Tuesday, Jan. 24 by The Wassermans & Whitehill

By Sandy and Mel Wasserman
Shalom! An amazing day today! We went to the JNF (KKL, Keren Kayemeth L'Yisrael) Park Canada forest and pruned trees! The forest is beautiful... not just trees. Made up of hills and valleys, it contains a lake, and picnic areas, and hiking trails... even SHEEP walking through! (Shepherds are invited to bring their flocks so that the grass can remain at a reasonable height) Our jobs were to use either saws or large pruning shears to trim and prune, starting from the ground up, to about 5 feet high. This winter pruning will hopefully prevent fires in the summer. We pruned for @ an hour and a half, stopped for a tea break (tea boiled on the site on a propane tank/stove, with sage and za'atar - YUM,) then worked some more. The sun was out, and it was glorious, as we stripped off layer after layer of jackets and sweaters. Next we drove around, saw more of the hills and valleys, passed the city of Modi'in, a booming new city populated by many Americans, Canadians, Brits. We stopped for a picnic lunch in an area with tables and benches, and even a swing. This KKL-JNF Park, funded and financed by Canadian money, used to be 4 Arab villages before the 6 day war.
We are BUSSSSSY! And loving it.
L'hitroa'ot,SANDY & MEL

by Rosalie Whitehill - Our speaker on Underwater Archeology, Kurt Raveh was fascinating. Never thought about it much......but, as he put it, if there were but one shipwreck a year in the ancient ports of Israel....that could mean as many as 5,000 ships buried in the sand around each port with myriad treasures waiting to be found......and in the film he showed, I realized we had with us, the Jacques Cousteau of Israel.

Monday, Jan. 23 - "Our Day" by Rosalie Whitehill

Shalom,

It's Monday night here....and everything just seems to get better each year! We started going to our schools yesterday....and it was another new experience for me...I am working with 3rd graders this year (before I had groups of 4th, 5th and 6th graders, who were in at least their second year of learning English)...and understand VERY little English.....but they are anxious to learn.....and the little bit of Hebrew that I know helps. Today was our second day at school and the warmth of the youngsters smiles just add to my joy in being with them IN ISRAEL!!! This afternoon our group went to the Rabin Center ....my 3rd visit....and the best so far. I had been there before it was completed and open to the public, and we had more time this year than last.....and without seeing every item of interest, almost 3 hours flew by!!!! Tonite, after dinner, we had a folk dancing session at the hotel, with the same woman who runs the Saturday sessions on the boardwalk....fun, fun fun! Love you all.....and leilah tov! Rosalie PS - Also forgot to mention yesterday how truly awesome the Rabin Center is.....the museums here are the most creative and technologically advanced I have ever visited......and the results of Israeli planning are mind-boggling.....walking along the telling of Rabin's life concurrent with the life of Israel was fascinating......nothing I am capable of writing could do it justice.....and I think that may be the case with many of the places here in Eretz Yisroel

Dancing with the CAARI Stars!

Community Service begins and much more by Sandy & Mel Wasserman!

Dear Family and Friends,
Today begins the first day of community service with CAARI participants filled with much anticipation! Taxis were there to bring everyone to their assignments. The past CAARI participants returned to their former assignments and were happy to see the smiles and greetings from the school administrators, children and the hospital staff. The new participants quickly got into the routine - ole pros!
From Mel and Sandy's blog: "...we returned to the hotel for lunch, then went on a tour- visited Independence Hall, the place where the State of Israel was declared a nation by David Ben Gurion on May 14, 1948. (It took place in Tel Aviv and not Jerusalem because Jerusalem was under siege!) A select 350 people had been invited to gather at 3:30 for a thirty two minute ceremony at 4 PM for this declaration on that date. Our guide told us, that of course one person told another, and many, many, more people showed up! Independence Hall and the sounds of that taped ceremony were very moving. The young woman who spoke to us about Independence Hall and its history, was a terrific spokesperson for Israel; her parents are Holocaust survivors, and she herself has three sons, two of whom are currently in the army defending the State. She was born in Israel, a sabra, and served as an officer in the air force. When this tour was over, a group of us thought we'd get some air, and since the afternoon was mild, we took a walk along Dizengoff Blvd, winding up at a most fantastic 3 level health food store with bulk nuts and fruits and grains, tahini and hummus from many nations, and a zillion other organic varieties of items like this that we buy at home. Ah, bliss!
After dinner, we listened to a most amazing lecture by Bar Ilan University Professor Mordechai Kedar. Professor Kedar's specialty is Arabic Studies; his detailed lecture was about the Shi'ites and the Sunis, and it informed us about the long history and influence of that history on the Middle East today. One of our program participants remarked that he believed we'd heard things most Americans, possibly even members of the State Dept may not understand regarding this topic, as fully as Professor Kedar described them, and I agree; our knowledge and media in North America is shallow and superficial.You can tell it was a busy, full day."

