thought “only in Israel would this ever happen”. The first memory that came to mind was stumbling upon a free Mosh Ben-Ari  … Read more concert five blocks from my apartment, but I quickly realized it was the fact that]]> http://www.yearcourse.org/2011-2012/section-2-2011-2012/thanksgiving-in-israel/feed/ 0 http://www.yearcourse.org/2011-2012/section-3-2011-2012/noy-is-joy/ http://www.yearcourse.org/2011-2012/section-3-2011-2012/noy-is-joy/#comments Thu, 24 Nov 2011 13:28:03 +0000 BenjiLovitt http://www.yearcourse.org/?p=5819   … Read more             My past few weeks on Kibbutz Ketura have been spent working in the noy, or landscaping. The work is not easy. We start at six in the morning and often work until three in the afternoon. Our job is to take care of the kibbutz and keep it clean. We plant trees,]]> http://www.yearcourse.org/2011-2012/section-3-2011-2012/noy-is-joy/feed/ 0 http://www.yearcourse.org/2011-2012/section-2-2011-2012/magen-david-adom-helping-to-save-lives/ http://www.yearcourse.org/2011-2012/section-2-2011-2012/magen-david-adom-helping-to-save-lives/#comments Sun, 20 Nov 2011 13:04:59 +0000 BenjiLovitt http://www.yearcourse.org/?p=5830   … Read more           My volunteer placement is with MDA (Magen David Adom), the Israeli Red Cross.  After a 10 day, 60 hour course of learning how to be a first responder (including learning about different diseases, how to deal with a trauma situation, how to give CPR and bandage people), we were able to volunteer in]]> http://www.yearcourse.org/2011-2012/section-2-2011-2012/magen-david-adom-helping-to-save-lives/feed/ 0 http://www.yearcourse.org/2011-2012/section-2-2011-2012/the-early-bird-wins-the-race/ http://www.yearcourse.org/2011-2012/section-2-2011-2012/the-early-bird-wins-the-race/#comments Thu, 17 Nov 2011 14:01:20 +0000 BenjiLovitt http://www.yearcourse.org/?p=5812   … Read more My alarm rang at 6 AM on a Friday. As this was one of the two days a week I was able to sleep in, I was understandably upset. It took me a couple of minutes to realize that I had set this alarm because I was meant to go run in the Bat Yam Race for]]> http://www.yearcourse.org/2011-2012/section-2-2011-2012/the-early-bird-wins-the-race/feed/ 0 http://www.yearcourse.org/2011-2012/section-2-2011-2012/looking-forward-to-next-semester/ http://www.yearcourse.org/2011-2012/section-2-2011-2012/looking-forward-to-next-semester/#comments Tue, 15 Nov 2011 08:04:12 +0000 BenjiLovitt http://www.yearcourse.org/?p=5796   … Read more Ten weeks…wow. I’ve hit double digits. This week was full of small successes and disappointments but nothing big really happened. Just another week on Year Course, but being that it is Year Course, it’s never just a normal week. There’s always cool stuff going on. On Sunday we had a presentation on our second semester. The second semester for]]> http://www.yearcourse.org/2011-2012/section-2-2011-2012/looking-forward-to-next-semester/feed/ 0 http://www.yearcourse.org/2011-2012/section-1-2011-2012/indnegev-2011-a-vacation-from-reality/ http://www.yearcourse.org/2011-2012/section-1-2011-2012/indnegev-2011-a-vacation-from-reality/#comments Sun, 13 Nov 2011 14:02:37 +0000 BenjiLovitt http://www.yearcourse.org/?p=5789   … Read more             There is something inherently different about seeing live music in Israel. This first dawned on me as I easily made my way past a large mass of Israelis at the outdoor main stage of the music festival, inDnegev (like “indie negev” or “in the negev”…get it?). I practically glided forward with]]> http://www.yearcourse.org/2011-2012/section-1-2011-2012/indnegev-2011-a-vacation-from-reality/feed/ 0 http://www.yearcourse.org/2011-2012/section-3-2011-2012/yeshiva-dancing-and-the-tamar-music-festival/ http://www.yearcourse.org/2011-2012/section-3-2011-2012/yeshiva-dancing-and-the-tamar-music-festival/#comments Sun, 06 Nov 2011 16:38:00 +0000 BenjiLovitt http://www.yearcourse.org/?p=5773   … Read more               After a peaceful and relaxing Shabbat in the apartment, Aaron, Eitan, and I were trying to figure out what to do with our Saturday night when our doorbell rang. We had no idea who would be ringing our doorbell at 7:00 on a Saturday night, so we jumped up and opened]]> http://www.yearcourse.org/2011-2012/section-3-2011-2012/yeshiva-dancing-and-the-tamar-music-festival/feed/ 0 http://www.yearcourse.org/2011-2012/section-1-2011-2012/appreciating-whats-around-me/ http://www.yearcourse.org/2011-2012/section-1-2011-2012/appreciating-whats-around-me/#comments Thu, 03 Nov 2011 12:38:46 +0000 BenjiLovitt http://www.yearcourse.org/?p=5762   … Read more           When I’m in Israel I feel at home and at peace. Here, turning 18, going hiking for the first time, experiencing Sukkot in the Old City of Jerusalem, watching the sunrise and sunsets…what more could anyone ask for? One of my favorite memories of Israel happened recently. I was on my gap]]> http://www.yearcourse.org/2011-2012/section-1-2011-2012/appreciating-whats-around-me/feed/ 0 http://www.yearcourse.org/2011-2012/section-3-2011-2012/the-bat-yam-beach-any-time-of-year/ http://www.yearcourse.org/2011-2012/section-3-2011-2012/the-bat-yam-beach-any-time-of-year/#comments Wed, 02 Nov 2011 12:28:02 +0000 BenjiLovitt http://www.yearcourse.org/?p=5758   … Read more             Over the weekend I visited some of my Section 2 friends in Bat Yam. One of my favorite things to do in Bat Yam is to go to the beach. Almost every weekend or holiday, I find myself some where along the Mediterranean. This weekend, being the last weekend in October, I]]> http://www.yearcourse.org/2011-2012/section-3-2011-2012/the-bat-yam-beach-any-time-of-year/feed/ 0