On Thursday, December 13th, we held an overnight event in Nitzana for all program participants, alumni, and staff. The interaction between current and past program participants was incredible, and there was a sense of a larger Derech Eretz community coming together.

The event included an opening conversation by Derech Eretz co-founders Yonatan Kischinovsky and Avi Cohen, as well as an introduction from Ofri Lev, our Alumni Coordinator. There was Hanukkah candle lighting; breaking off into small groups to get to know each other and have a joint Hanukkah-related limmud session; dinner; a show and then singing and conversation into the late hours of the night, surrounding a bonfire. The night was spent at the Nitzana Khan in large Bedouin-style tents.

In the morning, we had breakfast together and held a summarizing conversation before saying our goodbyes.

We hope this will mark the first event of a future annual tradition.