Greet & Meet in Tel Aviv - Jan. 19 and 21

Dear Family and Friends,
The CAARI Program officially opened the community service portion of the program in Tel Aviv tonight! The group that had been touring in Eilat and southern Israel were warmly greeted by those that arrived from the States and Canada and the City Hotel Staff. "It is so wonderful to see freinds from the previous years and to see so many new faces, said Rosalie Whitehill (New York). I arrived early and was so surprised to see Sid and Nancy Golden (Toronto), Diane Abrams and Gloria Kaufman (New York) for breakfast - it was like I saw them yesterday. This is what is so wonderful about CAARI!"
The next morning a "Train the Tutor" workshop was presented by former CAARI participants to give ideas and techniques to new participants. Lots of great ideas were exchanged making all feel a little more comfortable about the upcoming community service work. CAARI will be working in 10 elementary schools throughout Tel Aviv, mostly in low socio-economic neighborhoods - and two local rehab centers.
CAARI participants enjoyed the sunny weather to get familiar with Tel Aviv - shopping at the shuk, visting with family and friends and there is always a "cafe afuk" at a local outdoor cafe!
"Blogged "by Rosalie Whitehill - Friday evening, many in the group went to the Orthodox synagogue nearby where last year, we thought the rabbi's singing and dancing really made the Kaballat Service come alive with joy......well, the congregation size has more than tripled.....and I could hardly believe when the rabbi addressed our coordinator( female) to ask about our group and then welcomed us.....we were a larger contingent of women than men. And, of course, we had a fun oneg....after our shabbat dinner. Saturday, I went dancing on the tayelet (boardwalk) and was so pleased to know just about every dance for the first hour......mostly oldies.....good for me...as I am an oldie."
Others joined Rosalie at the Folk Dancing and were amazed as they watched the dancers and listened to the rhymethic music. See the pictures for the weekend!
Wishing all our friends and family a Shabbat Shalom from CAARI.

CAARI's Fourth Day

Written and photographed by Nahum Eisenstadt

The fourth day of the CAARI program, 19 January, began early with an hour drive from Eilat to a Kibbutz called Neot Smadar, once an abandoned IDF Nahal outpost, reestablished and reinhabited in 1989 by a group of determined pioneers from various cities in Israel with a dream to create a new environment, an environmentally friendly community in the form of a traditional collectivized kibbutz. We met one of the kibbutz members, Anat, who explained the first project of the kibbutz members was to build a tower that is still the major landmark. The membersa were not experienced engineers and made many mistakes that they would learn from later on pouring concrete etc. CAARI climbed the steps to the top for a breathtaking view of the surrounding country side. The kibbutz has a goat dairy, winery, pottery workshop and carpentry shop as well as vacation units that couples and small families can stay over for a week end. The last two pictures show the development of the kibbutz lands from the top of the tower built by the first kibbutz members together. The agricultural areas are the fruit of the assistance from the KKL-JNF that built the wastewater treatment and agricultural infrastructure for the olive trees and agriculture in this unique desert environment. The first picture shows the largest building on the kibbutz that contains the carpentry and pottery workshops and the tower that we climbed up to view the kibbutz fields.

CAARI Visits Town of Mitzpeh Ramon

Written and photographed by Nahum Eisenstadt

Our fourth day of touring included a stop to meet the town council members of Mitzpeh Ramon, founded in the 1950's as a development town in the Negev. CAARI met a number of important figures in the devlopment of the town today. To begin with Joshua Schmidt a Phd in Anthropology who serves in the Town of Mitzpeh Ramon's, Department of External Relations, gave a brief history and overview of the development of the town from the first immigrants deported from North African countries as a result of the War of Independence through present day situation. We also heard from the head of the Education Department in the Town of Mitzpeh Ramon, Aryeh Broideh, about the two high schools and two Elementary schools that serve the more than 1200 school children in the town of Mitzpeh Ramom. He says that the problem is not money but getting good teachers to come to Mitzpeh Ramon and live there. He also emphasized the great contribution that KKL-JNF has made to the town through the years. Today the town is aproximately 5200 people and is planning on reaching 15,000. This picture shows the CAARI participants listening to the briefing by Joshua and Aryeh in the municipality meeting room adjacent to the Mayor's office.

CAARI in Mitzpeh Ramon

Written and photographed by Nahum Eisenstadt

After the orientation and briefing about the town of Mitzpeh Ramon in the Municipality building meeting room, we went to visit one of the two high schools. This school is called the Shalom School where the peace strategy of Yitzhak Rabin is commemorated. It is an unusual school emphasizing the Arts, where both fine arts and performing arts and the exact sciences are both nurtured. Ronit, the principal, met us and showed us around. She is in the middle of the picture with the black shoes on. Here we are standing at the entrance of the school. We saw the science labs and classrooms and the performing arts rooms where there is a large auditorium for performing arts and a large studio for painting and sculpture etc.