Tribe

United at Tribe Israel Shabbaton 2009

More than 150 British students on their Gap Years in Israel went to the King Solomon Hotel in Tiberias for Tribe Israel's annual Shabbaton from 23rd to 24th October 2009. The theme for the Shabbaton was 'Unite' and aimed to bring all gap year students from the United Synagogue family together. Tribe members from over 30 youth movements, yeshivot and seminaries were represented and participants got to meet other students from across the UK including London, Manchester, Leeds and Glasgow.

The key note address was given by Rabbi Andrew Shaw, Tribe Executive Director, on 'The Future of British Jewry' and he also launched the new Tribe Israel Leadership Training Programme (TILT) for 2009/10. The training is a five part leadership programme for people on gap years, designed to equip them to be Tribe leaders on their return to the UK. Many TILT graduates over the years have become youth directors and leaders at various Tribe camps and weekends.

Simcha Bauernfreund from Gush Seminary said: "The Tribe Israel Shabbaton was a wonderful event, providing the opportunity to socialise with such a large amount of UK students as well as engage in discussion about the future of our Jewish Community. It was a weekend enjoyed by everyone and helped us to see the importance of Tribe's role in Israel."

Rabbi Andrew Shaw, Tribe Executive Director said: "The Israel Shabbaton has become one of the highlights of Tribe Calendar -it is the most wonderful opportunity to unite gap year students from across the UK Jewish community for Shabbat under the United Synagogue banner."