Feb 13 - Caesarea in the 'elements'!

Winter has returned to Israel - not the kind of winter that they are experiencing on the Eastern US coast or even Canada - but for us - it is clouds, rain with thunder & lightening, temperatures in the 50's, with high winds!  So, as the postal service used to say "...through rain,, sleet and hail,,' CAARI continues to tour!

Today was just a half day tour of the ancient port of Caesarea.

From the port we drove a short distance to the wonderful Ralli Art Museum, founded by Harry Recanati. The Museum exhibits mainly Latin American and Spanish paintings and sculptures, as well as local archaeological artifacts from Caesarea  . The second museum exhibits 16th to 18th century paintings depicting biblical themes. Definitely worth seeing!
Back to Tel Aviv for a bit of shopping, rest and our traditional Shabbat evening.
Wishing all of you a Shabbat Shalom.

CAARI 2015

February 12 - half tour day in Neve Zedek! by Rosalie

As you can see by our dress - the weather has changed, but we are still able to tour and enjoy the sites of Tel Aviv.  

by Rosalie - "Thursday, after school, we had a marvelous walking tour of the old Railway Station just above Jaffa...on the Jerusalem line.....and then Neve Tzedek, the oldest Jewish area outstide of Jaffa, before Tel Aviv.  I had visited the area numerous times before, but learned so much from our terrific guide (also fine sense of humor).  He pointed out the homes in the Bauhaus style of architecture as well as those he called, eclectic.....more like a mish-mash.  Many places are being renovated, some homes being built behind the original facades, and there are many upscale shops, jewelry stores, restaurants, as well as historic homes in this charming are with narrow streets."

And...even though it was a bit chilly, many of us enjoyed an ice cream cone! 

In the evening we met 4 new people joining the CAARI Program.  

Feb 11 - Community Service & visit to Alexander Muss High Schoo

Excerpts from Rosalie

Last night's speaker and film were top-knotch. - Yael Katzir, who has done documentaries on Women of the Wall, The Yiddish Theater in NY, and The Violins of War......brought with her an advance copy of "Shores of Light" a documentary of hers about displaced persons camps in the heel of Italy's boot, right after WWII.....a story mostly unknown.....which included interviews with many children born in those camps.......in 1945, so many woman got pregnant and had babies.....a bit of an answer to Hitler.....and many are still alive here in Israel....(Israel took in all the people from the dp camps after 1948).......Hopefully, the film will be included in the Boston Jewish Film Festival next year.  The Q and A after the film was also great.....Yael is both insightful and charming.

Wednesday, after school, we visited the Alexander Muss High School, we joined them for lunch. This school,.started by a Florida rabbi, who felt that young people learning about the Bible, should be able to visit sites where events took place.  They provide programs for mostly American high school students ranging from 12 weeks to a semester and also take time to teach what would be taught at that time in each youngster's home school......It was so impressive....We heard from 3 very articulate high school sophomores about how much they loved the program .....and how hiking through the areas about which they had just read made biblical stories so much more meaningful ....and they also enjoy great freedom here....which of course, they love, too!!  We ate our lunch in the school cafeteria, where we noted how each person cleaned their space, and then visited dorm rooms which get inspected periodically so they were pretty clean.  I enjoyed visited that school much more than I had anticipated....

A rainstorm has been here all day, but CAARI must be blessed....we are always indoors when it rains....and it stops when we have to move outdoors.....and today was also the windiest I have known in Tel Aviv.....temps in the mid 50's but as Israel needs the rain....and I know what's doing in Boston, I know how fortunate I am to be here....

Back on the bus and back to our 'home' at the City Hotel.

