January 15- 17

“My Travels” by Rosalie Whitehill
Dear All,
Well, Thursday here was another great day - sensational weather - warm, sunny and a fine walk to and from school for me. In the afternoon we visited the Yemenite Heritage Experience Museum in Rosh Ha’yin, near Tel Aviv. It was the place where the Yemenite Jews were first taken when they arrived as part of the ‘Magic Carpet Operation’ in 1948-1950. It was an immigration center, and the Yemenites were then supposed to leave and become part of the Israeli population throughout the country. However, some of you may remember as I do, that the Yemenites had a difficult times - many Ashkenazi Jews discriminated against them, and so did the Arabs. Many returned to Rosh Ha’yin which became pretty much a Yemenite community.

We had another marvelous guide through the history of the community in a building that was built by the British and later became a school. We learned about their customs and traditions. Some of us were dressed in typical Yemenite wedding garb for some good photo ops. I keep having new, fascinating, and wonderful experiences here.
Friday afaternoon, I met one of my former students at the Pizza place. I also saw several kids - one little girl with her father who knew of Long Island. - he had been to Syosset!!! My young ‘boyfriend’ from last year came and was all smiles and hugs. He showed me where on the sidewalk they were selling puppies.....and the little park where there was a small band playing Beatle music, and then walked with me almost as far as back to my hotel. His English is a bit better than last year. I gave him my cell phone number, and later last nite, his mom called and invited me over for Saturday night.
Friday night, I went to services, had Shabbat dinner with the group, attended the Oneg for a while and then left for a Chava Silberstein concert at 10 p.m. at the Tel Aviv Museum theater. That was a real treat - she is a performer who seems to hold the audience in the palm of her hands. She sang one song in English, 3 in Yiddish and the rest in Hebrew.
Saturday, I folk danced on the Tayelet.....the weather was overcast, walked with another friend to the Rubin Museum - .Rubin, the Tel Aviv artist's home.
Guess you can tell, I am having a wonderful and exciting time!!!
Love to all,
Rosalie

Susan Stock (New York) " My Thoughts" including the IAI visit - Monday - January 19

Susan Stock (New York) " My Thoughts" including the IAI visit

I know that others have written on this subject, but I needed to add my 2 shekels. You won't see any pictures of this visit, as you can imagine that this facility is sensitive. However, you will see a few of my pictures on various other days - along with my fellow CAARI travelers!

We walked through a huge hanger/warehouse at the Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI) facility filled with all shapes and sizes of UAV's. We were astonished at this various aircraft in varying stages of readiness to be delivered to customers around the world. We observed 2 group of men in white lab coats clustered around 2 air crafts. We were hold these people were being trained to use the equipment. What pride we felt observing these high tech devices. As Anice Stark from Canada said - "Our coordinator, Susan Horwitz, and guide, Neil Eisenstadt, are always looking for new and exciting places for us to see. They came up with a good one – Israel Aircraft Industries!"

In addition to touring, I work in the mornings at one of the local elementary schools, which means I get to walk to work!!! It takes about 20 minutes, down Allenby Street. So...there I am with all the other Israelis going to work. This school has a different approach than some of the schools I have previously volunteered. They want to expose many students to an "English speaker" so each class is a different group of students with various levels of English. The other day we wrote to a letter to congratulate President Obama. I was impressed with their knowledge of what is happening in the USA - with the Obamas and that the two daughters want a dog! They wrote him that they want peace not only for Israel, but the world!

Love to family and friends,

Susan Stock

(Small world - Susan Horwitz, our coordinator, and I have something in common - we both have sisters that are involved with Etz Hadar Congregation in Redlands, CA - this is a small Jewish world!

by Joan and Bernie Hulkower - "Our Travels" - January 19-20

Forest Work and Touring by Joan and Bernie Hulkower (Long Island)
It has been a very busy week and we have 3 days to go!

