Category Archives: JDC

Time Lapse – Thoughts for 2024

Posted on by under Israel, JDC, shabbat, Tel Aviv, Uncategorized

It’s been awhile since I used this platform. Ten years ago In 2014 I took a leap and joined a group of Israeli women on a trip to India.

I wanted to share my emotions and impressions. I experience meditation and Yoga in a new environment. Since then I would mostly write about art and travel. Art is a subject that feeds my soul. Through travel I get to explore and discover new traditions, new customs and a lot more.

Today we celebrate the new year for the trees, Tu Bishvat. It’s a sign of renewal and growth. Today we also mark 111 since October 7th. 111 days that Israeli hostages are in the hands of terrorists. I wear a dogtag: Bring them home, we put blue ribbons on the trees to remind the world that we do not forget those taken hostage. Our soldiers are in Gaza fighting the terrorists, bombing armor stashed in tunnels.

Since October 7th when Israel was attacked by Chamas terrorists who did not discriminate between civilians to soldiers, between children and adults, between women and men, I have been itching to go.

It was the first time since moving to the US that I felt the need to be home. Although I have build  a beautiful home with my husband Geoffrey and we raised three kids and have grandchildren, somehow the country I was born at- Israel will always be home.

I was anxious and worried about the fate of the country. I knew that I needed to go and do something . I felt that as an Israeli citizen I need to join my brothers and sisters in defending our land in any way possible.

I flew on November 7 and landed at 6:30 am. Driving to my mom’s apartment I was struck at the emptiness in the airport, only El Al plains were flying , on the way to get my passport stamped, rows of photos of the hostages lined the path. The traffic to Tel Aviv was light, the Israeli flags adorned every street corner and billboard. On Independence Day it is a custom to hang the flag but this time it was for solidarity. Everyone is united with one goal in mind. Together we will win.

On Hanukah there is a song, we came to erase the darkness , in our hands we have light and fire, everyone is a little light and together we are strong light. 

The first place I went was the “Chamal (war room) Diskiot (Dogtag) “, volunteers ,mostly women sat in rows and packed dog tags that said, bring them home now. The money raised form selling them will go to the families of the hostages. Around 240 hostages were taken by Hamas, the number changes as sometimes a person who was considered hostage is found dead. Since the beginning of the war 87 Israelis were released. Hamas still has 137 hostages , among them 11 foreigners, 2 babies under 18, 114 between the ages of 19-74 and 10 above 75 . There are 20 women and 117 men in total.

In the evening I went to sit with the hostage families. The square in the from of the Tel Aviv museum is now called Hostages square. Different art installations were made to raise awareness and keep the hostages on the front page. A shabbat table was constructed with 243 seats , baby seats among them. Some of the hostage families sleep in tents. 

The square is facing the main army headquarters where the prime minister security council meet.

The next day I was picked up by Ofer who was one of the organizers of the demonstrations that took place almost at the same place as the hostage families seats.  All the energy and desire to change is now working towards helping the 250,000 displaced families from the south who either lost their home or don’t have a safe room or safe place to run in case of missile attack.

We drove to Givaat Haviva, it is a civil society organization that strive to create a model society I Israel, emphasizing the importance of a jewish and Arab shared society. They run education programs and house both Israeli and Arab children. Their program stopped and they house refugees form Ashkelon. They created kindergarten for the kids and signed the order kids to school nearby. These people left their home with nothing much. They put each family in a small room with bunk beds with no kitchen and no washing machine. They got donations of machines and cloths. A kindergarten was created for the kids so the parents can look  a job nearby.

Givat Haviva

Next we drove to Binyamina to visit another Chamal, where volunteers are calling families who had to leave their homes, they did not want to go to a hotel so they try to find an alternative place for them, asking questions like do you have a dog? how many Children?  

On the way to Tel Aviv I stopped at Chamal brothers in arm, at the beginning of the war they took over a hangar that used to be for exhibitions and filled it with cloths, diapers, toys, army supply, by the time i arrived, a month after the war started they also occupied a floor that a high tech company donated and there, they divided the rooms by needs, one room was to deal with the hostage families, so if someone wanted AirPods , someone was sent to buy and deliver it. Another room was for ordering army supplies to the emergency preparedness squad, in another room they worked with the tax authorities in the airport to release the equipment that arrives for the army . 

It was Thursday evening, I heard of a woman who is cooking kosher food for the refugees in one of the hotels and also to Gaza for the soldiers.

I grabbed my friend Aya and we drove to the south of Tel Aviv to help her cook the meals. Someone was going to pick it up at 2 am to drive it to Gaza.

