Our Experience - "the Frieds"

By Rhoda and Joe Fried - Paramus, NJ
Shalom to our friends and family. This is our first time with the CAARI program and our first report on the CAARI Blog. Rhoda is volunteering in Ichilov Rehabilitation Center and Joe is at Koach L'Tet. We wanted to share with you a few thoughts on the visits we have experienced. I (Joe) have already been quoted in the KKL website regarding our visit to JNF sites and our Tu’Bshvat experience at the nursery......I said.... “It seems as though KKL-JNF is just as involved in planting the Jewish people in its land, as it is in planting trees!” Last week we visited Eretz Museum in Tel Aviv - "Behold the Land!" From the ages of the Pharaohs, to the smelting of the copper mines (we toured the mines when we were in Timna a couple weeks ago) in Biblical times, we moved to Italia Ebraica where we learned about differences in their liturgy, to the beauty of the magnificently hand crafted glass by modern Israeli artists.
We were supposed to work in the forest, but snow – yes SNOW – was forecasted. Our leaders, Neil and Susan, rearranged the day. In the morning, we had a guided tour of the Diaspora Museum – following the Jews through the ages from all over the world, and how they maintained their religion and culture whereever they lived. We saw a wonderful exhibition of synagogues - some replicas of lost buildings and some still existing. In the afternoon, Dr. Mordechai Kedar, a lecturer in the Department of Arabic at Bar-Ilan University and a research associate at the Begin-Sadat (BESA) Center for Strategic Studies spoke, to the group about Iran. We learned some interesting facts on the issues about the Iranian situation and what it means world.
The other day, through a blowing sand storm we persevered in the tradition of the Irgun, leaving nothing to deter us from reaching the Etzel Museum (located on the Tel Aviv promenade). We were privileged to have Josef Ben David Nachimas, relate personal incidents from the struggle with the British (during the Mandate Period) to the eventual Statehood. Enlisting in the British Army at the age of 14, fighting the Germans, through his service in the Irgun under the Command of Menachum Begin- Josef was a hero!! There wasn’t a dry eye in the room as he recounted his stories. It is indeed an honor to hear about the early days of Eretz Yisrael from people like Josef. Events like these make CAARI a special program. Oh - we also had some Israeli folkdancing lessons!!! Kef (fun)!

Touring Day - Shuni and Casearea

Anice Stark - Toronto, Canada

Sunday, Jan. 26 we had a full travel day - a day off from our community service and an opportunity for those that are with us for 3 weeks to see JNF sites and Israel!!! Our first stop was Shuni Park (JNF tourist project), where we met Eli Shenhav - not only was he the JNF-KKL archaeologist who uncovered the site, but he was also the sheliach for both Montreal and Toronto. Of course, this is where Arnold and I met him. We also discovered another connection, our son who worked with Eli at one time - typical Jewish connection! Eli explained how they uncovered the different layers of the theater, the pools and described the special "finds" uncovered. If you don't know - Shuni is related to Caesarea - Eli described it as the "country club" for the people living in the surrounding area - a place for fun and frolicking! The pools that they uncovered are amazing - you can still see evidence of the types of games they played in the water. Today the area is used as a sculpture garden.

The weather, while threatening, was very good, especially for sightseeing. We made a brief stop at Zichron Yaacov, a charming, restored 19th century village, and then continued on to Caesarea. This is an amazing site built by King Herod, overlooking the beautiful sea. We visited the theater, and walked around the hippodrome - trying to imagine the chariots racing around. There were lots of other ruins, some still are being excavated. We ended the evening with a fabulous meal at the ancient port of Caesarea - watching the sun set over the sea!