Sunday after community work, we drove to the Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) facility. Israel Aerospace Industries, employing 16,000 workers, is globally recognized as a leader in developing military and commercial aerospace technology. We had a terrific tour and learned so much about one of Israel’s leading industries. We were fascinated by the UAV’s unmanned aerial vehicles – of all sizes and shapes. They range from one (1) pound to 500 tons! One of the uses of the UAV’s is that they allow military ground forces, to see via cameras, what is going on the ground. In addition to the UAV’s, IAI converts passenger planes to cargo planes, as well as many other aerospace functions. I think each of us felt as sense of pride in the accomplishments of this Israeli company.
Today, Tuesday, January 20, we spent our morning in the Canadian Ayalon Forest. As usual, we were quite productive – we pruned trees, shlepped the cuttings, snacked on oranges, had a tour of the Roman Springs and heard the history of this special area. After…picnicked on tasty sandwiches - the weather was sunny and in the 70's!

Two volunteers (Moaz and Eyal) from KKL were are guides for the morning. They said that they couldn’t believe how much work we accomplished. They said that the other day some IDF soldiers volunteered in the forest and these 18 year olds didn’t do half the work that we did – maybe at our age we are more experienced? Moaz and Eyal have volunteered to perform community service work before going into the army. They have elected to do this and requested to work in something that dealt with the environment and nature. We are always amazed at young Israelis and their commitment to Israel and the sense of pride in the country.
Then on to the museum in Rishon L’zion, the first town in Palestine inhabited by 17 families from Russia and the Ukraine in 1882. Today, it is the 4th largest city in Israel. The museum was a wonderful walk through history and we could envision life of the early pioneers.
We ended our day with an early dinner in order to watch history in action – the Inauguration of President Obama. An exciting time and day!

"Our Tour"- January 14, & 15 by Rosalie Whitehill and the Starks

Email from Rosalie Whitehill - New York
Shalom to all of you. As you know many of you receive my daily emails, but I wanted to share this with all those who read our wonderful blog!
I must tell you the best part first this morning was my first day back at the school where I have been the past 3 years. The kids were so happy to see me - smiles bigger than last year and one girl even brought in a little gift for me. Last year one of my groups - 5 boys was a bit difficult - but they always said thanks and seemed happy when leaving. I guess the special attention they got meant something.

This morning, I cringed a little when the 5 returned together, but they were much better with much more smiling during the period and they followed instructions so well. I was a bit surprised. Since I work with them in the teachers' room, another teacher had come in for the last part of our time together. When the boys left she remarked about their good behavior, as she knew them and that really made me feel marvelous. They politely said “thank you” and smiles as they left is just something that can't be bought - and that's a big part of why I am here.
The other great part - feeding my Jewish neshama (soul)....was administered a huge dose of nourishment by yesterday afternoon's program. Our schedule called for a tour of Tel Aviv. I really thought of skipping it, having spent so much time here on my own before I joined CAARI. I had not gone to Independence Hall in many years, I thought I would try that part and maybe leave the group since it was on Rothschild Blvd. and Brenner's great chocolates are on that street. So, I went. And, as usual with stuff here in Israel, the presentation surpassed my greatest expectations.
Independence Hall, the house that used to be the home of Meir Dizengoff, the first mayor of Tel Aviv, houses the room where Ben Gurion first declared the existence of a Jewish state - in 1948. Before we visited that special room we were treated to a film about the 66 settlers who started Tel Aviv 100 years ago this April and the life of Dizengoff.
Then we went into a room that looked like it could hold 100 people and were told that 400 people crowded into in for Ben Gurion's historic announcement. The man who spoke to us was about as good as one could be. His presentation was humorous, intelligent, and for me so touching. Before long, I was in tears and listened to most of his lecture with tears in my eyes.
Part of my emotional response was because there were about 30-40 birthright kids sitting behind us old folks and he talked to them of what their grandparents had done to help the fledgling state of Israel. The kids on the birthright trip were mesmerized with the story of the birth of Israel and the ensuing War for Independence. The ones I spoke with were from Denver and Ohio. I think I will never stop becoming emotional when someone discusses Israel's beginning. I know many of you remember, as I do, listening to the radio as the U.N. reps voted.
Coming out of the hall, we met a LARGE group of Gentile tourists from Texas and Arizona and some of them had been to Israel before. Need I had that both groups were having a wonderful time.....as we were.
We then took a bus tour through part of the newly renovated German Colony in Tel Aviv and stopped at Rabin Square. We were treated to frozen yogurt sundaes at a new Israeli frozen yogurt place nearby.
After dinner last night we had a terrific speaker, Amotz Asa-El, a journalist with the Jerusalem Post, who spoke with us about Gaza, the attack, which had been over a year in planning, and how Israel had caught Hamas by surprise. Israel is using all they learned in Lebanon and are determined to cut out Hamas' ability to launch rockets and missiles. The country is really behind the effort......no peace demonstrations yet, peace will come when the rockets cease!!!! It was a wonderful evening and I enjoyed the Q and A almost as much as the talk. - every question was answered forthrightly and intelligently.
And now, back to today. We have just returned from a few hours of orange picking sponsored by Table to Table (M'shulchan l'shulchan) which picks fruit and then delivers its products to food pantries for delivery to poor and hungry people. About a dozen of us picked about 1000 kilos - 1 ton!
Tomorrow we head to Meggido with an archeologist.....and since I haven't been there in a long time, I anticipate another good day - .and then of course Shabbat - when the whole city slows down, shops close, buses and cars are rare and people are seen carrying their flowers for their special Shabbat dinners.
I shall go to shul before our dinner, then we have a fun Oneg, with lots of singing.....and then Saturday.......dancing on the tayelet (boardwalk)
My cup runneth over with joy!!!
Shabbat shalom