Friday morning I went to see an installation at another Tel Aviv institution Habima square where the philharmonic plays and the national theatre performs are closed , all the actors/ singers are traveling to the refugees and army bases to try to uplift everyone’s spirits. Restaurants are closed , No one has any desire to go out. This installations of empty beds has 241 beds.

Kikar Habima

The “empty beds” art installation consists of 241 beds, equivalent to the number of kidnapped men, women, children, and infants being held in captivity by hamas-isis in gaza. The beds portray the unbelievable size, dimension and vastness of our disaster. And the magnitude of our call to action that is – To bring every last one home now!

The creator and visionary behind the installation is the artist and sculptor Eran Webber, who partnered with strategist Vered Huri. Together, they launched the installation for the families of kibbutz nir oz and all the families of the abducted men and women. The installation amplifies the cries of the abducted and their families and is intended to keep the issue on the global agenda.  It’s called, empty beds, a bed is home, its the place where my day and your day ends but also starts. But now we don’t have day and no night.The artist Eran Weber create it with Vered Churi.

I continued to the hostage square to take part in Kabbalah Shabbat where the chief army cantor performed and some hostage families talked .In the middle there was a siren and we all walked into the shelter and stayed there for 10 minutes. Near by we heard a boom and later found out that a piece of a rocket fell on a car, the person inside got hurt as she did not get out fast enough. 

Life goes on, Kabalat Shabat continued.

On Sunday I drove to Jerusalem to visit the Chamal yerushalmi. First stop was at the culture center which in regular day has the Nisan Nativ theatre school but now they converted the space to a makeshift clothing store. The evacuees would come and take whatever they need. Shoes, sweaters etc . We have to remember that they left their house empty handed with one set of cloths.

In the performance hall the hanger with different items are housed  families sen da list of what they need.

The Chamal head quarters are housed in the Bezalel school architecture  building.

In the evening I joined a group of JDC board members who flew for 48 hours to see the work on the ground.

The first evening we heard form two hostage families, Romy Leshem Gonen ’s mother Merav told us that her Arabic gardener helped locate romy’s cell phone and sadly they realized that she was kidnappped, she is still in Gaza. During Hanukah I read in the Israeli papers that her grandma is pleading with Galant to bring her back. How can she survive in captivity for so long (64 days). They live in Kefar Veradim which is in the north, Romy was kidnapped form the festival.Next we heard from Rachel Baruch whose husband Ariel was kidnapped form the festival as well. He called her at 6:30am and said he will come home early because of rockets , he was in Miflasim 2 km from sderot. When she called him later , a person answered the phone in Arabic and said allla akbar. She understood that he was taken.She has a five year old at home who is asking where is dad?Her brother in law said it is like living in the dark.

They believe that all will be back. 

We heard form Ofrat Berman from the hostage forum.They have a support system of volunteers who provide phycological help and anything they need.

The company: Checkpoint gave a building to the hostage forum and they give economic support as well. The HMO’s have a file on each hostage with their medical information so they can be prepared when they will be released and can access each person’s condition before and after.

Next we heard form Miri Eisen who is a retired colonel of the Israel defense forces with background in military intelligence. She said that the chamas charter equals the prisoners of Zion. The number of hostages is unprecedented and there is nothing to compare. There are hundred of people in dozens locations. There are more then one terror group who is holding them.  . We have not seen this kind of atrocities. Her analysis is alarming. We have. Long road to destroy Hamas and Israel has to do it in a systematic way.War is a terrible thing.

JDC focus on mid term and long term intervention. They work in partnership with the municipalities, goverment ministries and UJA .They coordinate with the hotels to which the evacuees were send and create different programs.

On Monday morning we drove to the Dead Sea.

Each community is housed in a different hotel. There are 2500 kids age 0-18. 

We first visited a spa that was converted into a center for disabled kids age 4-8. In place of the products we see children books and toys.

We then met Tomer who created a school where a solarium for glamping was there . The school was build in three days with support from the education ministry. The principal is form Kibbutz Beeri. It’s a place where the kids can be to get support by talking to each other and getting hugs. It is build across the road from the hotel where they were evacuated to . At the beginning they were reluctant to leave the hotel but slowly they came.

Kindergarden for kids with disabilities
New school
Youth scouts

The next hotel were people form Sederot. Some of then are in the hotel and some are in other places like Netanyahu and Tel Aviv. They created a center where anyone can get help regarding their rights.

