You can make your tax deductible donation to the Jewish Federation of Greater New Bedford online using the PayPal button below (a PayPal account is not required).

Your contribution will help support our organization and our Jewish Family Services Programs.

Israel

A Seven-day Trip to Israel Educated and Inspired
By Judy Pollack

Mission participants in front of a replica of the ancient Menorah at the KnessetAt the end of October, I joined a mission to Israel organ-ized by the Jewish Federation of Central Massachusetts. From the time the plane landed in Israel, our small group never stopped. We went to Tel Aviv, Jaffa, Caesarea, Afula, the Golan Heights, and then on to Jerusalem.

In Tel Aviv, we visited the Rabin Museum. As you would expect, the circular walls told the history of Yitzhak Rabin from the start of his army career until his death. However, as you wove inside little rooms that were offshoots of the circular path, you were introduced to major events all over the globe in the 40s, 50s and 60s as well as the actions, politics and policies tak-ing place in Israel.
Briefing at the KnessetIn addition, we visited the Better Place Visitors’ Center where they are producing electric cars to be sold in the next couple of months. We each were able to drive one of these cars - no noise, great pick up. Then we were off to Caesarea, along the coast. This is where King Herod, during the Roman period, built a fortress with an amphitheater and “track” for gladiators and chariots. The ruins can still be seen. A jeep tour to the Golan Heights that was seized during the Six Day War from Syria, was a real eye opener in that we were able to go into bunkers that the Syri-ans had used to watch and attack Israelis. The view from the mountainous Golan Heights made Israel vulnerable to any type of attack from Syria and an attack on Syria proved to be very difficult. There are still landmines all over the region.

On Golan HeightsJerusalem was our longest and final stop. Shabbat at the Kotel was uplifting with scouts dancing and singing, women singing and swaying above the Western Wall and hundreds of men praying either forming their own minyans or joining others. Israeli male soldiers were especially excited as evidenced by their joyful singing and dancing. We saw ruins in the City of David that had just been opened to the public. We trav-eled through a tunnel and saw the other side of the Western Wall and the foundation of the Temple. This had all been excavated from under a parking lot in or near the City of David.

Shopping in Tel AvivI do want you to know that we visited Afula – Gilboa, our partnership region. We visited Beit Singer, a group home for 5-18 year old children and youths at risk. They depend a lot on animal ther-apy. There are 4 counselors for 13 children. Then we participated with an enthusiastic group of young chil-dren in a crafts program where we all had a great time. These stu-dents were part of the Youth Fu-tures program. We were able to see the Youth Orchestra perform. We met with a group of young art-ists who established a residence in Afula for the purpose of trying to improve the city through art, music and education. They have recruited others to do the same in other com-munities. There are now 400 artists in different communities.

A Different Kind of Bridge

Musical Connection is one of the successful pro-jects funded by SNEC in Afula-Gilboa region in 2010-11, with its effects still reverberating on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. A delegation of seven young mu-sicians from Kibbutz Yizrael's Music Center in the Gilboa, conducted a series of performances in sev-eral Jewish communities in the state of Connecticut. What sets this project apart from others is the fact that the Israeli guests played together with local youth from the respective communities. Perform-ances were held before a very wide range of audi-ences and venues: schools, synagogues, old-age homes and community centers. The group also took part in Yom Ha’Zikaron (Israel’s Memorial Day) and Yom Ha’Atzmaut (Independence Day) ceremonies in the communities. It was especially exciting to see how quickly ties were formed between the guests and their hosts through music, with the selected pieces being both popular and classical Israeli music.

Wine tasting on Golan HeightsJerusalem was our longest and final stop. Shabbat at the Kotel was uplifting with scouts dancing and singing, women singing and swaying above the Western Wall and hundreds of men praying either forming their own minyans or joining others. Israeli male soldiers were especially excited as evidenced by their joyful singing and dancing. We saw ruins in the City of David that had just been opened to the public. We trav-eled through a tunnel and saw the other side of the Western Wall and the foundation of the Temple. This had all been excavated from under a parking lot in or near the City of David.And lastly, I hope to convey the feelings, gratefulness and impact that your dollars to the Federation have on others. One of the people who is a beneficiary of our support is Vladimir. He is from the former Soviet Union. While going to school there, the school was attacked constantly with rocks thrown by skin-heads. In 1991, Vladimir decided as a teenager that Rus-sia was no longer his home, but that he be-longed in Israel. He was poor, but he ap-plied to the Jewish Agency to come to Israel to go to a uni-versity. He was ac-cepted, but decided to enter the Army. After a few years, his com-mander told him that the next day, the Jew-ish Agency had ar-ranged for the mothers of the “lone sol-diers” (soldiers who did not have any fam-ily in Israel) to come to visit their children. Vladimir could not thank us enough for all the help that we provided through the Jewish Agency. He asked to have the oppor-tunity to come to speak to us and see us in person. It made each of us feel so proud that there was a face and meaningful purpose in our giving. It brought tears to our eyes. I wish you could have been there.

