"Community Service Appreciation Dinner

Appreciation Dinner

Each year we have a dinner to thank the principals, school administrators, teachers, hospital staff and all those that helped make the CAARI community service a success - including a salute to CAARI participants. The CAARI Choral sang original songs, Marilyn and Ron Nefsky wer the MC's, Rosalie Whitehill spoke about her CAARI experience and all enjoy a festive evening. This year Frances Dvorchik, from Canada, was selected the "Volunteer of CAARi 2008. Frances has tutored at Goloumb School for the past four years - and even on her days off she volunteers at the school! Arnold and Anice Stark were recognized for their volunteer efforts to bring CAARI to Canada - 36 Canadians were part of the CAARI program. Enjoy the pictures and video!

Enclosed is a letter from Lea Zaide, Head of Elementary Education in Tel Aviv thanking CAARI.

Letter to CAARI from the Tel Aviv Municipal Department of Education
February 11, 2008
On behalf of the Tel Aviv Municipal Department of Education, I would like to thank you personally for your invaluable assistance in the teaching and support of our pupils at Tel Aviv city schools. Your significant contribution has made considerable inpact, and we believe it is the beginning of what can become a wonderful tradition.
From speaking to the children, and from what we have seen ourselves, it is clear that they have greatly benefited from your educational reinforcement while driving great pleasure from your presence. Of special note are the personal, warm and significant relationships that have been build during your time with them.

We look forward to your next visit.
With our deep appreciation,
Sincerely yours,
Lea Zaide
Head of Elementary Education Department

Community Service

‘A “Our Thoughts” By Henry Olshin

We came back home to Israel – to old and new friends and to old and new smells and tastes. This year Sophie and I tutored English in Balfour Elementary school with 5 other CAARI participants. We were fortunate to be invited to have dinner with a your Israeli family of our of our students. They wanted to meet us and thank us for working with their son. The food was great and conversation ranged from family history to world politics. One of the many highs of our stay was chopping weeds around the olive trees in the JNF forest and helping the foresters to clear this brush. (President Bush should try this on his next trip to Israel). Visiting new museums, art galleries and parks is part of the charm and enjoyment of coming here year after year. L’Hitraot Sophie and Henry

'A Day at Koach L’tet’ by Anice Stark, Nettie Steinman, Joe Fried and Meish Falk
A small group of us work at Koach L’tet. It is our equivalent of Goodwill Industries. This place is one of the many depots for the collection of clothes, furniture, TV’s, computers, etc. Most our work has been in the toy department and shoes.
The other day one of the local volunteers dropped a (literally) mountain of shoes for us to pair – ladies, means, children – shoes, boots, slippers, summer sandals, dress shoes, sneakers – all colors, shapes, and sizes. It took us 3 visit to sort, pair and put into carons. We hope that on our last visit there they won’t be back on the “mountain”. We hope that we have helped sort this merchandise for the needy families that will fill these shoes.
L’hitroat
Anice

Week of Feb. 10 - 15

“Reunion” by Susan Stock, New Jersey
My spirits soared as I spotted the two 13-year-old girls coming into the Hotel Metropolitan lobby. Ketia and Sapir were my students at Tel Nordau Elementary School where I did my CAARI community service two years ago. When I returned to New Jersey, we exchanged letters, greeting cards and small gifts. Now, part of CAARI 2008, I tried to get in touch with them. I had a hard time making telephone contact, but eventually I did! When we got together, we chatted about current activities and future possibilities. Then we said “good night”, but not good-bye.

Week in Review

By Joan and Bernie Hulkower
Week in review – Feb. 3 - 9
Another wonderful week!!
Starting out with our community work, where we’ve become regular participants. When we arrive to our various work assignments (hospitals, schools for a community organization) we are treated as if we have always been there.

The afternoon and evening that we spent with Meir Malka, the original guiding force of CAARI and now the Director of Beit Shemesh Fund, was a most interesting and informative. Meir took us to the center where nursery school children up to teens come to for after school activities and a hot supper in order that their parents can work and support their families. We also visited a sculpture garden donated by the parents of a soldier killed in the Golan. The highlight of the our visit was the Beti Shemesh conservatory, where we were treated to a wonderful concert by 9, 11, 14 & 15 year old students, playing the violin, flute and piano. What talent! The evening was topped off in a Kosher Chinese restaurant.
Another first was our day pruning and clearing olive trees on biblical terraces and a JNF forest called Sataf. What a great job we did pruning, cutting, clearing weeds to help the trees from having their energy taken up by weeds. This was followed by a visit to the Babylonian Museum where we learned about the Iraqi culture and aliyah to Israel.
On another day we visited the Negev community of Sansana where young Israeli families are building homes to settle the Negev in much the same way that their pioneer forefathers did in pre-statehood time. That day we also had a wonderful tour of the Air Force Museum, near Beersheva. It was a beautiful sunny afternoon and many of us were delighted to be able to walk around, unlike a previous visit - in a Negev sandstorm. It was really walking through history as we walked around the display of all the old planes used to fight and protect the State of Israel. We were not only amazed, but proud at the success that the Israelis had in winning wars with such equipment.
We have had many wonderful speakers who have given us much insight into the political situation, the Palestinian conflict, the Winograd Report, plus situation in Gaza with Hamas. We also enjoyed a special talk by the son of a CAARI participant, an American – Israeli soldier, who was in the Second Lebanon War - a visit to the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange. And ….of course, we are always treated to great knowledge and information by Neil, our guide.
There is so much more to say -…but you have to be here. Enjoy the pictures of the week.
Love,
Joan and Bernie

Negev Day

"Our day in the Negev" by Marcia and Ron Bercov - Edmonton, Canada

Dear Family and Friends,

Shalom, from Tel Aviv. Ron and I wanted to share with you our experience with CAARI's day in the Negev. First stop - Haruvit (Carob) Park, has been designed as a park for those that are physically challenged - known as an "inclusive" Park. JNF has been renovating many of its parks and forest area for all to enjoy - whether you are blind, in a wheel chair or have some other physical challenge. Hadassah dedicated this park several years ago to soldiers.
Carob trees, fill the park area - you may know this fruit as 'boxer". The park has paths especially designed for the physically challenged.

