15 Feb The Power of Proximity
This blog post was authored by Zoe Schachter-Brodie, a member of the Tivnu 5 cohort from Menlo Park, California. She interns at Boise Eliot Elementary School and Outside the Frame. ...
Tivnu Blog
31 Jan This Is What I Want to Do
This blog post was authored by Micah Cohn, a member of the Tivnu 5 cohort from Atlanta, Georgia. When he's not reading legal briefs, Micah enjoys stand up comedy and hanging out with fellow Tivnuniks. He interns at the Lewis and Clark Criminal Justice Reform Clinic (CJRC), Sisters of the Road, and Tivnu construction. This is me! Micah Cohn, current criminal justice reform advocate and future criminal justice lawyer. I had an assignment in my English class in eighth grade: I had to write about what I wanted to be when I grew up and the steps I would need...
13 Jan Alumni Post: Looking Back on a Year With Tivnu
This post was authored by Ariana Finkelstein, a member of the Tivnu 4 Cohort, whose program ran from 2017-2018. Ari loves singing, Cheerios, and social justice. After her year with Tivnu, she went on to study at Mount Holyoke College, where she is currently a first-year student....
04 Jan The Challenges and Pleasures of Living With Others
This blog post was authored by Desmond Griffith, a member of the Tivnu 5 cohort. Coming to Tivnu from Oakland, California, Desmond enjoys riding his bike during his free time and hanging out with fellow Tivnuniks. He interns at Learning Gardens Lab, Verde, and Tivnu construction....
13 Dec Home
The hardest part about traveling is coming home. I have no idea where that saying came from or even how I first heard it. Still, it’s been on my mind the last few weeks, if only because “home” has recently become one of those nebulous, hard to grasp one-word concepts for me, along with “organization” or “bedtime”. Home; the place where the heart is, the place where, when you go there, they have to take you in, the place where, if you don’t have it, everything else starts to walk away, too....
08 Dec Construction with Tivnu: A Day in Photos
Hello! My name is Devida, and it’s my turn to write a blog post! It is my first time writing a blog post, and I’m excited! Let’s start with a little bit about me: (you already know my name) I am 17, and I lived in Israel for 10 years, and moved back to the US about 4 years ago. This year, I am doing an internship at JOIN: Connecting the Street to a Home, which is a day shelter for people who experience homelessness and poverty. I also do tiny house construction two days per week. In the past two weeks...
23 Nov Politics and Fun: Finding the Balance
Tivnu is a bit of a mix: politics, fun, and fun with politics. Social justice is the mission of this organization, and 9 out of 10 times, that overlaps with politics. From the week of Halloween to the week of the midterm elections, these past weeks have been full of excitement. Costumes were worn, votes were cast, Ping Pong was played and things were learned. Most directly related to politics in Tivnu these last weeks were the midterms. This election is considered the most important election since Trump came into office. Tivnu canvassed, and the measures we were against (Check...
15 Nov The Complexity of a Simple Community
As I sit and ponder what to write about, I find I always come back to the same topic… airplanes. Don’t fret-- I will not bore you with information about planes such as the function of winglets, or what reverse thrusters are, or why the fly-by-wire system is a true gift to airline companies in terms of economics. I will tell you, however, that as simple as the design of an airplane is, the function of each individual part is, in fact, very complex. The idea of something simple being complex is one that I have been experiencing during my time...
28 Oct There is Safety in Community
You know how you have that gut feeling, and you just know something in your heart to be true? I'm Ruby, and I just knew in my heart that I wanted to be in Tivnu the minute I heard about it. I’m so so so so SO lucky to have Tivnu. When I decided to create a piece of art about my Tivnu experience, I wanted to draw something that represented Portland and Tivnu at the same time. I was going to draw the bridges of Portland, but I didn’t want to-that wasn’t original...