The next hotel was the David hotel where Kibuutz Beeri evacuees stay. The kibbutz had 1000 house holds , 30% were killed or abducted and their homes were ruined. They cannot go back to the kibbutz as it is war zone. Some were aloud to check on their home and needed an army escort to get in.

JDC build a kindergarten in place of the dining hall. Each kid got a back pack with his /her name.

We met with Izik Who manages  the psychological department for the area that was hit. He is from kibbutz in Zurim, this kibbutz was evacuated to Eilat. On October 7 he went for a walk, his knee heart so he went back to the kibbutz and at the entrance he heard the red alert. He lay down behind the garage for fifteen minutes and then called his wife who was in a different home and she told him to go into the main office of the head of Eshkol region. While he was in the safe room he heard what was happening in the municipality. He lost hundred of patients and friends. His son told him that they kidnapped a neighbor. His family was saved because they live in a smart home and saw the terrorists on the camera. The terrorist got scared and ran away. His family was saved but no one came to help for a long time. The first people who came to help were the Joint. They went to all the hotels and gave immediate professional help.They try to teach the parents how to deal with their kids. One of the tools they use is the HUBUKI doll, it is  a way for the family to connect and help their kids express their pain. The kids hug the doll and pretend that they take care of the doll. When they are in a safe environment they can relax.The parents learn how to communicate to their child through the doll.

The JDC also mobilized the youth movements in helping to organize the younger kids.

On Tuesday morning we went down to Kibutz Brosh where there is an elderly day center which was reopened . People form near by kibutz kedar and Kibutz Asher which are 17 KM from the border come and have few hours of activities. 

Eshel also works with the caregivers. Some caregivers were kidnapped and some left the country. Eshel developed webinars for to help with care for the elderly.

We had lunch with soldiers form the artillery division. They shoot missles into Gaza.

We then drove to Ofakim. The terrorist drove on the Main Street and shot at anyone who was walking on the road to synagogue. The police was trying to fight , many policemen died. In front of a house where someone died there is a memorial candle.

We met a woman whose daughter in law came to visit her with her 6 kids , one of them an infant of 6 months. 

She climbed to the second floor and help the kids go on the roof through a window and they were saved .

The terrorists through a grenade into the house which made it inhabited but did not get to the kids.

We then visited a new center that was created for rthe community where they can spend time talking about their situation. An artist created a wall where the citizens can express their fear and horror.

Many companies and individuals volunteer to pick vegetables and fruits as the Palestinian workers are not aloud to enter and Thai workers , some left the country. Soon it will be time to plant for the next season.

I talked to an Israeli friend yesterday, although it has been months since I was there are still have hostages in Gaza, missiles are shot into the country in the South and the North. Some restaurants opened but overall the joyous life that we are used to see in Tel Aviv and other cities is not there.

Map of Gaza border(Gray), the light green area are where the attacks took place.

The JOINT- JDC- Repair the world

Posted on by under family, Israel, JDC, jewish, philanthropy

Every two to three months I fly to Tel Aviv and visit my mom. I got used to the hours being cooped on a plane and jet leg does not bother me much. My last trip to Israel was more than a visit to my mom. I joined thirty-three JDC board members on a study trip.

I was introduced to the Joint a few years ago through their social research arm-The Taub center. In past years I have travelled to Cuba, Poland and Russia and I
Learned of the global work this organization does.
The Joint helps Jews around the world. Most of the time we find a JDC person bringing food to an elderly person and supporting a person in poor health. They also work to renew and enable Jewish identity.

Joint-Israel has a unique mission. In Israel, the Joint helped new immigrants settle in their new country-ISRAEL.

Joint-Israel helps the most vulnerable segments of the population by creating programs that help them rise from a low economic level and by that elevate this population up from poverty.

As the country is 77 years old the population grows and therefore is faced with multiple problems.

We wanted to learn what are the areas that needs that magic start-up nation touch from a social perspective. The best way to understand is by visiting diverse populations, in our case an Orthodox community, a Bedouin village and an elderly center.

We visited the city of ELAD. It is an Orthodox City. Many of the men study in Yeshiva or Kollel. The city does not have any industrial outlet and most of these men who work, work as teachers. They get subsidies from the government. As the population expands there is a need for other sources of income. We met with Deborah who hosted us at her meticulously clean home. She was proud of her children who excel at their studies. Her husband runs a yeshiva and she works at the municipality in charge of early childhood education. We saw the library and met the mayor. The mayor was proud of his many achievements such as taking teens at risk and through working in the garden helped them with their problems. Not everyone is meant to study. The Joint initiated programs that teaches other skills.

