My name is Yasmin Noe, I'm in the 11th grade and live in Mitzpe Hila which is part of the Maale Yossef regional council.

For those of you who did not read my previous article, I am a participant in the Jewish Agency's delegation, Magic Moments, which is a project of Partnership 2000 in the Confrontation Line (Shlomi, Merom Hagalil and Maale Yossef) with the Jewish community in Britain.

The delegation connects youngsters from the Confrontation Line with the Jewish community in Britain. The delegates become ambassadors, discuss current issues in Israel, go to homes for the elderly and Jewish kindergartens where we lead joint activities, such as folk dancing with senior citizens. The most important aspect of the delegation are the ceremonies for Yom Hazikaron, which the delegates prepare for the communities. The delegation is one of the most amazing experiences I have the honor of being part of.

A major component of the delegation consists of preparations and meetings before the trip. One such special activity was a two-day seminar (23-24/3/07) run by young British Jews who are currently in Israel for their Gap year program. The seminar took place in the Youth Hostel in Shlomi. The goal was to expose us to British culture by meeting with British youth who are here from the communities which we will visit in Britain, and who are part of the different streams of Judaism which we will encounter (Reform, Orthodox and Conservative).

The seminar started with introductory games and then each group had an opportunity to speak with the British volunteers and discuss our apprehensions before we embark on the trip.

On Friday evening, everybody participated in Shabbat prayers. We could sit behind a dividing wall, such as in the Orthodox synagogue, mixed seating as in the Reform synagogue or separated, without a division as in the Conservative synagogue. The ambiance and singing made everybody feel the Shabbat and helped us understand what things will be like when we visit the synagogues in Britain. We had a lovely Kabbalat Shabbat, and the social evening arranged by the British volunteers was excellent.

The following day, we woke up early and started our busy day. We had many meetings in which we learned about the different communities and different streams of Judaism.

In honor of the Israel-Britain football game which was to take place later that night, we played a little football against the Brits (and won, of course).

The seminar was excellent and we had a lot of fun. Except for one thing - we have to wait for another few weeks before we actually go!