Read more in the Fall 2011 Jewish Messenger.>

<back to top>

---

Beit Singer is a Safe Haven for Children at Risk

Judy Pollack with students at Youth Futures program.Beit Singer, a home for children at risk situated in K’far Yehezkel in the Jezreel Valley, provides a home to children and youth who have suffered abandonment, neglect, and abuse from an early age. The children are organized into small, intimate groups where they receive intensive atten-tion from a range of professionals including educational staff; social workers; psychologists; and movement, art and animal therapists. Here are some of these children’s sto-ries. A 9 year-old third grader especially loves the “Animal Corner.” “I love to visit the animal corner because I love to feed the animals. Every week there is a "going to bed" activity at the animal corner. In our activities we learn about animals and play games about animals. We also see movies. I love the lemurs most of all because I love feeding them. Come see the animal corner, because it is a lot of fun! You can pet the animals, see movies, enter the cages and play with them too!” A 10 year-old fifth grader loves the Krav Maga (hand-to-hand combat) Club. “I joined the Krav Maga club mid-year. It is held every Tuesday. There are younger and older chil-dren's groups, but I'm in the middle. My coach is Daniel Yiflach, and I think he is really good. He trains us gradu-ally and not too fast, is very patient and really nice. We start each session by closing our eyes and doing an exer-cise where we breathe in through our noses and breathe out from the mouth. We also listen very carefully to what the coach says and then open our eyes, and Danny tells us about what we will be doing that session. [….] At the end of the session we once again close our eyes and that's how we finish. During the session, the coach cor-rects and comments on our progress so that we can ad-vance further. For me, this is a really good club that can advance me. Also, I really enjoy the friends I have there, Eddie and Dima. Finally, I think that if I have the opportu-nity next year, I will join the club again.”

Yvonne Benn

Read more in the Fall 2011 Jewish Messenger.>

<back to top>

---

Meet Yvonne Benn, the new Chair of the Partnership 2Gether Steering Committee in Afula-Gilboa

Yvonne BennI was born in Switzerland. My mother was Jewish and was saved from the Holocaust thanks to her family migrating from their native Germany to Switzerland. My father, who came from a well-established Swiss family of religious Catholics, wanted to free himself from his patriarchal, demanding family. My parents agreed that their children would be raised without any religious affiliation or tradition but as modern, emancipated, universal human beings. However, these ideals were not strong enough to keep my parents together, and they divorced when I was eight years old. My brother, ten years older than I, re-belled against our parents' ideals and began to search for his roots, for a sense of tradition and belonging. He found them in our mother's religion – Judaism. This opened the door for me to a meaningful, excit-ing world and both my brother and I found a warm home in Bern's Reform Jewish com-munity. My brother became more at-tached to Judaism as a religion, while I be-came a Zionist. At the age of 16 I realized my dream of moving to Israel – a country full of challenges and adventures. After my army service, I married and had a family and became involved in horses and therapeu-tic horseback riding. When my children had grown up, I felt that although they were Jews and Israelis, they were unfamiliar with the sense of community offered by Jewish communities in the Diaspora. It was therefore very important for me that they should serve for a year as young emissaries in the SNEC com-munities. I joined Partnership 2Gether and am extremely proud and honored to have been chosen as Steering Committee Chair. I am a great believer in team work and in my opinion we are an excellent team and all members of the Steering Commit-tee (in Israel and in the US) bring strong will, ability and quality to the committee. I am therefore optimistic that together we will be able to generate change. Partnership 2Gether is a true part-nership between the residents of Afula, Gilboa and the SNEC communities and together we will be able to create true friend-ships and common, enterprising projects. Wishing us all good luck.

Yvonne Benn

Read more in the Fall 2011 Jewish Messenger.>

<back to top>

---