Our next stop was the Bedouin city of Kerem Shalem. We visited an early childhood center. The children age 2-5 spend the day in the center and get a hot lunch there as well. The Bedouin society believes that a woman’s place is at home and that children should stay at home as well. By creating the center, it allows the mothers some freedom to pursue skills and be able to get out of the home. On a different trip I took we visited a women’s initiative that made items with the special Bedouin embroidery.
We continued to visit an unauthorized town, the tents are replaced by temporary huts. There is no electricity or water supplied by the government.
The Bedouin population is part of Israel, they get welfare support for the government.

On the third day we traveled to Bat Yam, a city just 15 minutes south of Tel Aviv. The Old Age Center was full of people busy with activities like dancing, making crafts, and lectures. The number of older adults 65+ in Israel will rise by 80%, they will be 30% out of the population. There are multiple problems and the Joint has many programs that help caregivers and encourage independent living. There is a benefit to the society whose elder members are able to function independently as they deal with a decline in their functionality. Eshel is building rehabilitation centers with an emphasis on integrative care.

All of these programs will not be effective without the government support. We met Iris from the Ministry of Social Affairs and Yariv from the Ministry of Agriculture who praised the collaboration with the Joint. The government relies on the Joint for the development and roll-out of successful programs. Here again we were reminded of the ingenuity and the vast knowledge base the Joint has in solving social problems.

We travelled to Rishon Lezion and visited the Innovation Design School which is part of The College of Management and Academic Studies. We learned about the challenges facing disabled people to be included in the society. Ultimately, it costs less to keep a disabled person at home than in an institution.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Our last stop was at “Hackaveret “ (means beehive), a hub where ideas for social change are developed.

In Hebrew we say: “Hayom Katzer V’hamelacha Meruba”. The day is short and there is a lot to do.
Elka the fourth arm of The Joint in Israel deals with the systemic challenges by engaging companies and individuals and by bringing technology into social services and working on digital literacy.

The vision Joint-Israel has of strengthening the Israeli society’s capacity to care for it‘s people and promote resilience is rooted in its original mandate but as time progresses so do the challenges and needs change. To make an IMPACT we need to look at the problem as it touches each population and sometimes one finds the same problem but it is a different target audience. There is a need to understand the individual needs. The Joint has the ability to bring to the table different players to address the problem. In the past the Joint would hand over the programs to the government after a short time but now it seems that to make a lasting impact we need to hold on to the programs and measure the outcomes a bit longer.

I grew up in Israel and left when I was 24 years old. Tel Aviv, the city in which I was born changed dramatically as did the rest of the country. I was not aware of all that The Joint contributed to the health of the society. I think it is imperative to acknowledge the enormity of the task the Joint is facing in the 21 first century to secure a healthy Israeli society.

 

 

ELAD: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El%27ad

BEDUIN: https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/the-bedouin-in-israel/

ֵ A journey to the unknown

Posted on by under Ethiopia, Israel, JDC, jewish, philanthropy, travel

This week’s parsha is Lech Lecha in which Abraham is called by G-d to leave his country and travel to an unknown land. “To the place where I shall show you”.  These were G-d’s words and G-d promises Abram that he will make of him a great nation and bless him.

I have been traveling in the last few weeks and although I planned to write my impressions earlier, it is today that I find myself ready to share my travel adventures.

When I heard about a JDC (Joint Distribution Committee) mission to Ethiopia my curiosity peaked. The trip was promoted as a journey of an immigrant from his homeland of Ethiopia to Israel.

All I knew was that in the 80’s there was Operation Moses where Jews from Ethiopia who walked to Sudan were airlifted to Israel. In the 90’s there was another operation called Solomon and more came, this time from Addis Ababa.

At that time I was living in the US, busy raising kids and, as an Israeli, acclimating to a new land and culture. I did not follow the plight of the Jews from Ethiopia.

We landed in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia. It is a busy city with tall buildings, stores and lots of shanty towns. Old Eged buses (from Israel!), blue taxis (from Russia) and bikes are the mode of transportation…  not enough for the millions who live there, so you see many people walking. Kids coming from school in their uniform and women carrying dry wood collected in the forest on their backs. There is a lot of construction and dust. We toured the Ethiopian National Museum and saw “Lucy”.  Lucy consists of several hundred pieces of bone fossils representing 40% of a skeleton of a female of the hominid species and know by its Amharic language as “Dinkinesh” which means “you are marvelous”. We saw the Israeli embassy and met the ambassador; Belaynesh Zenaida, the first Ethiopian-born ambassador. We also met Dr. Rick Hodes who performs medical miracles on children with spinal conditions. He has been working tirelessly since the 1980’s on behalf of those without access to medical care. Although there are no more Jews left, it is important to maintain good relationship between the two governments.