Love,
Rosalie

Shalom from Tel Aviv – Anice and Arnold Stark – Toronto, Canada
As we come to our first Shabbat in Israel, I am always in wonder of how the cities and people welcome the Shabbat. It doesn’t matter if you are religious or not, “Shabbat Shalom” is heard all day as people get together.
Most of us have gotten over our jet lag and starting into the routine of our weeks here. Both of us are helping tutor English in schools – Arnold is in Bal Shem Tov. We have been tutoring in this school for over 10 years and teacher and students warmly great us. In fact, the former teacher, Fania, who is now retired, visited the CAARI group. What a wonderful and special surprise for them. I am also at a school called Golumb. My first day went well; the children are better in English than I expected. (Frances, you did a good job)
We have also been busy touring. It was wonderful seeing all the tourists at Independence Hall – we never fail to be moved by Ben Gurion’s words as he proclaims the Jewish State – Israel! At the end we are rise to sing Hatikva.
It is calm and quiet in Tel Aviv, people going about their business as normal. Of course, we all watch and read the news.
A special “hello” to Bev in Winnipeg – we do wish you were here with us.
Spent a great day at Meggido, tho it was a windy and cold. Some of us had been there before, but we still learned and saw many new things as it is an on-going archeology site. We were fortunate to have Norma Franklin as our guide as she has been digging there for many years.
Another highlight came on Thursday when we picked oranges to be distributed to food banks. The trees were full of fruit and we were the first group to pick the oranges from this particular field. A lawyer owns the land and he donates all the crops to food banks. We were asked to “glean”. We picked the fruit from the top to the bottom of the tree – not so easy to reach the top and clean the tree of all the fruit. Success – we picked 30 containers – 1000 kilos or 1 ton! Not bad for “active” seniors!

Shabbat Shalom,

Anice and Arnold Stark

"Our Thoughts" by Marion and Paul Silberman (New York)
How delightful it is to be in Israel again. We feel perfectly safe in Tel Aviv. We’ve already walked on the Tayelet (Promenade) along side the beautiful sea. The is sunny and balmy. We have a most intense and emotional experience re-visiting Independence Hall. A Birthright group was there, joining with our group, and we enjoyed talking to the young people and were moved by their very positive response to the presentation and to Israel On our way out a Christian group was entering and we expressed our appreciation for their love and advocacy on Israel’s behalf. We then toured a historic part of Tel Aviv and Rabin Square. We ended the day being treated to delicious “low calorie” yogurt enhanced by hot fudge! YUM!! In the evening, Amotz Asa El, a journalist and former editor of the Jerusalem Post, presented a most informative and interesting analyses of the situation in Gaza, as well as the political outlook in Israel with the upcoming elections. We feel very fortunate to be here at this time.
Enjoy some pictures of our day!
Love to all our family and friends.
Paul and Marion

