Youth movements get creative to keep in touch with their channies

The past few months haven’t been easy for our kids, with restrictions on in-person interaction severely limiting the range of youth-movement activities they are used to.

December camps, Shabbos gatherings, and casual activities that typically involve meeting others have had to be shelved, but Bnei Akiva, Habonim Dror South Africa, and Netzer have risen to the challenge, and the bonds between madrichim and channichim are strong.

“The pandemic has taken away personal interaction within our movement, which is core to how we run,” says Aaron Sher, mazkir klali (secretary general) of Habonim. “Moving online in the beginning of the pandemic was challenging, but our chaverim understood the necessity.”

Bnei Akiva’s rosh (head) for Johannesburg, Jessa Marx, agrees. “Bnei Akiva is based upon connection between our channichim and madrichim,” she says. “These relationships are unique and give them a platform for learning, inspiring, having fun, and solidifying values for life.

“In 2020, a year in which these connections couldn’t be strengthened through face-to-face contact, we were called on to adapt, be creative, and find ways to keep relationships, our values, and our way of life alive.”

As in most cases, the new reality demanded migration to online platforms, with Zoom learning sessions and events becoming the norm.

“Since the beginning of the pandemic, all of our activities had to be taken into the virtual online world,” says Jason Bourne, Netzer Camp head. “We have had to come up with new ways of engaging with our participants while still giving them the fun and educational environment they are used to.

“We have had to find a balance between engaging our participants while not overloading them with the number of activities available, especially when most of our participants spent a good portion of their week online at school.”

Similarly, Bnei Akiva and Habonim went virtual, moving whatever activities they could into the online space.

Says Sher, “Our leadership in 2020 managed to move active events online to platforms such as Zoom, and released monthly or bi-weekly newsletters. Our social-media presence picked up, with many chaverim creating fun educational videos to share on our pages.

“We were forced to adapt to a changing world, and still managed to bring our chaverim together regularly to discuss current affairs in South Africa, Israel, and the rest of the world. We managed to incorporate the classic games we would play at camp by playing them online.”

In spite of much effort, Habonim decided to cancel its end-of-year camp, substituting it as much as possible with other activities.

Bnei Akiva madrichim and channichim also connected online for some time (including a hummus making competition and learning sessions), though they were able to attend an in-person week-long day camp held locally in December.

“We hosted a morning kollel and midrasha, some fun events in the afternoons, and an evening learning programme,” says Marx.

“In a world where in-person events were cancelled, our values of connecting to our channichim, living a life of Torah, Zionism, and chesed weren’t. 2020 was truly a year of taking the video call and making it holy.”

The youth movements continued to be supported by channichim and their parents, the vast majority of them sympathetic to the enormous challenges they faced.

“None of these decisions were easy to make.” says Sher, “That support definitely helped keep Habonim going.”

Marx says there has been a gradual reintroduction of some in-person activities subject to strict COVID-19 protocols.

“We have been truly blessed to return our beloved Bnei bayit each Sunday for our EQT [Extreme Quality Torah] learning programme,” she says. “We were also able to host a COVID-19-safe Purim event, with a laser tag event for Roim and Moledet and Megillah reading and Adventure Golf for Refael and Sinai.

“Parents have obviously had some reservations about their children coming to events because of the number of people there and the restrictions. However, since Bnei Akiva strictly adheres to all the protocols, the majority if not all the parents are happy for their children to attend our events.

“With each event we take on, we realise the responsibility we are shouldering. Parents and channichim trust us to create a safe and socially distanced environment. We take this very seriously.”

Madrichim have also adapted to the changes with aplomb, remaining committed to inspiring their channichim in spite of the limitations.

“Madrichim most definitely still want to be involved,” says Bourne. “While the pandemic may have posed some limitations on face-to-face activities, the use of online platforms has meant that there is greater ease of access for our madrichim to join up and plan activities online.

“Madrichim who maybe wouldn’t have had as much time to give before the pandemic find that their time is utilised a lot more effectively, and those who weren’t sure about wanting to take up a more serious leadership role within the movement now feel more comfortable doing so.”

“The madrichim of Habonim Dror have been incredibly supportive during the pandemic,” says Sher. “They are bringing in new initiatives to help keep Habonim active. We haven’t seen a decline in their involvement since the pandemic began. We have even been able to bring more [maddies] into the movement.”

Says Marx, “Madrichim can no longer rely on models of what was done in the past. They are called on to adapt, take initiative, and to be more creative than ever. While this is an incredible opportunity for growth, it calls on them to take responsibility.

“Their commitment to the movement and the values we stand for pushes them through the difficulties. Every madrich and madricha in the movement has exceeded everyone’s expectations in spite of the challenges we are experiencing.”

While the road ahead is less than certain, Netzer, Bnei Akiva, and Habonim remain positive about maintaining engagement with their channichim, and are open to rolling with the punches

“The pandemic as a whole may have brought new challenges that we have had to learn to adapt to, but the opportunities it has brought us are just as many – maybe even more,” says Bourne.