23 Oct Hands Up! 7 Playwrights, 7 Testaments
“Hands up!”, commanded Tyharra Cozier, a young African-American woman. “Don’t Shoot!” I and about a hundred other people - mostly white and middle-aged - shouted in response. We were all being held captive, under arrest - by Tyharra’s captivating and arresting performance. Because that’s what it was; Tyharra was an actor and all of us with our hands held high were her audience. She was performing a monologue called “How I Feel,” written by Dennis A. Allen II. It was the last act of the fittingly named play “Hands Up: 7 Playwrights, 7 Testaments," a collection of seven monologues which...
09 Oct Street Roots: A Newsworthy Cause
My name is Aliza, and growing up with newspapers strewn across the kitchen table has given journalism a special place in my heart. In high school, I was co-editor of my school newspaper. Thanks to Tivnu’s amazing program director and some good luck, I am now able to continue pursuing this piece of my life through one of my Tivnu internships: Street Roots. Twice a week, I intern at Street Roots, a newspaper covering local, national, and social justice issues that is sold by houseless individuals (known as vendors) on Portland streets. I work alongside houseless individuals, as well as...
25 Jul Closing Thoughts on a “Whirlwind” Year
Each year, Tivnu holds an end of the year siyyum to celebrate our Tinvuniks' year of learning and growing. To close out Tivnu 4, our participants received a warm sendoff to their next adventures from staff, host families, supervisors, co-workers, and friends. As part of the ceremony, a few participants shared their reflections on the program and this moment of transition. Below, please enjoy Calvin Lyster's insightful, honest thoughts on what it is to experience the Tivnu gap year. "As I was feverishly trying to organize ancient dusty plates and plastic dollar store grasshoppers and unused MAX tickets and ReStore discount CDs...
24 Apr Cultivating a “Lifestyle of Awareness”
My name is Calvin Lyster. While making art is one of my main hobbies, I felt attending college straight after high school wouldn’t give me the satisfaction I need because I hadn’t yet found a real passion. I joined this gap year program to interact with different kinds of people, experience living more Jewishly, and explore different paths of life. So far, I have definitely not been disappointed....
04 Feb T4 Takes Mount Hood!
We had an awesome time on our Mount Hood trip, full of new experiences. Those from warmer climates had their first adventures in feet of snow, and even seasoned veterans of snowy winters got to try new things, from snowshoeing to cross country skiing to cosmic snow tubing. Here are some highlights from the trip! [caption id="attachment_7867" align="alignleft" width="296"] Cross country skiing! Ron leads the pack.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_7864" align="alignright" width="389"] Emma, Ari and Lauren put in some time on the inside of the growing igloo, packing in the snow that others shoveled.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_7866" align="alignleft" width="376"] The igloo is gaining height...
04 Jan Leci Walks Through a Week with Tivnu
Here is a little bit about myself: First, I am Leci, I'm from Texas, and I say y’all at least 200 times a day, even if I'm only talking to one person. I came here to make a difference in a community setting, both directly with individuals and in a bigger picture....
19 Oct A Tivnu Sukkot: In a Hut and Off the Grid!
When my RA informed me that it was my turn to write a blog post, my initial reaction was one of violent stress. Tivnu is so chock-full of gloriously time consuming activities that sitting down and writing 5 paragraphs of text seemed like a monumental task....
03 Oct A Rosh Hashanah Adventure
Last week we celebrated the Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashanah. Back home in LA, the High Holidays are always a big deal in my family. That is why it was hard for me to be away from my family for the first time during the holidays....
27 Sep Tivnusletter: All kinds of new with Tivnu
Our new cohort of Tivnuniks brings together so many different backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives. We're thrilled to welcome our new participants from (clockwise from top left): Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Texas, and California....
18 Sep The First Few Weeks of Cohort 4
My name is Ariana Finkelstein, and I’m from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. I love music, social justice, and the great beauties of the wilderness. My favorite color is purple!...
09 Jun A Year With Tivnu
In the final week of the 3rd Tivnu gap year program, the participants planned a siyyum, which is a traditional Jewish way of celebrating the completion of a book of Torah or other Jewish learning. ...