"Our CAARI Day"

"Our days with CAARI" by Joan Hulkower, Port Washington, NY
Shalom from Joan and Bernie. This is our 7th time with CAARI and our 5th consecutive year! We are always amazed at how many different places we see and visit. Susan and Neil always manage to find something new and interesting to add to our itinerary. Our time in Eilat was most memorable for our hike in the Shchorit Canyon – 3 ½ hours of hiking, climbing up rocks with wonderful vistas from the top!
Back in Tel Aviv feels like coming home! The Hotel Metropolitan Staff gave us a warm welcome. Joan’s community service is at the long term care hospital – Bernie is at Bal Shem Tov school tutoring elementary kids. He was greeted with such excitement and enthusiasm – as the students remember him from previous years! We have long days – usually up around 6:30 AM – an Israeli breakfast – and either a taxi to community service by 7:30 or a day trip at 8:00. Our days are varied and each is a new experience. Our CAARI group (47 people) can be described as varied, hearty and ready for any kind of activity and….weather! Our nephew, Jan – who is on with us for three weeks - has distinguished himself as the “Scrabble King”. Bernie complains that the Scrabble dictionary is lousy as it includes “dumb” stuff, like musical sounds (do- re- mi…)
We are so happy to have our Port Washington contingent of Rita and Meil Schweitzer and Marilyn Oser with us.
Old City Tour - This week we had a day off from community service for a memorable visit to Jerusalem. It was chilly, some would call it cold – but no rain – that was a blessing for us. We began the day at Mt. of Olives with a view of the Old City – although the clouds interfered with the view – they didn’t dampen our spirits. From there we went to the Kotel and an amazing session at the Davidson Center. If you haven’t experienced the virtual model you don’t know what you are missing! It is always interesting to walk through the Jewish Quarter, visit the historic sites, shop (always can do that) and mingle with Israelis at the coffee places. Tourists are everywhere - what a difference a year makes! A little excitement with Seymour Karpas and his camera - police to the rescue; you will have to ask Seymour and Gloria about this one!

Our day concluded with a delicious dinner at the Jewish Quarter Café before making our way back to Tel Aviv. Tomorrow – community service! Along with community service, tours, lectures and our traditional Oneg Shabbat with Noami Halpern - we are also enjoying Tel Aviv’s culture scene – concerts – music and dance performance – who could ask for a better winter vacation than with JNF’s CAARI program!

Tu Bishvat with CAARI and JNF

CELEBRATE TU'bSHVAT - By Rosalie Whitehill - Plainview, NY

Shalom!
Last night's Tu B'shvat seder was so incredibly wonderful.....I don't know if I can find enough superlatives.....and this opinion is shared by just about everyone I spoke with.
We had a fantastic entertainer.....started the evening with many familiar Israeli tunes (in the course of the evening there were about 5 or 6 melodies to which I know the folk dance...) with a marvelous keyboard that sounded like a 6 piece combo.....he also sang.....there was singing and dancing with some of us adding tambourine emphasis (me....when I wasn't dancing) and everyone was quite happy even before we started our seder which included several glasses of wine along with the fruit and nuts. Our coordinator supplied us with wonderful booklets that came from Neot Kedumim.....and emphasized conservation, the environment and caring for our earth......and every 8 paragraphs or so we had a musical interlude.....with more of the marvelous Israeli music......so the reading was much more palatable..(of course people took turns reading, as in a regular seder).....and we danced and sang at all the interludes. When the reading was over.....and we were all feeling VERY HAPPY........more singing and dancing......and then some Spanish stuff....Besame Mucho, cha cha, etc. then Italian songs, then French songs, then Elvis stuff, then rock and roll......and our entertainer continued playing requests........What a night....at breakfast this a.m. one man compared it to a “freilich wedding”.....a very special experience for us!
This morning we celebrated Tu B'shvat by going to a JNF nursery outside Jerusalem.....we had a terrific guide who showed us how seeds are planted, incubated, transplanted and then sent off to nurseries before they go to forests or parks.....so inspiring....we will not do any transplanting or pruning this year as this is year 7 in the Hebrew cycle when the land is given time to renew itself. If you want to see more and read about us on the KKL website – some of us were interviewed and photographed –
Log on to www.kkl.org.il - than and read about Click to read about A Special New Year for Trees Celebration at KKL-JNF Nurseries

Love to all!

