Aliyah Seminar, Chocolate and Movie Nights

Habuah Film Night - Ozen Hashlishit

The girls got to go to Max Brenner chocolate restaurant for bonding before leaving to complete the last 3 months in Jerusalem.

A small movie theatre in Tel-Aviv at "The Third Ear" was rented out for the night and we showed the recent Israeli movie "Habuah" (The Bubble). Typically Israeli, it is an intersting, yet controversial movie about the relationships between young Israeli and Palestinians in the current climate.

Last week was a Campus Activism and Aliyah Seminar. For these two days, we were given a choice to choose from one of two options. Those going on to university or college next year took part in various workshops and speakers that addressed the issue of being Jewish on campus. For those considering making Aliyah there was a more practical seminar highlighting the main issues and challenges to expect.

Designed for chanichim seriously considering making Aliyah in the next 1-3 years, there was little time spent on feel-good Zionistic fluff, instead chanichim got the hard facts about the process of Aliyah.

We started Sunday night by having a talk about the rights of a new oleh (immigrant) to Israel. Did you know that all Olim under 30 receive three years of university tuition?!?! That's enough for a degree! Olim also receive tax breaks, five free months of Ulpan with stipend money, extra money to ease move, and more- and the flight to Israel is free with extra allowed for baggage! The following morning we were visited by the staff of Merkaz HaMagshimim, an absorption center and community center for English speakers supported by Hadassah. This was then followed by a talk about serving inthe Israeli army.

After lunch, we took a bus to Herzeliyah and used the transit to absorb the rapid information from the morning and to discuss the biblical history of Aliyah as well as the Interdisciplinary Center, or IDC, a college of social sciences with an international school growing in prestige. While this is a private institution and the tuition for Olim isn't completely covered by Israel's government, it's much cheaper than American universities and offers the benefits of a smaller student body, the chance to meet and learn with people from around the world, and get practical experience which would look great on any resume. We met some former Year Coursers who chose IDC after trying universities back in America and England and wanted to finish their degrees in Israel. The IDC isn't for everyone, but many of us left happy to know that there was a great option for university here in Israel.

We returned to Bat-Yam where we learned about the organizations that could help smooth the process of moving to Israel, Nefesh B'Nefesh and Garin Tzabar. Nefesh B'Nefesh helps cut through the bureaucratic difficulties which make Aliyah so intimidating, and Garin Tzabar provides a supportive environment during army service. We finished the day with a talk with a girl currently serving in the IDF through Garin Tzabar. It was a really long day, filled with lots of information and options, which helped those who already had set plans for Aliyah understand their rights and what to expect, and those who hadn't yet made their plans concrete learned about the options that can make the process easier. I'm sure that over the next five years or so, most of our small group will have moved to Israel, proud to be fulfilling our dream of making Aliyah.

In addition to volunteering, studying, being serious....

At the science museum in Holon,
during community volunteering, face painting with Jody, on camels with Ben, Ruth and Caleb....

"Havayeda" knowledge through fun, is an extracurricular science and technology center that offers exhibits designed for interaction, provides a laboratory where activities and experiments take place.

My feet are at the Armed Core museum...

Where I'm living now: Holon

I'm living in the biggest Year Course apartments in Holon. There is 2 stories with 2 rooms upstairs - its awesome! Its located in the southern part of Gush Dan and borders Tel - Aviv in the north, Bat Yam in the west, Rishon Lezion in the south and Azur in the east.




Current weather in Holon

Today, Holon is one of the greenest cities in Israel, where green spaces spread over 300 acres — an area expected to multiply in the coming years. About 6,500 trees decorate the city’s boulevards and streets, and each year 150,000 seasonal flowers are planted all over the city.

Volunteering in Holon

The story of Save a Child's Heart is inspirational because the astounding success rate of 96% has been achieved with very limited levels of publicity, public relations, and money. The charity feels that their greatest achievement is "that all the children, regardless of race, creed, color, sex, or religion are treated free of
charge with the finest medical care at the cutting edge of technology."

