“I left Ofakim and Merhavim with mixed feelings, joy about the year, joy about the group, about integrating with the area and its residents. Yes, and about the work we did.”
As Cohort A wrapped up, Hedva Livnat looked around her circle and saw the same impulse in many of her peers: don’t let this be the end. At an informal meet-up a few months before the finish line, roughly ten volunteers voiced a desire to remain connected, some for a few months, some a few days a week, and some just for one more project.
A formal framework to hold all those variations never quite came together, and so each person set out on their own path.
Choosing “a residence year”
Hedva and her partner, Davidi, chose to relocate to Tel Aviv for a year, “not a service year but a residence year”, to be closer to their children for a defined time. Tivon, their long-time home, will likely call them back later. But the goodness of the past year made the idea of simply “returning” feel muted.
“I felt I could go back to Tivon only if I changed my approach, more active, more activist. We postponed the return by a year.”
Same person, new place
The transition from Ofakim to Tel Aviv is, in some ways, the opposite of the journey south, different landscapes and different rhythms but one constant remains: the self you bring.
“When I arrive in a new place, I pause, turn inward, slow the pace, try to fend off stimuli. Try doing that in Florentin,” Hedva smiles.
Keeping the South in the heart
One way Hedva manages the intensity of a new city is by sustaining real ties to the South. She and Davidi returned to Pedu’im for the community’s 75th celebrations, “it moved me”, and planned a visit to Moshav Maslul for a community orienteering event. The southern WhatsApp groups are still on her phone “though I feel the time to leave them is coming.”
Turning outward, again
Next up: a meeting with an NGO that supports asylum seekers in Tel Aviv, and perhaps work with people experiencing homelessness. “Sometimes that’s the best way to handle the anxieties a new place brings, by stepping toward others.”
Despite the approach of the High Holidays, Hedva is honest: “It isn’t all honey.” New beginnings often aren’t. But the habits of service, the relationships formed, and the choice to keep showing up, whether in Ofakim or Florentin, carry their own light.
