B'YACHAD PNW '24 

B’YACHAD PNW ’24 SEPT.  Fri. 6 - Sun. 8, 2024. 


REGISTRATION NOW OPEN for B'YACHAD PNW '24! Sept. 6-8. 

An open dance weekend featuring PNW dance leaders, and geared for intermediate and advanced dancers! See Registration Form below.

Questions? Email Debbi Montrose at debbirm@aol.com to let her know you'll attend.

See 2023 photos here https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipMRHzEY9ceGNcOIN1n1qpj_sqVOKtDQiyYUn_nxCVXFec8IkorRUCTUl_QCYXHvBA?key=TnNGM05UemFtTVJmWGFDN1A5a2I5bkZ4LXZaMWJB 


From Debbi: Hello B'YACHAD PNW fellow past, present, and futuredancers and leaders,


B'YACHAD PNW '24 resgistration now open!


I can't wait to dance with you theretogether at the open dance weekend featuring PNW dance leaders, and for intermediate and advanced dancers! See Registration Form below.


With love for all of you, and in solidarity with our beloved Israel and dancers and dance leaders there who are encouraging the world to keep dancing "b'yachad",


-Debbi Montrose, B'YACHAD PNW admin/coordinator, debbirm@aol.com

2023 RECAP From Debbi: Hello B’YACHAD PNW ’23 dancers,

See 2023 photos here https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipMRHzEY9ceGNcOIN1n1qpj_sqVOKtDQiyYUn_nxCVXFec8IkorRUCTUl_QCYXHvBA?key=TnNGM05UemFtTVJmWGFDN1A5a2I5bkZ4LXZaMWJB


1) Just to give a final shout out to you all, coming up finally from the depths of planning this year, what a great time we had in 2023. 

And to encourage you to see and to thank all of our photographers for all of the photos and videos uploaded to google B’YACHAD ’23 photos on FB, keep them coming! (you can tell that I do know about this but have no idea how to access them!).  Someone please post how to access.


And to let you know that the camp has given us the date for B’YACHAD ’24 to be SEPT 6-8, 2024.


G’mar Hatimah Tova to us all, a year filled with good health, safe travels, LOVE and LOTS OF DANCING!


2) Hello B'YACHAD '23 session leaders Donna, Ohad, Shmulik, Avi, Esti, Rhona, Nancy, Cindy D., and "behind the scenes always there to help Warren, Ohad, Sue, Ruti,


There are no words to convey the level of gratitude I feel for each of you, 

for your help at the sessions and all else to help make things run so smoothly there at B'YACHAD'23.


Shmulik and Niva for your raising our awareness in dance movement, purpose and celebration on and off our dance floor there, and for our new friendships with you too!  Again, your breadth and depth of historic knowledge in contribution to Israeli Folk Dance in general are so meaningful to us, and having you there with us was just so amazingly enlightening for us all!


For our dear local B'YACHAD PNW dance leaders, how can I thank you enough for all your years of support and willingness to "do it again and again" at this rustic gem of a location for our local dancers. I'll be in touch with you soon after "squaring away to close out this year" finally with the facility staff later next week.


Again, all my love and appreciation to you all, and Shabbat Shalom,


-Debbi


3) Dear Dance Friends and Herschel our Schechter facility liaison,


Once again, reveling in the afterglow of a wonderful and memorable wknd together with all of you at B'YACHAD '23, and hoping all of you made it home safe and sound.


No words can convey my gratitude for the assistance, moral support, and for all of the dance-schmooze-eating-sleeping? camaraderie I felt there.


Among all of the gratitude and thanks we have shared, I wanted to especially name our gracious donors to the "dancer in need fund", and when you read this, please stand up (even though at home now) to receive our deepest thank you - we had 3 dancers who otherwise would have not been able to come BECAUSE OF YOU.  Thank you to Cindy M., Shannon, Sharon K., Richard, and Linda S. for all of your generosity to the fund.


