PanimWorks

On Monday, all four groups travelled back to Deer Hill Base Camp (after a stop in Cortez, CO for most people's first shower of the trip). Each group considers itself a family, but has gained a great deal from hearing about the other groups' experiences. On Monday evening, each group presented a short song/story/presentation that gave a glimpse into the highlights of their experience. After the presentations, we had small group discussions involving two participants from each group. The depth of the learning, sharing, and process of the various experiences was amazing. Tuesday and Wednesday is dedicated to some outdoor fun (hiking up a mountain and rafting down a river) as well as reflection and wrap-up discussions . On Tuesday night, Rabbi Sidney Schwarz, the founder and president of PANIM addressed the entire group, leading a conversation about the Jewish values that the participants advanced during their time on PanimWorks. Tuesday night also marked the first clear night sky in the entire program -- it was worth the wait! The stars were incredible & many of us opted to sleep outside in the open sky to enjoy the constellations and the shooting stars. Tonight is our final closing -- hard to believe that it's already here, yet it is incredible to see both the closeness of the groups and the growth in so many of the participants in such a short period of time. It has been great! Rabbi Jason Kimelman-Block PanimWorks Director

It was exciting to meet all the teens from all over at DHE base camp. I was happy that it did not take long for our group to mesh. After packing, we drove 4 hours to Vanderwagon, NM - 20 minutes south of Gallup. We arrived to meet our hosts, the Bilentes. It was a very warm welcome. They live in a very beautiful pinon & juniper forest - great for camping. Over the course of the next week, we have engaged in a variety of work projects, including re-shingling a roof, digging latrine holes, mixing cement for a ceremonial veterans monument, collected sandstone rocks for the monument, plastering a straw bail house with mud (for an elder woman who spoke only Navajo), & planted hollyhocks.

Surprisingly it has rained every day here. We wouldn't have expected that for a desert. We had an interesting adventure on Friday. We headed to a canyon area where both our truck and our van got stuck in the mud multiple times - so deep that we had to empty out the vehicles and collect branches to put under the tires to we could skid along.

We had one of the most fascinating Shabbts I have ever experienced. Our Navajo hosts invited us to attend several ceremonies and attended our kabbalat shabbat service, Friday night dinner, and havdalah service. On Saturday afternoon we attended a Navajo baby-naming ceremony & later that evening we attended a healing ceremony for a married couple who were seeking help (conducted by our host Merle). I have found the Navajo ceremonies extremely interesting, full of symbolism and beauty. I admire the fact that the ceremonies are not constrained to a fixed amount of time. Rather, both the facilitators and the participants were committed to seeing the process through, no matter how long it took. We were honored that they went to added effort to include us. Among the most moving was one host's decision to form a Star of David in the center of the teepee prior to the havdalah ceremony. The Navajo community here has graciously opened their hearts and lives to us during our stay. The do regard us as family now. For our last evening, the whole extended family came out for our final dinner here. They prepared special foods for us, including fry bread and blue corn mush. I feel that we have been the recipients of much wisdom and love & feel that our offerings of work and ourselves were similarly appreciated.

Jerry
PanimWorks Staff (PANIM)
Group 1

After 4 days of work near Ganado, AZ, Panimworks group 2 has accumulated a lot of stories and experiences that we will never forget. We have worked at 2 ranches and historic landmark Hubbel Trading Post owned by the National Park Service. Milton Bluehouse, former President of the Navajo Nation, is our host and he has spent hours with us teaching about Navajo culture and issues, not to mention engaging us in deep political and cultural discussions. We have skirted wool (which means removing matted, dirty parts of sheared wool and preparing the wool for sale), repaired a fence, haul rocks and logs, maintained a field by clearing invasive species and more! Our most exciting adventure, though, was an unforgettable van pushing experience through extremely slick mud that left us all laughing hysterically and cheering as we pushed the van up hill after hill!

Lauren
PanimWorks Staff (DHE)
Group 2

"The world we live in has the ability to pull us away from the circle", the medicine man told me yesterday before we entered the traditional Navajo sweat lodge. Leaving me to unpack this heady idea, we were shephereded into the lodge. Sitting in our small circle, I could see the faces of everyone of the males in our group, both Jewish and Navajo most of whom sat at the threshhold of adulthood. We prodeeded to introduce ourselves, some in English, some in Navajo, and others in Hebrew. Before long the first round of our sweat was well under way, each of us meditating on both the heat and the energy of support and community that bound us together. As we were guided through the experience through song and prayer, the medicine man spoke of the importance of expressing love for our families and of connecting ourselves to the wisdom of our traditions. I believe what I saw in the faces of our group's circle, was the process of setting down roots into the fertile soil of tradition that had been tilled by generations before us. Each of us, Navajo and Jewish were connecting ourselves back to the circle of our people in a way that was at once both individual and collective. In sum, I believe what the medicine man was trying to tell me before the sweat began, was that we must be on a continual path of teshuvah, of return, to something deeper, to something that centers us in a way that is relevent and fosters both the growth of the individual and the circle of one's community. As the week draws to an end, we are looking forward to preparing for shabbat, and sharing with our Navajo hosts the beauty of this central Jewish communal experience.

Andy
PanimWorks Staff (PANIM)
Group 3

Stepping out of the van it was clear I was a long way from home. The buildings had turned to trees, the grass to sand, and the stress of city life turned into relaxation. I find myself in a situation that I have never been in. I have never had to worry about conserving water or cooking my own food and over here it is essential. I have already made some great friendships that I think will last for a while. The Navajos that we met are nice peaceful people and I learned that we have a lot more in common than I expected. We are working hard and it is very hot. Tomorrow we will prepare for Shabbat and that should be a lot of fun.
Josh B.
Chicago, IL
Group 3