Record number of young Liberal Jews opt for a year of volunteering in Israel

On Thursday 31 August, nine members of LJY-Netzer will travel to Israel to begin the ten-month-long Shnat Netzer programme. They will join members of Netzer’s other sniffim (branches) from across the world.

Shnat Netzer is a programme offered and run by Netzer Olami, allowing participants to volunteer, study and live in Israel, while at the same time creating and being part of a Liberal Zionist community.

Orlando DeLange, Josh Dubell, Adam Francies, Sam Grant, Oli Hayes, Emma Rich, Edd Samuel, Leah Siteman and Amelia Viney are the nine participants. LJY-Netzer has a tradition and long-standing reputation of being a family youth movement and many familiar names are apparent in that list. Sam Grant is the son of Liberal Judaism Officer for Youth Amanda Grant; Emma Rich is the daughter of Liberal Judaism Chief Executive Danny Rich; and Leah Siteman is the daughter of one-time Kingston Liberal Synagogue chairman Lawrence Siteman. Other participants represent Liberal communities in Birmingham, Leicester, Northwood and Oxford.

At nine participants, this is the largest group LJY-Netzer has sent on Shnat for several years. While the size of the group is an exciting prospect for the participants themselves, it also bodes well for the future of the youth movement as a whole.

For many of the shnatties, Shnat is the culmination of several years involvement in LJY-Netzer, both as chanichim (participants) and madrichim (leaders). Mazkira Jenny Walton describes how, ‘when I was sixteen I started leading them, then I lead them on Nechalim and Yamim and then on Kadimah Bet. And now, seven years later, they’re off to Shnat. It’s really wonderful having watched them grow up in the movement.’ Sam Grant agrees, when he says, ‘Shnat is the natural progression of my LJY-Netzer journey.’

The majority of the participants have recently returned from the latest stage of their involvement in LJY-Netzer, leading on the two week summer machaneh (camp), Kadimah. Shnat Netzer is an opportunity to learn new hadrachah (leadership) skills and also to hone old ones. This will, of course, be hugely beneficial for LJY-Netzer and every Liberal Jewish community on the return of the Shnat group in a year’s time.

This year Shnat Netzer has been modified significantly, something that Jenny Walton believes has made the programme ‘even more unique and diverse’. It is now split into three sections. For the first four months, the Shnat group has two options: Machon and Etgar. Both are based in Jerusalem and involve intensive study of Israeli history, society and culture and Judaism. Machon is a programme coordinated by the Jewish Agency, where LJY-Netzer shnatties will live on a campus in Jerusalem alongside members of other Zionist youth movements. On Etgar, participants live only with people from Netzer in a flat in Jerusalem. They are responsible for cooking their own meals, and coordinating their own budget. The remainder of the year will consist of three different paths: a North-South hike, a stint on Kibbutz Yahel and a voluntary social action project in a development town. Between these different stages are several seminars and excursions. It is a full and exciting programme and from even a quick look it is easy to understand why Sam Grant is ‘itching to go’.

Jenny Walton certainly speaks for the whole of Liberal Judaism when she says ‘I’m really, really excited that so many LJY-Netzernicks want to spend a year in Israel. I can’t wait to visit them.’

Rabbi Rich added, “Apart from my personal pride in my own daughter, a group of Liberal Jews of this size demonstrates a real commitment to the Jewish people and to Israel by young people, their parents, their teachers and their rabbis. They are a credit to Liberal Judaism and to its youth movement, LJY Netzer.

Notes:
Liberal Judaism - one of the three major strands of Judaism in the UK with over 30 congregations and 10,000 members across the country - seeks to make Jewish life relevant to the modern world.

While preserving the core beliefs and practices that underpin the religion, Liberal Judaism believes that ancient laws must be interpreted to ensure that ethical values and practices take account of what we know and the world as it is today. Ethical behaviour and social action take priority over ritual.

Liberal Judaism believes in the equality of each individual, regardless of race, gender or sexuality. We apply this belief in practice, with support for mixed-faith and same-sex relationships. Liberal Jewish men and women have equality of opportunity in all aspects of religious life, including practice and education.