And lastly but certainly not leastly: Oy Shmulik and Niva! Your courage to join us out here in the "wild west", contributing to our celebration of Israel at 75 and for helping us to celebrate all of Israeli Folk Dancing to date, to imbue us with your immense talent, wisdom, knowledge and desire for us to learn from you is beyond our dreams.  I think ALL OF US have grown from your presence, companionship and your dance abilities.  We hope you both have also considered this a nice vacation for you too!


Shmulik is just now saying to you, "I haven't for a long time felt so relaxed at a camp and seeing everybody having a good time always with no pressure. I already miss you and hope to see you soon at one of the camps [I am invited to teach at].  And me and my wife would like to thank everyone for such a warm welcoming!"


So, with that,  I will be in touch with you soon with "after B'YACHAD '23 news". Mean time, thank you again for driving up, down, over and flying to B'YACHAD '23!


-Debbi

2022  group of happy dancers.


UPDATE (7/23/23) 

Hi current, past, and future B'YACHAD Israeli folk dancers, 


Sue here. I am happy to share info from Debbi about the upcoming B'YACHAD dance weekend, Aug. 25-27. You may have gotten this info already, but please read, as there is some NEW info.


Important new updates about B'YACHAD PNW '23:


Register now!

Debbi thanks all who have registered so far for B'YACHAD '23, the annual Israeli folk dance weekend catered to intermediate and advanced dancers. She encourages everyone to keep those registrations coming in asap! Attached is a flyer that you can use and/or pass on to dancer friends you think might be interested!), "Early bird special price" is until Aug 15. 


As soon as you register, Debbi will send you a confirmation with lots more information about the weekend, including about the wonderful surprise for us all!


Special Guest Surprise

OK, the surprise is ---- drum roll --- a very special guest to help us celebrate Israel at 75 through dance ---Shmulik Gov-Ari! You may know Shmulik through many of our favorite dances such as, Avak Hardrachim, Boker, Kol Nedarai, and Rokdim Yechefim, to name a few of his 300 dances!


So, register now! For an immediate confirmation, Debbi (who is out of town until Aug. 10), is in communication with session leaders Donna, Sue, Rhona, and Allison. So for those of you in Portland who would like to have an immediate confirmation from Debbi, bring your registrations to one of the session leaders, and they will let Debbi know. For all others who mail their registrations, Debbi will send confirmation after Aug 10 when she's back in town. 


You can email Debbi at debbirm@aol.com at any time with questions or to reqeust a registration form. B'YACHAD has its own page on  this PIFD News site for more information too. (sites.google.com/site/pifdnews)


Hope to see you on the B'YACHAD dance floor!

For Debbi, Sue

Contact Debbi Montrose for registration form, debbirm@aol.com

B’YACHAD PNW ’23!!    

I S RA E L I  DA N C E  W E E K E N D

FRIDAY, AUG 25 — Sunday, Aug 27, 2023

(Thursday Aug 24 FOR LODGING ONLY)

At The Stampfer Center / Camp Solomon Schechter,

Olympia, Washington

REGISTRATION FLYERS AVAILABLE NOW

Contact Debbi Montrose for registration form, debbirm@aol.com

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RECAP of B'YACHAD PNW '22 annual Israeli dance weekend. 

See photos at https://photos.app.goo.gl/oraKnUnjwRxTAwap9

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See 2022 B'YACHAD photos at https://photos.app.goo.gl/oraKnUnjwRxTAwap9

A note from Debbi, director: 

(2022) Dear fellow B’YACHAD dancers and families, and all  B'YACHAD PNW session leaders,


We, your B'YACHAD '22 dance session leaders and teachers Rhona, Sue, Nancy, Shannon, Allen, Avi and Ohad  are all thrilled that we had the opportunity to spend time with all of you, dance with you and eat great food with you. We hope you enjoyed the dance sessions and the teachings that we were able to provide for you.


We hope you’re all recovering from the great weekend we had. We are so lucky to have had the amazing Camp Solomon Schechter on such a beautiful weekend for our enjoyment. 


Below are links to the dances and videos (they may arrive in more than 1 email) that were taught at B’YACHAD 2022. We look forward to seeing you again next year for more dancing, eating and schmoozing. Until then, keep on dancing!


