Dear Bogrim, 

I want to take a moment to clarify a number of things, and to get us all on the same page as we are getting close to Mifgash, and into a new part of the Bogrim year. 
For those of you who were at the first seminar, we spoke about it being important to understand structures, finances, etc. (basically, how this thing works), so here it is.
Everything you ever wanted to know about how this Bogrim Movement is working: 

1. Bogrim Movement and Community Structures


There are five main spheres that make up the bogrim movement right now: 
  • North American Movement
  • New York Community
  • Toronto Community
  • Kvutzot
  • Magshimim
2. Leadership

Rakezet Bogrim: Karen. Elected at Peulat Aviv to be responsible for all of the areas outlined here, to be a member of the North American Hanhaga, and to communicate regularly. 
Job Description is attached.

North American Bogrim Movement Tzevet:
 Karen, Eyal, Hila, Noah, Daniel. This tzevet plans and runs North American Bogrim Seminars, and Eyal and Karen are planning and leading Mifgash. 

New York Community Tzevet:
 Jane, Ellie, Noah, Karen, Daniel. This tzevet plans and runs New York Community Events. 

Toronto Community Tzevet: Mika, Brooke. This tzevet plans and runs Toronto Community Events. 

Kvutzot: 
The Bogrim kvutzot choose their own madrichim. Jenny is Shoresh's madricha, Michal and Daniel are Givah's madrichim, and currently Orev does not have hadracha. 

Magshimim: Daniel is the Rakaz of this circle. There is a tzevet working with him to plan and run things for the North American Magshimim group. The tzevet is: Mika, Nadav, Ellie, Yotam, and Karen. 

3. Finances

1. Mas Tnua: Every Boger/et who participates in the Bogrim Movement must pay a Mas of $75 USD. This would be in addition to youth movement Mas Tnua, if you are still an active member of the youth movement. This was decided on at Peulat Aviv 2009, given the growth of the Bogrim movement, the need to have independent funding from the youth movement (both for fairness in terms of contributing and benefiting), and the need to have money that can contribute to the budget for a Rakaz salary. 

2. Seminars:
 Each seminar has a fee. This fee goes towards transportation, food, space, materials, scholarships, and the Rakaz salary. The breakdown is different for every seminar, but the calculation is always a sum of those things, divided by the number of people expected. 

3. Rakaz Bogrim Salary: 
At Peulat Aviv 2009 the bogrim decided to create a salary for the Rakaz Bogrim. This salary was to come from a combination of sources, and the idea was for the Rakaz position to be funded by the programs and people that the Rakaz is responsible for (e.g. bogrim seminars, Mifgash, Bogrim Mas Tnua). 

4. The Year So Far
Since September:  

October Bogrim Seminar: We had an amazing first North American Bogrim Seminar in Toronto. The theme of the seminar was Cooperatives, Sex, and Self-Determination. We had a lot of "mifgash" and some good times together. 

Toronto Documentary Night:
 Mika and Brooke are rocking democratically chosen documentary screenings in T.O. 

New York Chanukah Event:
 Our NYC Chanukah event is coming up very soon. We will be having holiday celebration at an old Shomeret's wine bar in Red Hook, and donating our profits to the modern day Maccabee's, the "Green Workers Cooperative" in the South Bronx. 

Toronto and New York Pre-Mifgash Seminar: 
This is happening this Saturday. We will continue the process from the October seminar, and get ready for Mifgash content. 

Magshimim Seminar: 
The Magshimim group had a successful day-long seminar in Toronto, New York, and Skype. The seminar dealt with the Israeli Left, the North American Left, and began asking questions about adulthood as Shomrim. 

North American Hanhaga: Aside from Bogrim specific work, the Central Hanhaga (Rakezet Bogrim, Rakaz Mamshichim, Mazkirim and Shlichim aka Karen, Yotam, Benno, Jenny, Doron, Shaked and Yaniv) met in September to lay out our vision and goals for the year, define our working relationships and expectations, and clarify our roles and responsibilities. We have been meeting regularly (every few weeks) since then, and will continue to do so. So far, so good. There are particular sections in the document about goals for the Bogrim for the year, check those out!


5. The Year Ahead
Mifgash and after: 

Mifgash Magshimim: Around ten Magshimim are going to be embarking on a journey December 21st

Mifgash Bogrim: 
Around twenty three Bogrim will be heading to Israel where the Shnat kvutza (eight North American Hazorea, and ten of their world movement counterparts) and some other world movement Bogrim will join us on a Mifgash that deals with Israel as a place and challenges us deal with Israeli society, Zionism, and our missions as Shomrim. 

North American Seminars: 
These will continue after Mifgash, with three more seminars before the summer building on the ongoing life movement process. 

New York Community: 
More holiday celebrations to come, and tiyul, bike scavenger hunt, community volunteering and more in the works. 

Toronto Community: 
More movie nights to come, and holidays, really really free market, community volunteering and more in the works. 


I hope this was all clear and made you feel all sorts of generally positive things. 
If you have questions about any of this stuff, feel that anything should be different than it is, want to be more involved in leading any of this, or want to talk about anything at all, please be in touch with me, either by email or by giving a call to 917.710.7406

Chazak Ve'Ematz, 

Karen