Page 6 - Issue 30

Habonim Dror leader Zach Freund had found
travelling by plane during the pandemic “a bit
surreal” but reasoned: “You have to roll with it.”

However, the 26-year-old
from Haifa checks news
websites every day to keep up
with the Covid situation back
home.

The Habonim Dror camp in
Dorset was essentially
“outside all of the time to
make things as risk-free as
possible”, he reported.

“And within that, we’re trying to do it in a way that
feels liberating and empowering.”

An early memorable experience had been
participating in an outdoor Kabbalat Shabbat
service, which had felt “natural and warm” despite
social distancing. “There was a sense of
community which struck me — the image of 70
young Jews having Shabbat together. There’s
something really nice and heart-warming about
that.”

Mr Freund, whose background is Australian, made
aliyah four years ago to “lead a more holistic
Jewish life”. When it was confirmed that UK
Habonim teens would be unable to travel to Israel,
he felt it “important to come to Habonim”.