With the warmest regards,

Sue, Rhona, Allen, Nancy, Avi, Shannon and Ohad


Dances Taught


Shma Ben Yakar - Nancy

Krav Shtiya - Allen

Yeled Aba Veima - Rhona

Debka Medabeket - Shannon

Ladmaot Shelach Yesh Peh - Avi

Debka Gid - Allen


Videos:

Shma Ben Yakar:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-MZsSKA_qc


Yeled Abba Ve Ima:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehyBxPVp4kk


Debka Medabeket:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4xjer5dWrc


Krav Shtiya

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2_R7sOpF6M


Lademaot Shelach Yesh Peh

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VdL-_4sRCJs


(2022) A Note from Sue Wendel, Portland, OR, long time dancer, current session leader, helping at this year’s B’YACHAD. 

Dear 2022 B’YACHAD PNW dancers,

I wanted to share some reflections on one of the best weekends I’ve had in a long time, and to give a shout out to this year’s impromptu leaders as well. First off, thank you Debbi for EVERYTHING you do that makes B’YACHAD this treasured Israeli dance weekend happen at the beautiful Camp Solomon Schechter for over 20 years! 

Because of Debbi and all the past dance leaders from Vancouver, Seattle and Portland – who created an extraordinary foundation – this year’s group of session leaders were able to quickly jump in and rise to the occasion, given that the only returning leader present this year was Avi Tayar who ran the couples session Saturday afternoon, and the overall assistance from Donna Cole afar.

A shout out to Allen King from Berkeley, avid vintage dancer and session leader; and Rhona Feldman, dancer and session leader from Portland, both of whom had registered for B’YACHAD, then were asked to step in and lead sessions only a few days ahead of time.


They ran every session except for the couples session run by Avi Saturday late afternoon (mentioned above) and the energetic session run by Ohad Atia on Saturday night which was planned last spring. The energy and passion of all of our leaders was reflected over and over again from Rhona and Allen Thursday afternoon and evening; Friday morning, afternoon and evening; Saturday morning and afternoon; to finally one last time Sunday morning. Whew!


And a shout out also goes to Nancy Fraser for running the Family/Easy dance sessions, who taught/reviewed at the sessions; and to Shannon Cahill-Weisser who taught/reviewed at the sessions as well. Shannon also led the Yoga session on Friday. What else can you do Shannon?


Of special mention and thanks is to Gary Fox and Rhona for Friday candel lighting; Allen and Michele Bat Or who ran the Shabbat Morning Minyan; Candi Swan who led singing before dinner on Saturday night; Sue who helped Debbi all weekend, and organized the Talent Share Saturday night right after dinner featuring: children (adult) dancers, solo child dancers Adva and Gali, and singer Leah; comedy by Robin, juggling by Kevin (who knew?!), ending with Michele’s fun and active Hebrew language learning activity. Finally, Cindy Merrill who helped at the Shabbat candle lighting and at the Havdalah later during a break at the Saturday night session.


I was so impressed with the way EVERYONE jumped in to help run the weekend. And if I left anyone out, please let me know. And of course thank you to ALL the dancers. B’YACHAD PNW is nothing without you!


With gratitude,

Sue


Hello Everyone,


Hope you made it home safe and sound.  What a fabulous and meaningful time I (we all?) had at this year's B'YACHAD '22.   Thank you for helping keep things safe and sound there!  We so dearly missed our regular devoted B'YACHAD leaders Donna, Allison, Esti, Ellie, Dianne, and hope to see you next year!!


For now, two things I'd like:


--Please send any suggestions/comments about the dance wknd TO ME; constructive criticisms, anything I can improve upon and/or relay to our great leaders about this wknd, as suggestions for future B'YACHAD's there.


--and if you have any facility suggestions (like I do!) that the camp can do to make ADULT w/KIDS retreats better there , PLEASE SEND your ideas on to me OR to Jef Nobbe at jnobbe@campschechter.org.  If sending directly to Jef, please refer as  "re: B'YACHAD rental wknd" in the Subject line.  THANK You!