Message from CAARI's Guide serving in the IDF

MESSAGE FROM NEIL EISENSTADT
Dear CAARI Participants,
Thank you for coming on the 26th continuous CAARI program - the only program for Active Retirees in Israel. It is heart warming to see so many of you that chose to show your support by visiting and contributing to Israel in Israel.
You may have noticed that there is another guide named Rafi that is filling in for me? I serve in a reserve Paratroop Brigade that was called up during the night of 3 January a short while after the IDF began a ground offensive in wake of a surprise bombing that killed over 300 Hamas military officers in the central stadium in Gaza.

Since I have been called up we have entered a period of training. It is winter and very cold. Many items have been donated like warm polyester thermal undershirts and sox and underwear, as well as heating for the tents that we are sleeping in.
We have had several visits by well know public figures, President Shimon Peres visited us on Monday and yesterday the Chief Rabbi of Israel Rabbi Amer visited us, as well as a number of generals. The defense minister was present at one of our exercises and this past Shabbat, Parashat VaYehi, the Chief IDF Rabbi was with us for a special Friday night meal in a tent that housed the entire Battalion about 400 soldiers. Since a brigade is made up of 4 battalions we had 4 different dinner times so that the Rabbi could speak at every soldier’s dinner.

We have had a very interesting training period where we train with soldiers in their obligatory service as well. Two of the four battalions are already inside Gaza and have been photographed in the Israeli newspapers.
There are a few characteristics that have defined this was: (1) total deception. The Hamas was totally surprised at the timing of the attack. The Israeli newspapers spoke of a cabinet meeting on 28 December to decide what to do and on Saturday morning the IAF went into action and began this carefully planned operation. Another deceptive (2) move was the use of ground troops. The newspapers were talking about the government decision whether to use ground forces or not and the Hamas was surprised by the tremendous intensity of the firepower. Everybody was afraid that putting IDF troops in Gaza would not be effective but the exact opposite seems to be true. The launching areas are the periphery not in the middle of the cities. The IDF has also moved against the tunnels to try and stop the flow of Iranian weapons into the Gaza strip and there are rumors which have proven to be false so far that Shalit, the POW has been found.

What is sure is not what is in the paper but that the Iranians see the massive use of firepower AND bombs dropping from planes over Gaza that will be their fate as well. This is something that after the Lebanon war in 2006 was something that the enemy did not think Israel would resort to. This is the IDF's attempt to reestablish a deterrent.

I do not know when this will end. But when it does I will be back as the guide for CAARI and the assistant director together with Susan.

Warmest Regards,

Nahum (Neil) Eisenstadt

Bruchim Habaim - Welcome

CAARI arrives in Israel
Tuesday evening, January 13, the first group of CAARI participants arrived in Israel for CAARI 2009 - in its 26th continuous year. This year 35 participants will be participating in the program over the 7-week period. It is a pretty even split between Canadians and Americans who came from New York, New Jersey, California, Oregan, Toronto, Winnipeg, Edmonton and Montreal to enjoy the warmer temperatures (we see the temperatures in Canada and the East Coast) and sunny blue skies. The CAARI family has been here – through the Gulf War, Intifada and now the Gaza Situation. Israelis, from the hotel staff to the local shop owners to school administrators, students and community workers, have warmly welcomed CAARI and thanked them for being here at this time.

These are difficult days for Israel. The country and CAARI feels the pain of those who live in the south that face the reality and possibility of daily (hourly) rocket attacks. And…for our soldiers who are risking their lives to protect Israel for all of us – here and in the Diaspora – we thank you. One of these soldiers is our guide – Neil Eisenstadt. See his story below as he reports from his training center in the Negev. Susan Stock, spoke to a friend in Arad told her yesterday – this is the time to be in Israel – you see the country united. So…may I present CAARI 2009 and their travel log over the next few weeks.