Gap Year

Here are five things I’ve learned in these first few months of the Tivnu gap year program. They range from pretty concrete tips to bigger life lessons – and I’m surprised by how often the two are related….

Tivnu has had a fun and busy two weeks! We had our first full work week. I started off my week by going to Saint André Bessette, a homeless shelter that provides food, clothes, blankets, and sanitary supplies to people experiencing homelessness- all done with a smile….

Hey! My name is Nadav, I’m from Newton Massachusetts, and I’ve spent the past four weeks living the Tivnu life! Friendships have been formed, beds have been built, and the great outdoors have been explored. …

Saying my goodbyes is an increasing phenomenon as the program nears its end. I want to share a few of these goodbyes here, to thank those who have impacted me these past few months….

I enjoy the fact that its something new to what we did earlier in the program which was four days a week at Habitat. There is a lot of variety for Wednesday programming, which makes me, look forward to each week and the new activates that we have. …

As a group, we planned an exciting yet relaxing weekend to Seattle. Upon arriving to to the city, first thing I noticed was how much more urban it was in comparison to Portland….

On Sunday of this week Tivnu went to a play called The Ministry of Special Cases, put on by the Jewish Theatre Collaborative, which is set in Argentina in the 1970’s….

The past few weeks have been really powerful and intense for me at Portland Homeless Family Solutions, where I intern every Monday. There’s a seven-year-old boy and his father who have timed out of the 8 family spots in the night shelter but have luckily been able to stick around the day shelter. Two weeks ago I was coloring with the boy and he leaned over as if to tell me a secret….

This was our first full week with our new construction trainer, Eric. Eric has worked in the Portland area for 20+ years as a trained carpenter and with Steve at Portland Youth Build, so he was a great candidate for the job. He’s lived up to his billing so far as he’s been patient, productive and understanding during our time at the work site….

It is good to be able to learn a new set of skills and be able to see a very specific project go from start to finish. I have seen that in the shed, in pickling with Marissa, and baking hamentchen with Baye….