Raining on our Parade?

By Anice Stark
Friday, Tu B’Shvat, this is the day we all look forward to - helping JNF -KKL with this big family day. We left bright and early, dressed in our colorful JNF-KKL sweatshirts, to the Ben Shemen forest, one of the oldest planted forests in Israel. When we arrived there were already crowds of people waiting to be given the trees to plant. The planting hill with all the flags and pre-dug holes just waiting for little saplings was a site to see. The first early arrivals were a group of school children mostly young school children singing TuBshvat songs. We were assigned jobs, to hand out the trees, give out candy bars to everyone, and show people to the areas to be planted. The 47 of us were busy, busy. It has been a rainy winter and it had rained through the night so the ground was quite muddy and as we walked down the hill to the planting area our shoes became caked with mud - at least a couple pounds of mud. But, then came the rain, cold and wet - we trudged back up with the through the mud, 47 CAARI people eager to work and help out on this special day, but the cooler heads prevailed and so back to the bus we went.

Tu'Bshvat Celebration

CAARI was so ready for this holiday. We decorated the tables, practiced our lines for our readings, ordered the dried fruit, wine and music! Our Tu’Bshvat celebration of trees, Israel and a green environment was a wonderful and festive occasion. Gloria led us through the Seder with her creativity and energy. And...Gidi's music made our feet dance! See all the pictures and enjoy with us.

CAARI Participant Comments for Blog

Over the past few weeks, CAARI has visited many sites from Eilat, Negev and places in the Tel Aviv area. They have meet Israelis, heard about Israel's challenges from a number of speakers and volunteered their efforts in schools, hospitals and JNF forests. Their Israel Experience with CAARI has been very special to them.

Here are a few of their comments:

Joel and Cynthia Weintraub (New York)
"This trip has been maganificent. We continually learn so much from Neil and Susan. The lectures have been extremely well done. With HaShem's help we will be here next year! "

Bev Stern (Toronto)

Every day is a day of discovery with CAARI. The tours take us to extraordinary museums like the Rabin and Palmach Museums, visits to the West Bank settlements, such as Alfa Menashe and charming towns, such as Zichron Yaacov to the fabulous Rothschild Gardens. All this is off the beaten track of most other missions to Israel. Our tour leaders, Susan and Neil - not enough can be said about the two of them. Great group of volunteers, interesting, congenial people. School experience is both challenging and rewarding.

Thank you CAARI

Ayala Rosen (New York) For me the Palmach Museum and the Ayalon Museum were the highlights (so far). I thoroughly enjoyed both!

"Elaine Harris (Toronto, Canada) - We climbed to the top of Tel Dor in the rain. Richard the Lion Hearted got there before us, but we were the braver! "(in picture: Honey Moore, Heather Sculthorpe and Elaine Harris)

Anita Jampole (New York and Florida) "After 7 trips to Israel I thought that I had seen it all, but I leared that I hadn't. This was an amazing day to the Negev where the Israelis with all their 'smarts' figured out ways to make the desert bloom. I often wonder what a fantastic 'land of milk and honey' this could really become if so much money didn't have go to keep the country safe. Just amazing!"

Gloria Schalop (New York)

"Another fascinating day! Learning about the mysteries of making agricultural products better for farmers and consumers was a highlight. The Besor Reservior is truly a wonder!" .....CAARI is an unbelievable and exciting trip. Every day is a new , interesting, gratifying experience. Busy, morning, noon and night. "

Thank you letter to CAARI - from R & D Center

....I want to express my appreciation for the CAARI volunteer group that visited today, at the KKL - JNF R&D Center in the South,"MOP Darom". I hope and beleive that they enjoyed the experience. For us, this was a special visit. People showed a great interest in our research and development work and asked pertinent questions. I liken this group to Haluztim of the 2nd Aliya!
Kol hakavod and thank you to each and everyone of you...
Kol Tov Myron Sofer
Director Research and Development Center - Negev Region
(cc to USA Desk at KKL)

Amazing Negev Day by Rosalie Whitehill

Thursday, we traveled to the northwestern part of the Negev desert, where we visited the JNF Research and Development Station for the South, at Sde Nitzan, close to the Gaza border, an awesome and inspirational place.....where we saw some examples of how this part of JNF is working to improve the world production of agricultural products such as peppers, tomatoes, strawberries, wheat, and more.....and learned that all their findings are available to everyone....so impressive!!! They even had us working and contributing to their research on wheat. We pulled the wheat for the sampling, placed in bags for analysis, and then cleared the area.
Next stop… Kibbutz Gvulot, a place important in the War for Independence, where we had a delicious lunch (or we were really hungry from all that work), tour of the original kibbutz from 1943 and the War of Independence and an opportunity to plant trees.
Later we went to see one of Israel's most unusual reservoirs....in the Besor region. The Besor reservoir system is really three reservoirs. These important reservoirs were made possible by JNF and donors from South Africa, USA, Australia and Great Britain. It is good to know that Israeli technology assures that Israel will not have a water problem in 2 years.....and that over 80% of their waste water is recycled. The entire day was fascinating....and full of reasons to be proud of JNF and of Israel.
Wishing you my love,
Rosallie

Forest Day - "Spring Cleanup" for CAARI by Ron and Marcia Bercov

"On Tuesday morning the CAARI gang, dressed in work clothes, set off to work in Horshim Forest. This place holds special meaning for guide Neil, who served in the army as a soldier under the command of the son of our host, Yashke. His son, Hezi Sapir, died in reserve duty service of his country, on 11 Novemvber 1994. Yashke, Hezi's father and Emalia Hezi's mother(z"l) and sister Miri, dedicated one of the JNF forest's in his memory. On this morning there were a few different tasks to perform, among them painting picnic tables, trimming tree branches, weeding, and for my group, working on a preliminary path through the forest by widening it and lining the sides with stones. Fortunately, other people handled the axe! I just found stones and some larger rocks for the border. When the job was finished, the path looked very inviting." After the group completed all their tasks we hiked the lovely Cyclamen Trail to an overlook. Ah, the spring flowers are so lovely... pinks, whites and deep red anemones covering the forest ground. Neil explained what is known as the 'green line' where Israel is the narrowest from east to west, viewing east both the Israeli and Arab communities on the pre 1967 line and looking west to the sea and seeing Tel Aviv from this overlook.
"Unfortunately, or maybe not so, at that moment the winds started to blow fiercely. We hurried back to the bus, and set off in search of a sheltered place to eat our picnic lunch. Susan and Neil found a community centre nearby in Alfei Menashe, where the staff welcomed everyone, set up chairs and tables, and provided a comfortable space out of the wind and rain."That evening we celebrated Tu B’shevat. To learn more, stay tuned..."
Sending best wishes from Israel,
Shalom,
Ron and Marcia