Rosalie

"A CAARI Day in Tel Aviv" by Rosalie and Anice

Pictures:
1. Nettie Steinman and Anice Stark (part of team at Koach L'tet community work)
2. Norma Ehrlich, Gail Ravit & Rosalie Whitehill enjoy Eretz Museum Glass Exhibit
3. Members of group in Tel Aviv
4. Anice Stark introducing journalist Amotz Asa El
5. Rosalie doing her Israeli dancing on the promenade

Jan. 20 - by Rosalie Whitehill (Plainview, NY)

Shalom Friends and Family,

Today we started volunteer work – I am at the same school I had participated last year – about a ¾ mile from the hotel – and a great walk – in perfect walking weather – short sleeves and sweater again. I was so delighted and surprised when some kids called me by name – came running over for hugs (girls)….and the boys just smiled! We spent 3 periods with the kids, with only 2 different classes today. I was with 6 kids from last year. The teacher at the school was well prepared and had a lesson she wanted the kids to complete. But, first we had fun introducing ourselves and had the kids spell their names in Hebrew and English – YES, I can still write Hebrew! They will sit in the same seats tomorrow and hopefully I will get to know their names – the groups I worked with today were all boys – you know how kids tend to group themselves with the teacher askes them to make groups. I don’t expect that in 15 times I am with the youngsters that I will really teach that muck English – but they will get lots of encouragement and building a little more self esteem and be the help in English that they need. I keep saying ‘lo ivit – no Hebrew’ as I want them to speak English as much as possible. And…make sure that they can say ‘rega Rosalie’ (stop Rosalie) when they don’t understand something. We all told about ourselves. They want to see pictures – so lucky that I brought some this time. Tomorrow I will bring potato chips – they pretty much like chips (which are really French fries) so I want to show them the difference. The teacher, Liat – who has been working with the CAARI program for over 10 years – explained how may of the kids are from troubled home – in addition to the low socio-economic status. It is very meaningful to be with them – I gave them all these tiny little erasers that you put at the end of pencils and they were delighted – and so was I! What a fulfilling morning for me!!!!!
After lunch, we went to the Palmach Museum in Tel Aviv and some went to the Eretz Museum (our group is large so we had to split the group and we will do the reverse tomorrow) I had been there before and came out crying this time as this time as well. I think the Palmach and Yad Vashem are the two museums that pack the most emotional punch I have ever experienced. As its name indicates, the Palmach is the story of that special group of young people who were originally organized by the British to help fend off Rommel in Egypt and wound up in the think of the fighting in the War for Independence. Our wonderful guide, Neil, gave us the background before we got to the Museum – his store of knowledge never ceases to amaze me. The Museum is underground and you walk through a series of rooms where the history of the Palmach (1941-1948) is told through dramatic presentation – lasts about 1 ½ hours. Having lived through the birth of the State of Israel, I was so affected – I remember listening to the votes being tallied at the UN and the horrible war that followed patrician. When the State of Israel came into being the Palmach became part of the IDF. The Museum is like no other I have ever been to…..and my sentiments were shared by those I spoke with – a real highlight of a trip to Israel. Although, I should add that I think Israel does museums better than any other - perhaps a slightly prejudiced view......so come and judge for yourselves.
After dinner tonight we will have a speaker, the former editor of the Jerusalem Post – one of the daily English language newspapers – who is on sabbatical to write a book. He will update us on Israel – that should be something – so much going on here.
Continuing to love it here – as it seems to get better each day!
Love you – Stay well!
Rosalie
continuing to love it here.....as it seems to get better each day.
love you......stay well.
Rosalie

January 20 – "Our First Day" - by Anice Stark, Toronto, Canada
Our friendly taxi driver picked us up at 8:30 – he remembered us from last year and knew where to take us. We arrived before 9 AM so we knew to wait for them to open. While we were waiting some kind gentleman stopped to ask what were doing there. We told him we were volunteers for Koach L’Tet. He said they were no longer there, but he didn’t know where they moved. Fortunately, one of our group, Joe Fried, had a cell phone, we called Susan, Susan called Neil, Neil called Nati at Koach and found out that they had moved (Nati forgot to call Neil and Susan to tell them when he spoke to them last week!) Neil quickly came for us and off we went to the new home of Koach in Petah Tikva! It seems to be a larger area, and some of it was set up but there was a mound of clothes to be sorted, so that’s what we began to do with 3 immigrants from Russia, who were also volunteering. We speak English, but we managed to understand what they want us to do. We have lots of work for the next few weeks. This will keep us busy!