So, again I wish you warmth and relief from the snowy weather........and please take good care of yourselves....

love you all.......so much!!

rosalie

Feb 9 - Part 2 - Negev Day - Besor Region and Visit to Sderot - JNF Playground

Continued... Negev Day!
Time for lunch which we ate at Kibbutz Gvulot and then on to the Besor Region.  Here JNF build a series of reservoirs for the area farmers who are now growing much of the citrus that used to grow in the center of the country.  Amazing what now grows in the desert.  The water supplied for these very large reservoirs is treated sewage water and water from the flooded Besor River.  The Regional JNF representative met us at the lookout point and explained what we were seeing and also talked about the impact of living in this area during the past summer.

by Rosalie Whitehill

"...We ate lunch at a Kibbutz Gvulot.....and after visiting the Besor River reservoir sites, we were treated to a great tour of the We ate lunch at a Kibbbutz Gvulot.....and after visiting the Besor River reservoir sites, we were treated to a great tour of the S'derot indoor playground, built by JNF of the U.S., ....It includes, among many play areas 4 safe rooms, an indoor soccer court, a computer room, a  climbing wall and a charming, colorful safe room where young kids can have birthday parties....(something people are afraid to do in their homes, with small safe rooms).  The safe room for teenagers can show films, videos and even has the rotating sparkle balls on the ceiling so the room can be turned into a disco.  The people who run the program there are obviously so dedicated to the young people they serve....and I always get a lump in my throat at this very special place..........Before we headed back to Tel Aviv, we stopped at an overlook where we could see the city of Gaza....about 40 km from S'derot...and from whence had come most of the rockets rained down on the city.  Our guide said it would be a few years before Hamas could rebuild its strength and send rockets again.....another lump in the throat!!

One of the best parts of the trip for me was to see from our bus as we traveled, how green the land was......as far as the eye could see.....and I remember when everything south of Tel Aviv was brownish desert.  Israel is a miracle!!! "

Enjoy the pictures!  

Monday 9 Feb - Negev Day - Part 1 - JNF R& D Center

There are days that we take a 'break' from our community service and spend the day touring the country- so many place to see that tourists don't usually visit!  
Today, we went south - to the Negev and visited the communities located near the Gaza border, who bore much of the burden of the summer conflict.  It was a 'glorious' day - sun shining and the temperatures were just right!  The planted wheat fields were green and about 12 inches high - benefiting from the recent rains. The red and yellow wild flowers were lovely to see along the highway and open spaces. It looked like spring had arrived in the Negev!  
Ben Gurion would be proud to see the 'desert blooming' in so many ways! 


Our first stop was the Research and Development Center at Sde Nitzan.  We were greeted byone of the employees, Leana, who  welcomed us the some samples of the Center - cherry tomatoes and sweet strawberries!  She  described the research that this being done to help the farmers produce better crops for market.  We visited the hot house for zucchini, strawberries, and the beautiful, colorful peonies and wild irises.  

View by Marcia Bercov

"The  CAARI group went south to the Negev for a day of touring.  This area in the south of the country receives a minimal amount of rainfall each year, making it a true desert environment, in contrast to the fertile coastal plain and northern part of the country.

David Ben Gurion, first Prime Minister of Israel, said that the future of the country lies in the Negev.  Hard to picture the desolate landscape being used for much of anything.

Over the years, with the large population growth in and around Tel Aviv, much of the land used for farming was lost to housing.  Orange groves disappeared.

Well, it's hard to imagine growing anything in a place with no water and no soil, just sand.  But in the Negev Desert at Sde Nitzan that's what's happening.  This is the location of one of the Jewish National Fund's Research and Development Stations.  Researchers experiment with different growing conditions for various crops in order to help local farmers.  All of this information is made available at no cost to anyone in Israel or any other place.  Water for agriculture comes from treated waste water, purified in water treatment plants.  About 80% of the country's water is recycled, an amazing figure.

Getting back to the strawberries and tomatoes, when the CAARI group arrived at Sde Nitzan the table was set with bowls of freshly picked strawberries and baskets of different varieties of cherry tomatoes.  All delicious!

Then our guide Leanna, originally from South Africa, took us on a tour of some of the greenhouses or net houses.  She showed us the first one, filled with everyone's favourite summer vegetable zucchini.  As always, the researchers found a better way to grow them."

See Part 2 for the rest of our day!  

new way to grow strawberries! Much easier to pick!