Again,  could not do this without each and everyone of you!  Thank you again to our AMAZING Markidim this year,  Sue, Rhona, Allen, Nancy, Shannon, Ohad and Avi   for fabulous sessions and teachings!  One of you, please forward the list of dances taught so we can review on our own too!


Love to you all, wallowing in the afterglow of another fabulous B'YACHAD PNW Dance wknd! 


-Debbi

PS: I'll be sending one more note to you soon with the date for next year, when I speak with the camp director later this morning.





-Debbi, administrator, debbirm@aol.com


B'YACHAD PNW '20 Memories

In this virtual world we're living (and dancing) in these days,  I want to send a virtual hug with deepest gratitude to you all for registering and appearing, dancing, leading us and schmoozing together at B'YACHAD '20 last night, Sun. Aug. 30th.

From near and far I felt close by to all of you, dancing away in the little areas we all created in our homes.  Funny that B'YACHAD '20 felt so close to me this year maybe because of how strongly I am yearning to dance together again.

I hope you all had a load of fun and exercise, and as I say every year at B'YACHAD, "couldn't have done it without you!"

Here's to our continued health and vigilence against this tiny virus, so that sooner rather than later we'll be dancing together in person again (without masks!).

Thank you again to all of you, and again and again to Ohad, Allison, Tal and Yael, Esti, Donna Dianne, Nona, Ellie for bringing us and all of our dance floors together with them.

Looking forward to next year's B'YACHAD '21,

-Debbi

___________________________________________________

B'YACHAD PNW '19 another great weekend!

See photos on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/pg/Israeli-Folk-Dancing-in-Portland-OR-384857678264291/photos/?tab=album&album_id=2512144805535557

An amazing weekend!

B’YACHAD Northwest ’19!!

was Friday, August 23-Sunday, Aug 25, 2019

I S RA E L I DA N C E W E E K E N D

At The Stampfer Center / Camp Solomon Schechter,

Olympia, Washington

From Nona Malki' a.malki@shaw.ca 

Hi Everyone...

B'YACHAD Northwest 2019 took place over the Aug 23rd - 25th weekend, at the beautiful Solomon Shechter retreat in Tumwater Washington.

This is an annual event directed by Debbi Montrose. 

All sessions and teaching are run by local teachers primarily from Portland and Seattle and when they can be there, Vancouver.

It’s a fun and relaxed weekend with good friends, good food and of course alot of dancing!!

Thanks to Debbi, her staff and to all of the teachers and session leaders for another successful B’YACHAD Northwest!

Below, is the list of dances taught over the weekend.

 

Ha Yechida                                      Yuval Tabashi:                     Taught By Donna Cole

Bechaiyai                                         Michael Barzilai:                Taught by Ellie Morhaime

Hakol Od Efshari                            Ilai Szpiezak:                      Taught by Diane Casper

Boker Tov                                        Oren Ashkenazi:                Taught by Allison Victor

Isha Sheli (p)                                  Yaron Carmel:                    Taught by Esti Levine

Lisloach ve Lishkoach (p)          Nona Malki:                         Taught by Nona Malki

Machmal Nafshi (p)                     Shlomo Maman:               Taught by Avi Tayar

 

Nona

Vancouver BC

See photos on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/pg/Israeli-Folk-Dancing-in-Portland-OR-384857678264291/photos/?tab=album&album_id=2512144805535557

B'YACHAD PNW '18

B'YACHAD PNW '17 Recap

By Debbi Montrose

The Stampfer Center/home of Camp Solomon Schechter is such a beautiful and idyllic setting for us to dance and schmooze together at B'YACHAD every year; and for sure this could not happen without THOSE OF US THERE (you've heard me say over and over each year!).

Having the dance floor so full and running so smoothly has been our "constant" each year; and for sure this also can't be done without our amazing dance leaders too!  Thanks again to you all for your camaraderie and devotion to what makes this weekend so wonderful.