Three Different Spellings by Leah Weinkselbaum

(Arlene Sacks and Leah Weinkselbaum from NY)

The Hotel Vista is a "small" hotel, in Eilat, with excellent service! The daily maid service is right up my alley. The dining room staff jumped to all our requests. The reception desk was extremely helpful.

The street signs in Israel have many different spellings - nothing is the same! When we arrived at the hotel we got our room key in an envelope marked - "Welcome CARRI!" There was an electric wall sign when you get off the elevator in the lobby. It says "Welcome CARRY"! By the fourth day, the sign was changed to "Welcome CAARI" group - the correct spelling for Canadian American Active Retirees in Israel.

We know we are CAARI. Susan is our leader on whom we can rely - that is our CAARI song. Yes - we even have a song!

Wishing everyone warm regards from Israel - it is warming up!

Leah

Wednesday - Jan. 16

Picture 1- THE OSTRICH

Picture 2 -The CAARI group visits Eilat's Bird Sanctuary.

Picture 3 - Joe Fried leads CAARI in a walk in the Bird Sanctuary!

Picture 4 - Arlene Sacks holds one of the birds that for ringing.
Picture 5 - Ornithologist, Reuben Josef speaking about the migratory birds.

The weather was even a little chilly for the little birds too!

Jan. 16 - The sun was shining, but temperatures were still chilly on our last day in Eilat. Early in the morning CAARI visited Eilat’s bird sanctuary. We learned about the bird migration and the Eilat environment. All of us were proud of CAARI’s contribution to the area 7 years ago - CAARI planted trees to help rebuild the area. Arnold Stark was there at the time and helped dig the holes and plant over 500 trees “We can’t believe that the little samplings that we planted are now over 6 feet tall. It is wonderful to see that our efforts are so appreciated – and we have made a difference for the wild life and environment in the Eilat area,” said Stark. From there, the group went to the Hai Bar Nature Reserve and drove through the reserve enjoying the mating dance of the ostrich! They put on quite a show for us! Tomorrow we leave for Tel Aviv – here’s hoping that the weather warms up!

Hiking Shehorit Canyon

By Anice Stark – Toronto, Canada
Tuesday, January 15

Our first hike of the 2008 season and as Neil described the hike – “off the road”! We went to the Shehorit Canyon, not far from our hotel. We were bundled in layers, as it is still cold weather. Not everyone came on the hike, those that didn’t go were taken to the Hai Bar Nature Reserve to wait for us. We drove along a dirt road where we were let off to begin our hike. As usual, it was rocky, but level. After a while we reached the first barrier, a low stone wall. With the help – we were able to leap, ok climb over, the wall. More easy walking and in the company of other groups from Birthright, who cheered us on! However, we did need their help at the second stone wall! This one was a little harder, but again with help we were able to do it. The younger crowd over took us and we said good-bye to our new friends. Needless to say, they were impressed with our guts. For me personally, the hardest part was the long walk uphill. The sights were spectacular – colorful rock formations against the blue, blue sky! In the distance, we could see Eilat,

Kibbutzim in the Negev

By Frankie Rose, Toronto, Canada
It’s Monday, January 14, and we are off to the Red Mountain Therapeutic Riding Centre, a JNF project, at Kibbutz Grofit. Little did we know what we would find!
Kathy Shoval, program coordinator, led us through a video that described the program for children and young adults with various developmental physical, emotional and learning disorders, as well as, chronic illnesses and syndromes.
The riding therapy is conducted through the medium of horseback riding where the client is able to experience muscle and joint movement and sensation that they cannot get by any other treatment. The program coordinator is a young woman, originally from Montreal. One of the therapists is a young man, Ami, from Toronto, whose family is heavily involved in the program.
We were able to see one young boy who we were told had progressed noticeable since starting the program. All the riders, not matter the degree of physical impairment mount and ride the horse either independently with side walkers for support or with therapists mounted on the horse and supporting the rider from the back. Volunteers are an integral part of this program.
I was excited to see that such a program (and about 30 others) existed in Israel because I worked to recruit volunteers for a similar agency in Toronto. Having told Kathy that, she let us know that in the fall of 2008 an event planned by the Red Mountain Centre would be held in Toronto. I hope to attend! After the presentation as often happens. We were treated with drinks and sweats (after all – we haven’t had food for 2 hours!)Our next stop was at Kibbutz Ketura where we learned about the Arava Institute their impact on students from the region. Elaine Soloway, an expert in usage of plants for medicinal purposes, took us for a tour of her “garden”. Wow – does she know her plants! We mingled with the students from the Arava Institute and kibbutz for a nice hot lunch (it is still cold, very cold here). This sustained us for our next visit with Ron Bernstein, a member of Kibbutz Yahel. We visited their pomelo fields, tasted the tasty fruit and picked a few ourselves. Great day!!!!