As of April, 2007, Save a Child's Heart has a 96% success rate and have operated on a total of over 1500 patients. They are now saving one child's heart every 28 hours. Save a Child's Heart has saved children from the following countries:
China
Democratic Republic of Congo
Ecuador
Eritrea
Ethiopia
Ghana
Iraq
Ivory Coast
Jordan
Kazakhstan
Mauritania
Moldova
Nigeria
Palestinian Authority
Romania
Russia
Senegal
Sierra Leone
Somalia
Somaliland
Sri Lanka
St Vincent
Trinidad & Tobago
Ukraine
Vietnam
Zanzibar
Zimbabwe
Recently in the news about SACH:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/iraq/article3998990.ece

When I'm not doing CV.....

Don't be alarmed!

This is an M4, my friend's older brother is in the Army. Its not loaded right now.

The Story Garden. All of the statues are from different Israeli fairytales. The huge jungle gym goes up 3 or 4 stories with slides all the way down.



The Story Gardens are spread over the city of Holon. So far 16 public gardens feature environmental sculptures created by well-known artists and inspired by famous children’s stories and fairy-tales like ‘My Uncle Simha’, ‘Kaspion the Small Fish’ and ‘Itamar Climbing Up the Wall’.

Pictures

The Yanshul, half-cat half-owl, the symbol of Holon's Children's Museum. Many such sculptures are placed throughout the city.

Camel Pictures

Chanukah in Holon

We're making clay Chanukiot in Holon....

Moving On to Holon

This is a picture of my friend Jody. She's been living in Petach Tikvah and volunteering at ELIYA (Israel Association for the Advancement of Blind and Visually Impaired Children).

Its the end of my 3 month Israeli Experience. Then I'm on the community service part, although I chose to also volunteer for the first 3 months. On the 28th I move to Holon, which is by Tel Aviv and Bat Yam.

I hope to volunteer at Save a Child's Heart and share an apartment with my friend Jody and other YCers.

Save a Child's Heart performs free cardiac surgery on needy children from the developing world and Palestinian Authority. SACH provides urgently needed pediatric cardiac surgery and advanced follow-up care for children from developing countries suffering congenital heart diseases. The children are from Ethiopia, Nigeria, Zanzibar, Congo, China, Viet Nam, Ghana, Jordan, Moldova, the Ukraine and the Palestinian Authority. Surgical and medical teams travel overseas to train and perform surgeries on site and screen children that will come to Israel for treatment. SACH also has a full outreach-training program for the medical personnel of the developing countries.

Haifa chanicha

Here is a picture with some of my Haifa Young Judaea Year Course friends:

Arielle, Danielle, Sophi, Anna, Judith, and others...

I volunteer at Beit Sefer Ofakim, a school for handicapped children. The Ofakim school in Haifa is considered one of the best schools in Israel for children with cerebral palsy and muscular dystrophy and provides special services such as speech therapy, physiotherapy and vocational therapy. I work with the oldest group who are 18-21 years old. They have a range of physical and other challenges. They represent all of the different peoples in the area, including non-Jewish Israelis, Arabs and Bedouins. Amazingly, all the students are "blind" to the differences in culture, background and even handicap between them.

I work with them on arts and crafts and cooking. All of them are happy to see me. They say "Boy Po, Joy" which means "Come here, Joy!"

I had no jewelry when I came here and now I have tons of jewelry which we made together. While I bead with the more advanced kids, the others are busy sorting beads into colors. They taught me all the colors in Hebrew.

Cooking covers a range of activities where I may help them cut food and they help each other. I say, "Yoffi" alot which is "wonderful!"

I truly experience how giving is the real gift, as I receive so much more than I can possibly give them.


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My friend, Arielle Adler, wrote a few sentences about her typical day on Year Course and she gave me permission to share it on my blog! Toda Raba, Arielle!