If you go to the website: portlandisraelidance.com, you'll see a tab for B'YACHAD '17. There you will find a list of the dances with videos we learned at B'YACHAD this year. Thank you Deborah and Donna for putting this together. You can also see PIFD News (sites.google.com/site/pifdnews) for links to B’YACHAD and more. And see the photo album at our Facebook site: Israeli Folk Dancing in Portland, OR.

Once again, our amazing PNW session leaders pulled it together for us and helped make dancing so fun and cohesive. I think I danced almost every dance I know and more!  Our energy on that floor sure could fill this world with love like from nowhere else!

Be well everyone, SHANA TOVA to you, and see you on and off the dance floor soon I hope!

 -Debbi

PS I think the music CD this year is FANTASTIC (as it is every year). Thank you to Ellie and Dianne for putting it together!  Check with me if you'd like to purchase more at debbirm@aol.com and I'll have Dianne make more.

See photos on Facebook at: B"YACHAD 2017 See dances at portlandisraelidance.com

DEBBI MONTROSE, director. debbirm@aol.com

Here are the dances taught:

2017 B'YACHAD Dances

B'YACHAD PNW '16. Another great year!

B'YACHAD 2016 held August 26th-28th / Camp Solomon Schechter (Olympia WA)

Beautiful venue, old friends & new, perfect weather! Pictures: https://www.facebook.com/Israeli-Folk-Dancing-in-Portland-OR-384857678264291/photos/?tab=album&album_id=1116325201784198

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10201645079165927&set=pcb.10201645080285955&type=3&theater

Dances taught:

Ma Hen Ha'Milim / Avi Levy

Kol Yom (Ani Kan Bishvilech) / Elad Shtamer

Inshalla - Michael Barzelai

Toda La'Olam - Oren Ashkenazi

Ad Eliach   P - Avi levy

Ze Lo At   P - Avi Levy

2016 dance staff:

Portland:  Donna Cole, Allison Victor & Avi Tayar

Seattle:  Dianne Casper, Ellie Morhaime &  Esti Livni

L.A.: William Harvey

Special thank you's..

Idan Porat- Sound engineer extraordinaire! 

Rachel Stern - Extremely popular Yoga Hour by the lake

Cindy Droker -  Children's session

Esther Oulman Carver - for overseeing just about everything with a smile

& many  thanks to....

Candy Swan

Moshe & Becca  Patton . . . did I forget anyone? 

All of the amazing dancers this year & 3:20 am dance floor survivors!

Debbi Montrose/ Camp director - thank you, thank you for all that you do & making this all possible for us!

Ellie Morhaime

2015/2016 Dance Program Director

See more photos at:

Photo by Candi Swan.

See lots of photos at: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.894107620672625.1073741849.384857678264291&type=3&notif_t=like

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From PortlandIsraelidance.com

B’YACHAD Pacific Northwest '15

B’YACHAD NW 2015  is over for this year. We hope you can join us next year.

B’YACHAD 2015 was great fun, despite a rather wet beginning. We had the larger wooden floor again. Dancers came from all over the Northwest (Oregon, Washington and British Columbia), California, Nevada and Georgia. Quite a few people brought their families so that they too could enjoy the camp environment. All the dances were taught by local session leaders; Donna Cole, Avi Tayar, Allison Victor (Portland, OR), Esti Livne, Ellie Morhaime, Dianne Casper, Gail Levy (Seattle, WA), and William Harvey (now in southern California, but raised in Portland). Nona Malki (Vancouver, BC) was present, but sadly, could not dance or teach, due to an injury. Still she helped inestimably with making the program entertaining.

The dance party on Friday night was amazing! There was so much energy and so many wonderful dances. Everyone had a fabulous time. Thank you, Esti and Donna and Ellie, for such a great evening. Saturday night was more laid back, with plenty of dances from the nostalgia category. Thank you Diane and Allison. And thanks also to all the teachers, for introducing us to some lovely new dances.

The food this year was considerably better than last, with plentiful, healthy snacks available throughout the dance sessions. Great leisure time activities were enjoyed by dancers and non-dancers alike. once the skies cleared.