From the Park we continued driving south through the Negev. The Negev comprises 60%
of the land of Israel, with a relatively small but growing population. Only in recent years has it become an area for development when the problem of supplying water was solved. Our group toured a new community called Sansana, settled by young families who are in the process of building new homes to replace the trailers they started out with.
The Jewish National Fund's Blueprint Negev project plans to develop this area, bringing people and facilities to the desert area. With rail transportation, people can work in Tel Aviv and live
in Beersheva, in the heart of the Negev, making the trip in an hour, not much different from some city commutes.
What more, you ask? Well, with 12 minutes left at this computer, only the Air Force Museum and a Yemenite dinner! We saw bombs, missiles and planes, each with its own special story, and watched a film about the Israeli Air Force while seated (in economy class) in a huge plane.
And as for the dinner, it was authentic and delicious, homecooked, with flat bread just out of the oven.
So, this is all for the moment. But stay tuned for
more...
Hoping this finds you well.
Shalom and best wishes,
Marcia and Ron

CAARI's Super Tuesday

CAARI’s Super Tuesday by Rosalie Whitehill
Tuesday is our program's Forest Day...when we do something related to JNF forestry in Israel, not really one of my favorite activities, but I am always interested in what JNF is doing...as it is so much more than trees and so very inspiring. Well, weather wise, things couldn't be better.... short sleeves again for most of the day...it felt like 70.... and even though we went to the Sataf forest near Jerusalem...it was just as warm there. I walked with the group about a mile down to where they would prune olive trees, and clear weeds from around the base of the trees, but because getting to the trees required walking on rocky, hilly ground, I opted just to wait while the real work was done...but it was pleasant and I was happy...especially when a group of school kids came by. The group must have pruned over 50 olive trees located on the biblical terraces – they couldn’t have been happier and so was the JNF forester who worked with us. He kept thanking the group for their help. I don’t think he thought they were capable of doing so much work!
We had a really fine picnic lunch...bagels.... with whatever salad you chose...and cookies home-made by our coordinator, Susan, and the best clementines ever...and the weather was perfect...we ate at some tables on a hill looking out toward other hills around Jerusalem.... you can just imagine what a happy time that was for me!!
After the picnic, we headed to a town called Or Yehuda... located between Lod (Ben Gurion airport)...to a museum that was listed in our activity schedule as “Babylonian Museum”...I had no idea what to expect...and it turned out to be a GEM...completely exceeding any expectation I might have had...and we had a guide whose knowledge and charm made our visit even more enjoyable.........you know I love Israeli museums. And this one did NOT disappoint...it depicts in huge dioramas and displays the Babylonian culture from the time of the Diaspora through the time when the country became part of Iraq and the huge wave of immigration back to Israel in 1951-2...it is meant to give young people of Iraqi descent a sense of their history and culture. As someone whose experiences are limited to mostly Ashkenazi customs, I found the materials and information ...about the culture with Muslim influence so fascinating. I felt like I wanted to hang on to every word she said, and wanted more, more, and more. I loved seeing how they celebrated the Jewish holidays, the important events in a Jewish life...and the museum even contained a small reconstruction of the main synagogue of Baghdad. It was truly one of the most interesting places I have visited here, and part of the CAARI group's attempt to take us to unusual places...it was incredible to find this little treasure located in a small town of which I had never heard.
And so it was really a SUPER Tuesday for me...and I hope I will still feel happy when I see the primary results.
Tomorrow, we are heading south to the Negev. I checked the weather and it is scheduled to be another glorious day...I am almost bursting with happiness, being here ...and each day gets better.... or have I said that before.
Stay well,
Love you all
Rosalie

My view - by Bev Fluxgold

Bev Fluxgold - Toronto, Canada
It has taken me a while to be able to put my thoughts into words. It was always a given that I loved Israel unreservedly. But it just came to me that I feel safe here. This may seem strange because my head tells me there are dangers, but safe is what I feel..
A sense of pride swells within me when I see all the accomplishments that have been made by my fellow Jews. This is something I can not feel anywhere else in this world.
Yesterday it all came to a head when we visited Bet Shemesh. A town of about 80,000 situated between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. We viewed the ruins of the ancient city and then went to an after school program for children whose ages run from preschool to teens. This program enables their parents to work while their children are being well looked after.
The teens have a nutritious meal that they have learned to prepare themselves. They are given help with their homework, and the attention they may lack at home.
There is an equipped computer room and they are in the midst of setting up a library.
From there we went to a sculpture garden that was tucked away in the middle of a residential district. This garden was the on a piece of property donated to Bet Shemesh by the husband and wife sculptures. In the centre of the garden was a sculpture depicting a ladder (like Jacob ascending to heaven.) The garden was dedicated to the memory of their son who had died in the Lebanon war. Not 27 virgins, but the beauty that came from their hands.
We'll I thought this must be it, but from there we were taken to a conservatory of music. What a treat. The children put on a concert for us. The culmination was a brother and sister team. She on violin he on piano. Someday I'm sure we will see them in our concert halls.
As we observed Bet Shemish is very diverse. Ethiopians.Russians, Orthodox, Ultra Orthodox. I'm sure it isn't perfect, but a great effort is going into making it work.