The next day we flew to Axum, a town on the North which was once the crest of the Tigray Jewish community. There is only one paved road; the rest of the roads are unpaved and dusty. There are a few theories as to where the Jews came to Ethiopia from. One theory traces them to Yemen, the other claims that they came down from Egypt but the romantic legend is my favorite. It’s the story of the Queen of Sheba who traveled North to visit King Solomon, fell in love, converted to Judaism and bore a son to him and came back to live in Ethiopia. The story continues that this son went back to visit his father and one of his companions stole the Tablets of the Covenant which are housed in a church in Axum. We visited the church which is built like the Beit Hamikdash (The Temple in Jerusalem). We also saw Helen Sheba palace. We arrived to Axum on Friday and spend Shabbat touring the market which reminded me of the days of Abraham. People sitting on the ground with their merchandise. The Ethiopians are known for their coffee.  They meet three times a day for a coffee break and there is a whole ceremony built around this daily ritual.

We made havdala on top of a mountain overlooking the field of Teff (an Ethiopian grain that is also used to make Ingera; a special spongybread that’s used to eat the different foods and sometimes is used as utensils… yes, no need for fork and knife).

On Sunday we visited a school funded by the JDC. Some of the students walk a few miles by foot to get to the school.

There are no Jews living in the area. The “Beta Israel”; the Ethiopian Jews lived in villages and had their own schools and synagogue. They were called “Falashas” (the landless). The government owned the land and the Jews were mostly metal smiths and worked the land. Amram, who came with us, left his village when he was 5 years old and walked to Sudan with his family in the hope of reaching Jerusalem. “Jerusalem” was a magical word that described the longing for a better place. When reading the Haggadah on Passover we say “Next Year in Jerusalem”. Amram and his generation took it literally…. We walked up the mountain to reach his village; his former neighbors have taken over the abandoned homes. His village was near Mt. Sigd. Sigd is a Jewish holiday celebrated 50 days after Yom Kippur only by Ethiopian Jews.

There was no running water or electricity in the village but the landscape is beautiful. I could imagine groups of people carrying their few belongings, walking through the fields and desert with a longing for Zion. We were following their footsteps, but before embarking on the plane to Tel Aviv we stopped at Lalibella.

Lalibela is called the New Jerusalem although there are no synagogues or strong Jewish history there, rather there are incredible churches carved into the ground. The air is crisp but the roads are unpaved. The homes are build from metal scrapes and wood. On an early morning walk you can see everyone waking up and washing their faces from water in plastic bottles.

I have read about third world countries; here I could see it with my own eyes.

We flew to Tel Aviv, landed in the middle of the night. We were told that when the Ethiopians arrived they did not know what Jerusalem looked like as it was only an idea and they thought that the lights at Ben Gurion Airport was Jerusalem… They were taken to Ofakim, a town in the Negev. I can only imagine their surprise on seeing running water from a faucet or flipping a switch to get light.

Thirty years passed and unfortunately the Ethiopian Jews are not fully accepted by the Israeli society. In the news you read about the injustice done to a soldier or the mistreating of a woman looking for a job just because her skin color is black.

We visited a few programs that deal with empowering the elderly through gardening and a  multi year holistic intervention for Ethiopian-Israeli school children. We visited an Ethiopian culture center in Kiryat Gat where many of them settled.

We learned that even a generation after the community immigrated to Israel, young adults share the same obstacles when looking for a job. At Ort school in Ramat Gan we talked to students at a special 18 month pilot program which is a collaboration with El Al to teach them to be airplane technicians with the promise of a job at the company upon graduation. We also met a young Ethiopian who in 2007 started a not-for-profit called “Olim Beyahad” (rising up together) aimed at helping Ethiopian Israelis who hold university degrees integrate into the forefront of the Israeli workforce.

Our guide, Gideon named the mission: “It takes a village”. At the end of the 10 days  we understood what he meant. Each individual  that embarked on the journey across the deserts of Sudan or to addis Ababa with the dream of Jerusalem had no clue what was there behind the rainbow. They came from small villages carrying their tradition and culture in their mind. It takes more then a village to welcome the newcomers into the family of Israel. There is a comedy skit by Arik Einstein called Aliya in which he portrays hows each wave of immigrants mocks the next wave of new comers but at the end we are all Jews and Israel is our homeland.