 

To see all the photos Candi took please go to Facebook "Israeli Folk Dancing in Portland, OR" 

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Israeli-Folk-Dancing-in-Portland-OR/384857678264291?sk=photos_stream

By Nona Malki, 2014

B'Yachad Northwest, 2014 Israeli Dance Weekend was held this past weekend at Camp Solomon Schechter retreat, near Olympia, Washington.

Dancers and families spent a wonderful weekend together at this amazingly beautifully serene and spiritual venue.  Old friends & new met to spend a perfect weekend together with perfect weather & plenty of dancing!   

This camp is directed by Debbi Montrose and thanks to her hard work and lovely vision, B’Yachad was again great and successful!

Our 2014 dance staff (teachers/ markidim)

Portland: Donna Cole & Avi Tayar

Seattle: Dianne Casper, Ellie Morhaime, Esti Livni & Gail Levy

Vancouver: Nona Malki

LA: William Harvey

New Jersey: Special Guest:  Mitch Ginsburgh

Dances taught:

Matanot Ktanot: Gadi Bitton

Achshav Karov (p) : Gadi Bitton

Halev: Gadi Bitton

Romeio (p): Nona Malki 

Vilner Gaon: Mitch Ginsburgh

Rak Kan: Oren Ashkenazi

LeYeled Haze Hitpalalti: Oren Ashkenazi

Special appreciation goes out to...

Rachel Stern- ever popular Yoga class by the lake

Cindy Droker- Children’s dance session

See photos on Facebook "Israeli Folk Dancing in Portland, OR"

____________________

B’YACHAD Northwest 2013

Dancers at the B'YACHAD Northwest '13, gather for a group photo.

See pictures of B'YACHAD Northwest 2013 on Facebook.

Facebook: Israeli Folk Dancing in Portland, OR.      Click on Photos and also Albums.

From Debbi:

B'YACHAD Northwest 2013, Pacific Northwest's Israeli Dance Retreat for Intermediate/Advanced Dancers, just completed its 13th retreat August 16-18, at The Stampfer Center/Camp Solomon Schechter in Tumwater/Olympia, Washington.

The facility is a little piece of heaven on earth, and to the 65+ dancers/session leaders/family and friends who attended: you too helped make it the "best on earth" to me!

Thank you to Ellie, Dianne, Donna, Avi, Esti, Allison, William and Cindy D., all who helped to run and teach at sessions throughout the weekend, and of course Rachel with 30 yogi's this year, and to Dorice for helping to bring the "Bar Mitzvah" feeling to us this year!  

Thank you's also go to Frank, Zach and the camp staff for readying the camp and feeding us all weekend, and again to all us dancers for bringing the best of camaraderie and dance to this incredible location.  Happy dancing, and a wonderful New Year to you all!

From Ellie:

Beautiful venue, old friends & new, perfect weather lots of dancers & plenty of dancing!

Debbi Montrose – our camp director, thank you for the hard work and another great year! Our 2013 dance staff (teachers/ markidim) Portland: Donna Cole, Allison Victor & Avi Tayar; Seattle: Dianne Casper, Ellie Morhaime & Esti Livni; and L.A: William Harvey.

Special appreciation goes out to all the many hands & heads that went in to all the elements (sorry if I left anyone out): Warren Cole – videos, Vicki Wasserman – table decoration, Rachel Stern – ever popular Yoga class by the lake, Dorice Horenstein – for a beautiful Havdala and all the passion, and Cindy Droker – children’s dance session & performance.

Dances taught this year included: Birkat Ha'Kohanim – Shmulik Gov Ari, Mariposa – Gadi Bitton, Eifo At Hayom – Moshe Twille /G. Bitton, Kul shi Kalam – Gadi Bitton, Yafa Kmo Tamid – (P) Dudu Barzilai, Ba'layla – Gadi Bitton, and At Malach (P) – Avner Naim.

From Allison:

Israeli dance weekend! B'Yachad at beautiful camp setting! Canoeing in water lily accented lake and fabulous dancing! Our 13th year!        

B’YACHAD Northwest 2012 and other past years . . . 

See Facebook page for tons of pictures!  Israeli Folk Dancing in Portland, OR.