CAARI's Optional Tour to Jordan

Marilyn Oser
Arlene Sacks


On an unusually frigid, windy morning eight adventurous CAARI trekkers set out for a two-day journey into Jordan. Our first bit of excitement was to cross into Jordan just where the 1994 Peace Accords were signed between Rabin and Hussein.

On to Wadi Rum……where Laurence of Arabia was filmed. In ancient 4x4 jeeps we explored the rocky and sandy terrain, discovering beautiful, suttle coloring. We stopped to see the seven pillars of wisdom and view the 2000 year old drawings carved into the rock.

We continued our journey onto Wadi Musa where Moses is said to have struck the rock that produced water for the Israelites. Then we continued a short distance to our hotel for the night. We won’t tell your of our delicious Turkish baths, so you will just have to use your imagination.

Well, it is now next morning and we are on to Petra, the latest seventh wonder of the world. Indeed, it is a wonder and not just because The Temple of Doom was filmed there. It is hard to imagine without actually seeing Petra just how deep and narrow the canyons are; how astonishing the shadings of rock appear; and how spectacular the carved, temples, burial sites, and caves, along with architectural features dug into the rock. Imagine the Grand Canyon without water and you’re walking on the dried river bed. And now image just how long the walk is and how good a camel ride feels. Well, the writers of this blog can tell you firsthand-- but just like the Turkish bath, you will have to ask us.

CAARI arrives in Eilat

Views from Timna with CAARI 2008!

Message written by Anice Stark - Toronto, Canada

Dear Friends,

Here we are in Eilat! We were excited to see familiar faces and meet many new CAARI participants. All 35 of us arrived to a warm reception , but cold weather. Eilat, the warmest part of Israel, has a cold spell. It is windy and cold - even for us Canadians and Americans! All of us packed so carefully - one suitcase for Eilat with light summer summer clothes and now we are rummaging through our suitcases to find the turtlenecks, jackets and sweaters!

The cold has not curtailed our enthusiasm and we are happy to be in Israel. Friday we began the CAARI program with a tour of Timna Park, one of JNF's tourism projects. There have been many changes since we were here last - new areas to view the magnificent rock formations and learn about the ancient copper mining process from Calcolithic times, 6000 years ago. Our day concluded with Shabbat dinner and our traditional singing of songs, led by Noami Halpern.

Many of the group decided to take an optional trip to Petra for one or two days. We are waiting to hear about their experiences in Petra and Wadi Rum. We hope they were prepared for the cold!

Arnold and I have been with CAARI for 14 years - imagine that! We always like to see how the group is coming together - like we have known each other for years. Everyone is enjoying the couple days of rest from our long journey and looking forward to our tours in Eilat this week.

We miss our friends that our not with us. Hope you are following us on the blog. If you have messages, please respond to the blog or write to caarivolunteers@gmail.com Susan and Neil will relay the messages to us!

Warmest (ha, ha) Regards,

Anice and Arnold

Barry and Bev Fluxgold - Toronto, Canada

Greetings!! This is our first time with CAARI and we are impressed with the group and what is planned for the next 8 weeks. Israel is everything that we expected and MORE. We can't believe what we are seeing and the changes that have taken place since we were last here in the 1970's. What was the center of Eilat has expanded to the east and west - new hotels, sea promenade and so many new neighborhoods. Our first CAARI tour was to Timna. We were in awe with the magnificent rock formations every turn of the bus gave us a new perspective. We are looking forward to our visit to Petra and continuing our CAARI tours.

Regards to our friends and family!

Barry and Bev