Shnat Blog #1 – Arrival – By Adam Marks

Hi all!
Following an eventful 10 days in Israel at opening seminar and AZYC, it was time for the real program to begin! Whilst AZYC ended with a continual stream of tears upon saying goodbye to our Limmud friends who were about to embark on their own journey of fun, growth and learning, MTA seminar started with a lot of ‘Hey bru,’ ‘howsittt,’ and ‘how do I make my own bed?’ That’s right, the South Africans had arrived, and mum, hate to break it to you, but I’ve already adopted all three of those terms.

 

Anyways, we started the program at the Kotel, beginning with probably the 613th (see what I did there?) variation of the name game since arriving in Israel. For the rest of the day, we met our respective points of contact for the Yeshivot at our hotel, and proceeded to meet the whole group, and our madrichim over a few tochniot. This trend continued over the next few days, albeit with a lot of davening and learning in preparation of what will be a very fulfilling year indeed.

 

 

 

 

Regardless, we are all having a great time. And although I’ve only known the South African boys for a few weeks, and the Melbourne’s not much longer, it already feels like we’ve been mates for so much longer. We’ve been at Yeshiva for a week now, and still getting used to Yeshiva life, the food, the showers, and the Americans of course…but we’re all settling in very well. The Rabbi’s are incredible, their knowledge is inspiring and combined with the tireless work of our madrichim, our lives here at Yeshiva seemingly becomes a lot easier. It’s amazing to think that when you arrive at Yeshiva, you quickly realise how much there is to know, and how little you know right now, and we’re all looking forward to the year ahead; growing spitutally, mentally, and in my case, hopefully not physically.

 

Adam Marks, Sydney, MTA – Eretz Hatzvi