A Day in Paradise

The phone goes off at seven AM arousing me from my slumber. I quickly get ready and I'm out the door by twenty of eight. I get on the bus and sit down next to an old woman. By the end of the bus ride, I have learned the woman's entire life story because on busses in Israel everyone is friends with everyone. Before going into work, my roommate Danielle and I stop to get a cup of coffee. Yossi, the owner of the kiosk is expecting us. We go there often and he treats us as his own. With glass cups and chocolate, he attempts to speak to us in Hebrew about his son's success with running marathons.

After draining our cups, we walk into , I spend my days in "Hadas" a class for 12-14 year olds. With only a little bit of Hebrew in my brain, I begin to work with the children. My specialty is math. I draw shapes after shapes after shapes and have the kids add and subtract up to five. I help feed those who cannot feed themselves; I sit with them outside during "recess" while they talk to their boyfriends. I learn what it means to work with disabled children. Though exhausting, I am always happy at the end of the day. I have established relationships with the kids in my class as well as the teachers. I have made a difference in their lives, even if it was just moving their feet to make them more comfortable or helping them drink from their water bottle. I am no longer just a volunteer; I am part of their daily routine.

After school and a workout at the gym, I take the bus home to my apartment. We sit in our "Mac lounge" and figure out what we want to do for dinner. Do we want to walk to the German Colony, a great strip of restaurants five minutes from our house? Or should we stay in and eat some schnitzel or pasta? Maybe we'll go to the place we call "Shwarma Row" Here they have shwarma and falafel galore. Open twenty-four hours a day and on Shabbat, it is definitely one of our favorites, especially at 2 AM on a Friday night. We decide on the schnitzel because we're trying to save our money for other things. We talk about our day and scrape our plates clean before washing them. After dinner, the boys call us and want to know if we want to go to the Grand Canyon. No, it isn't the gorgeous place in Arizona. It's one of the biggest malls in Israel. We spend our evening there walking around, talking, and drinking our ice coffees from Aroma.

Lying in my bed that night, I think about my day. It was just an ordinary day on Year Course, but it was so much more than ordinary. It was life in Israel, my life in Israel. To me, it was a day in paradise.

Autumn in Israel

In Israel, the first week of November is still very much warm weather, sun shining and here and there we can take out our thin sweaters so as not to catch a chill...

It is the end of autumn now in Israel. The weather is getting a bit cooler, especially at night. We experience random rain and can watch the birds' migration on their way to the warmer south. As the days get shorter, the air is filled with the special scent of citrus trees.

Bedouin Tent in the Negev

Last weekend I went on Shabbat Beyachad where we all went to Mamshit, a Bedouin tent in the Negev desert.

We started Friday morning at a hot springs resort in the Negev. Than had a camel ride in the dessert and a real "Bedouin Hafla" and hospitality. We got to listen to the Bedouin way of life in Israel as it is today.

The Negev Bedouins (Arabic: Badawit an-Naqab) are traditionally pastoral semi-nomadic Arab tribes indigenous to the Negev region, who hold close ties to the Bedouins of the Sinai. Due to their lifestyle, the Negev Bedouins have remained largely unaffected by changes in the outside world until recently. Their society was often considered a "world without time".^[6] The Bedouin engaged primarily in nomadic herding, raiding and sometimes fishing. They also made income by transporting goods and people across the desert.^[4]
Today there are around 160,000 Bedouins living in the Negev, though the number is increasing fast; at 5.5%, their birthrate is amongst the highest in the world.^[11]

Before the founding of the State of Israel, Prime Minister to-be David Ben-Gurion saw Mamshit as the capital of the future country, which dovetailed with his dream of settling the Negev Desert. The reconstructed city gives the visitor a sense of how Mamshit once looked. The city covers ten acres and is the smallest but best restored city in the Negev Desert. Entire streets have survived intact, and there are also large groups of Nabatean buildings with open rooms, courtyards, and terraces. The stones are carefully chiseled and the arches that support the ceiling are remarkably well constructed.