Rained out Forest Day - Visit to Jerusalem for the Day

This post is written by Rosalie Whitehill - New York

Today, Tuesday, was supposed to be our forest day.....but since it was scheduled to rain, our coordinators changed plans and we went to Jerusalem for most of the day....There we went to the headquarters of the JNF and it was interesting to note that they have books of contributors from 1901.....the beginning of JNF.....and they also had a display of the blue and white boxes...that we used to take around as kids.....asking for pennies and nickels to help buy trees in Palestine......before there was an Israel. It took many of us back to our childhoods....After that we had a very beautiful little ceremony where a grove of trees was presented to a Anice and Arnold Stark, a couple from Canada for all they do for JNF....Guess what.....I cried.

Then we went to the old city....where they have a new Jaffa Gate Plaza which goes over the road....and from which you can get the new Mamilla Mall....very, very upscale and pricey.
This city just keeps making improvements and there was building going on inside the Jaffa Gate as well....We had lunch in a charming beautifully renovated house run by a women who has spearheaded a movement for Arab woman, Nora, to assert their rights....and where they are involved in crafts so that they can become more independent. also very impressive..then a walk to get a magnificent view of the city from atop a convent.
In the late afternoon, our speaker was a counsellor from the Canadian Embassy......who was so very intelligent, articulate and well-qualified for her position....that she made the Canadians very proud, while many Americans....like me......wish we had people in our state dept. or embassies who could speak so well and cared so much about Israel. (they might care about Israel, but I have never heard so much support from a non-Jew with so much compassion and understanding)

So that brings me to the end of another GREAT day with my CAARI friends. Every year the program is better than the year before....and we are so busy.....no time for bridge. I AM LOVING IT!!!!

Wishing you all well,
Rosalie

New Arrivals - CAARI tours Negev

Shalom,
The CAARI beat goes on! Sadly, we said l'hitriot (goodbye) to some of our CAARI friends who joined us for the first three weeks. Happily we greeted 13 new participants who joined the group. Our first day together was a touring day in the Negev. We visited Kibbutz Negba and met Meir who described the early days of the kibbutz and their efforts to turn back the Egyptians in the War of Independence. The impressive sculpture by Natan Rappaport overlooks the kibbutz's military cemetery. We also got to see some of the weapons that were used in the war. From there we traveled to Kibbutz Yad Mordechai which also fought against the Egyptian Army but tragically lost the fight after 6 days. We can only admire the soldiers who fought in these battles. After a little lunch we headed south, stopping the JNF Canadian reserviors at Nir Am where Neil described our view with Gaza in the distance. We continued driving south, stopping at a lookout and hillside to view Gaza and the Israeli communities along the border. This certainly gave us a new perspective of the area. Our final stop was the fabulous JNF-USA indoor playground in Sderot! Wow! We were there 2 years ago - it wasn't quite finished and now - a wonderful, safe place for the children to play!

CAARI 2011

Our days- Wednesday and Thursday - 26- 27 Jan.

Ah, what a few days we have had. The weather has been superb! Our community service work continues every morning. During lunch at the hotel we talk about our morning experiences ... what the kids did ..what happened in rehab.. we all have something to say. Usually Susan comes in to say...time to go and we begin our afternoon touring adventures. On Wednesday we had a special treat. None of us really knew what to expect, except that we were going to Beit Guvrin. What was that? On the bus and off we went. The same for Thursday - we were going to Israel Aircraft Industries - would that be boring? Here is Rosalie's Whitehill's description of these 2 days!

"Wednesday was another marvelous day with the students....singing songs, chatting and laughing.....and they are so happy, their smiles and cheery thank you are priceless.

In the afternoon, we went by bus to Bet Guvrin....close to Jerusalem again....where we had an archeologist guide take us through some caves on Tel Maresha....we saw some caves that had what appeared to be pigeon cubbies cut into them, and then some bell shaped caves that were absolutely beautiful.....huge and colorful striations....and after that we went to the Valley of Ella, where the battle of David and Goliath took place....and our guide read from the bible as we were standing there. In the evening we had a speaker from the IDF - he is in public relations - now that is a challenging position!

Yesterday, Thursday, after school, we visited the Israel Aircraft Industry plant near the airport......saw many different models of drones that are developed by Israel for the rest of the world......also saw Gulfstream business jets that are built here before being sent to U.S. for glamorous finishing touches. Israeli technology and expertise in developing new products is awe-inspiring. "

Friday was a FREE day and the group enjoyed a variety of activities, some went to the symphony, others a museum, others shopped at the crafts market - it was a lovely day to enjoy the sunshine and warm temperatures. A group went to a neighborhood synagogue for a wonderful Shabbat service - what a way to welcome Shabbat. Dinner back at the hotel followed by the Oneg Shabbat.
Shabbat Shalom to all.
CAARI 2011

Forest Day, folkdancing and more.....

Shalom,

Another wonderful day - worked in forest rebuilding ancient terraces and trimming olive trees.

Lunch at great restaurant in Kibbutz Tzora - Cafe Margo. Learned about spices at Tavlin. Danced with Sara and Micha. What a day! Will write more later, but wanted you to see the pictures!

CAARI 2011

CAARI picks fruit for Project Leket

Shalom,
Another busy CAARI day and a great way to start the week. First of all the sun is shining and we love walking out of our hotel, looking to the right, for a view of the blue Mediterranean Sea! Our day started, of course, with breakfast and conversation about what we did over Shabbat! Some of us visited with family and friends, others went to shul, others went to the dancing along the board walk and others just rested!
All of us leave for our community service work in taxis in groups of 2 -4 people departing the hotel from 7:30 - 8:30. The children are so excited to see us and we are excited to see them. We feel we are making connections with them and see the progress in the their English conversation. Each of us has a different experience that we share with the group over our next meal - lunch - back at the hotel.
This afternoon we drove to an orchard in Rehovet to 'glean'. And...glean we did - we picked over 200 pounds of clementines. We were assigned to finish picking one of the fields. Not such an easy job picking fruit - you have to gently turn the clementine so not to damage the stem. MMMMMMMM - some of the damged fruits had to be eaten by us - pretty sweet and tasty! We did a 'mitzva' today! Natalie and Ron thanked us for our hard work - they were surprised that we were able to pick that much fruit - and they gave us all T-shirts - which we shall proudly wear!
Our evening activing was a speaker, Nicki Maor, from the Israel Religious Action Committee. She brought us up-to-date on the conversion issues which has been controversal here in Israel and the States and Canada.
Another great day! Tomorrow - a day in the JNF forest.
Shalom,
CAARI 2011