Leket Project - Picking Fruit for the Needy

We have had another busy week - working in the morning at our community service places, returning to the hotel for lunch and back out in the afternoon. The weather has been delightful and we are relishing being outdoors - especially when we hear about the storms in the mid-west, east coast and cold temperatures in Canada.

For the past 5 years, one of CAARI's projects was to spend an afternoon picking fruit at a local orchard for an non - profit organization called, Leket Israel, formerly known as Table to Table. They distribute surplus food to the needy that would otherwise be discarded to. Over 60 tons of food per week is transferred to 180 soup kitchens, homeless shelters, senior centers and other social service organizations around Israel.

Our task was to pick oranges - and pick we did - over 2220 pounds of oranges! Boy, were the Leket Staff impressed!

Warm wishes,

CAARI 2010

Forest Day Adventure by Marcia Bercov

Hello,

Back to the work clothes again. Yesterday we put on our grubbies and headed off to Sataf Forest to prune olive trees and rebuild part of a stone wall. Finding rocks all over the ground, we filled bucket after bucket of assorted sizes to use as "backfill" for the wall, while Jamil, experienced wall builder, put the large stones in place. Hard work, but very satisfying, especially after seeing the result. After a morning like that everyone felt very happy to leave for Kibbutz Tsorah for lunch and more. In addition to delicious quiches and salad, the lunch included cheeses and bread both made on the kibbutz. But, wait, there's more. The Kibbutz also has a boutique winery, and lunch included wine tasting. The grapes come from three different nearby areas, and last year the winery produced ice wine! Yes, and without that inconvenient winter season. The grapes were picked and put into the freezer and the wine produced at a later time.
The weather has been warm and sunny in Tel Aviv. Hoping this finds you warm and well.
Best wishes and shalom,
Marcia and Ron

Feb. 8 - Ancient Lod Community Service Project & CAARI By Marcia Bercov

Greetings from sunny Tel Aviv,

On Monday our CAARI group dressed in work clothes to travel, for our first time, to Lod to do some clean-up at an archaeological site. There we met our host Yuval Gadot, Professor of Archaeology at Tel Aviv University to learn about a new concept, Community Archaeology. This brings together children from many kinds of schools in the area - Arab, Bedouin, and Jewish - to clean up sites, dig, and collect artifacts as they learn about the past, while at the same time forming new friendships.
Lod is an ancient city and has been occupied continuously, with one civilization after another. At one time it became a Christian city, and tradition says St. George was born there, and he is buried at St. George's Greek Orthodox Church in the city. But back in the mid 8th century, Lod was a capital city, until Crusaders moved the capital to Jerusalem. Today Lod is home to many Ethiopian Jews. Well, getting back to the work clothes, our group started the not so glamorous, but necessary task of literally cleaning up an enclosed area called the Khan, an inn where people who travelled in caravans stopped for rest. Here, excavations have uncovered more levels of civilization. School children will visit the site and in time continue the work. Coincidentally, while our group was taking a lunch break inside the Khan, a class of children aged around 10 or 11 actually came inside with their teacher and a young lady who was doing a year of volunteer service. This is part of the effort to bring community pride and teach the residents about the history of their amazing city.

Shalom and Warm Wishes,

Marcia and Ron

Feb. 7 -IDF Museum by Marcia Bercov

Shalom,

Today, after the morning community service, our group went to visit the IDF Collection House, actually the Museum of History of the IDF, Israel Defense Forces. It started as a depot for collection of tanks and weapons, and now comprises several buildings, for example, one with glass cases of rifles, and another building with walls of photographs of Ministers of Defense and Chiefs of Staff, along with a large number of gifts given by other governments. The museum also has cars used by former Prime Ministers.
That evening, a special guest, Kurt Hoyer, came to speak to our group. He works as a communications officer at the American Embassy in Tel Aviv. Finally I learned what people do inside those big buildings! It's a lot...

Keeping in touch,

Ron and Marcia

Visit to Ancient Ports - Caesarea and Dor by Marcia

Shalom,

We boarded a bus for a day tour to Caesarea, a city built by Herod. We learned that this eastern coast of the Mediterranean was lacking in natural ports, so Herod built the port as well, an incredible feat of engineering especially considering the technology of the times. The city served as an administrative capital for Rome for many years.
Then we visited Dor Beach and Museum, located in an area rich with artifacts from sunken ships.
Our guide, Kurt Raveh, expert in Underwater Archaeology, had previously come to Tel Aviv to talk about this fascinating subject, and now our group had the opportunity to see firsthand what he told us about. He explained how shifting sands protected sunken ships and their contents by providing an airtight seal. Divers discovered clay pots, ancient glass and other items buried with the ships. One wall of the museum held anchors, from the earliest primitive chisled stone with a hole through the top, to those used 100 or more years ago, showing the change in shape and materials.
Afterward some of our group walked along a beach covered with shells and climbed a hill to Tel Dor, where ancient cities have yet to be dug. By this time, the sunny, warm days earlier during the week had given way to winter storms with rain and very strong winds, making the climb a real challenge. The sea, whipped by the winds, made huge waves which crashed onto the shore. Our brave climbing party walked against the wind down the hill and felt very happy to get back to the warm bus! We did stop for dinner at the wonderful Port Cafe with view of the crashing sea.
All for now. Sending best wishes from Israel.
Shabbat Shalom.
Marcia and Ron