The Music Box Museum

By Marcia:CAARI group left Tel Aviv on Sunday morning for more adventures in the north. In the afternoon we stopped at the Music Box Museum, with an unusual collection of machines which make music, some dating back to the late 1800s.  Nissan, the owner and collector of these treasures, showed them with great pride as he demonstrated how the music was produced, from fine quality Swiss music boxes to a Steinway player piano. 
Nissan explained the original Edison phonograph and  how the vibrations were etched onto a wax cylinder and reproduced to make sound. (May not be exactly accurate, but you get the picture!) Nissan traveled extensively and found some of the music machines in Europe and Africa.  A family in Belgium needed to find a good home for the large and beautiful music machine.  It was shipped in pieces and re-assembled in the Museum.
When the music played, we saw the figures in action.  The Conductor, centre, moved his baton up and down, while the two ladies at the side hit their bells in time to the music.
There was also a traditional juke box with some great songs from the 40s and 50s.
As they say, “It was music to my ears...”

CAARI's Northern Tour - January 31, 2019 Caeserea

Friends, Romans, countryman - we are in Casearea!

CAARI takes us to "must see sites" and hidden gems'!  

Yes, we are on a holiday, hafsaka, a break, as they say in Hebrew in Israel.  After 2 weeks of fulfilling community service and tours and speakers in Tel Aviv we took off for a few days in the North.  Our weather continues to be beautiful, if fact, Saturday temperatures were in the mid 70’s. 

We drove north along the beautiful blue Mediterranean Sea. Our first stop was the amazing excavations of the ancient port city Caesarea built by King Herod, spanning the Roman and Crusader Period.    Neil explained that this was one of the first time cement was used on such a large scale, an engineering marvel.  King Herod, a master builder, built many palaces in the Middle East, including  Herodian, which we will be visiting while in Jerusalem. Casarea was a man made port the largest in the anicent east.

Although, much of the port is now under water, many of the buildings have been uncovered reflecting the lavish lifestyle of the era.  Even today, the ancient Roman theater is used for concerts by leading Israeli musicians.  We stopped at the ruins of King Herod’s palace with its magnificent mosaic floors.  On to the Hippodrome,  remains of Roman streets, the Crusader Port and the newly uncovered excavations.  No matter when you visit Caesarea it is a archaeological wonder!

CAARI COOKS! Culinary Class

CAARI COOKS! 

Oh, yes we do!  Late the afternoon, we drove to South Tel Aviv to the Dan Gourmet Culinary  School.  For several years, CAARI has been enjoying culinary classes at this wonderful facility with the best chefs!


The huge kitchen has individual stations for all of us to work.  Chef Michael Katz was our instructor last year and again this year.  This year we are cooked an Italian menu, Israeli style using local ingredients.



Katz first gave us a few tips like chopping garlic, grating whole tomatoes and slicing zucchini to make a delicious Carpaccio.   debone and chicken leg! Perhaps, the most difficult was learning

We divided into two teams and began our assignments for the arugula & tomato salads, Carpaccio,  chicken on a skewer, eggplant risotto, focaccia,  and open lasagna.  But…before we began cooking, we began with a little wine and chocolate.  Isn’t that how Julia Child began her culinary classes? 

We chopped, cut, sliced, grilled, stirred and came out with an amazing dinner for us to enjoy. A special treat was the Strawberries with rose water zabayon made by Michael.  

Another great day!

Sunday, January 20, 2019 - Ben Gurion's Negev Dream

On Sunday,  we took a break from Community Service and spent the day in the Negev.  Ben Gurion would be proud seeing the ‘desert bloom’!  As we drove south past the sprawling cities of Ashdod and Ashkelon, we saw green crops growing  and in open fields the beautiful spring Anemone purple, red and white flowers!  Ah…a sign of spring! 

Our first destination was visiting a farm in Moshav Taimei Yosef, the Salad Trail,  located in the northern Negev. The day was perfect, sunny, warm temperatures – great to be in the outdoors for a tour.   The guide took us through several greenhouses explaining what is grown and the agricultural technologies used to increase taste and production, i.e. latest in bee bio-engineered technology.   Yes, cherry tomatoes were developed in Israel!  We picked and tasted salad  and medicinal greens, like Verbana – great in tea, which they made for us. 

We picked a variety of tomatoes, of all colors and VERY tasty. The cucumbers were crisp and yellow, white, orange and purple carrots crunchy and yummy.  It was amazing to see what can grow in such sandy soil.  It is strawberry season in Israel and we got our fill of these tasty berries.  Yes, we ATE our way through the tour.  

The tour ended with an explanation of homing pigeons which are raised on the farm.  This of course, was the earliest kind of email or Some of us held and released them as they flew BACK HOME! 

We are driving along the Israel- Gaza border and seeing what we have been hearing on the news.  Today is was all quiet and you would never know there were any issues.  We stopped at an observation site for a view of Gaza and the border area.  

 From there we went to the city of Sderot, located less than one mile from Gaza border, which has received major rockets attacks during the Gaza confrontations.  As your drive through the city and the NEW neighborhoods, you see each apartments has security rooms attached.  There are concrete security areas near ALL the bus stops and of course, in schools and buildings.  Yes, we were surprised to see so many new neighborhoods being built.

Back in 2009 JNF – USA recognized the children who lived in Sderot had to spend much of their time indoors, as it was not safe to play outdoors.  JNF build this incredible playground where children from Sderot and neighboring communities can play and feel safe without the fear of rocket attack.   Hundreds of children of all ages use this facility.  The center’s attractions include a soccer field and volleyball court, movie theater, disco, rock climbing wall, snack area, computer center, and jungle gym. Play areas double as bomb shelters, ensuring that all occupants can quickly reach safety in the event of a rocket attack.  It was a wonderful experience for us to see the smiling faces and laughter coming from these beautiful, innocent children as they played.  CAARI commends JNF for their vision and concern for the security of Israelis. 

Enjoy the pictures and our day!
CAARI 2019

Afternoon Tours - A Dance movement and working in the fields

We have had some  interesting afternoon tours this week with the Canadian & American Active Retirees in Israel program.  On Sunday, after our community service work, we went to one of the  Batsheva Dance Company’s dance studio’s in South Tel Aviv's Florantine neighborhood for a lesson on the Gaga dance movement. 

We are sure that you are VERY familiar with Lady Gaga, but do you know that in Israel, they have Mr.  Gaga!  This is actually a movie about the renowned artistic choreographer,  Ohad Naharin.  

So you are saying…What is the Gaga dance movement? Gaga is a new way of gaining 

knowledge and self-awareness throughmovement of your body through dance.  Gaga provides a framework for discovering and strengthening your body and adding flexibility, stamina, and agility while lightening the senses and imagination. 

That is what the CAARI program is all about: gaining flexibility, with stamina, agility and imagination! 

On Tuesday afternoon we  experienced a Hashomer HaChadash Program at an Experimental Farm, not far from Tel Aviv, in an area called Zrifin near Rishon Letzion.

When we arrived there were several other groups who had come to also have their own pioneer experience.  We met with Tzofia, who explained this special organization. that focuses on agriculture and  safekeeping the land of Israel through education and participation.Thousands of youth groups, students, tourists and families volunteer in a variety of programs.  

 Our job today was to pick off the fruit from trees that were used in an agriculture experiment.    It was a beautiful day and we all enjoyed clearing the trees of rotted fruit and we completed the task in no time.  

We also got to pick some fruit for us - nothing like a orange or clementine right off the tree!