June 24, 2013


AFUWOFI COHORT 1
      ISRAEL BLOG 07      

Dear parents and friends,

 


Today we said goodbye to our Beit Shean/Emek Hamayanut friends. We also started the third phase of our mission: We met with Hava Alamo, we visited Base 80 and we explore the streets of

Jasar a Zarka.

 

Please send us your comments, 

Shabbat Shalom

Hadar, Jeffrey and Amnon

  

Froggy's Picture of the Day  

  

 

Below are the few pictures,and written blogs. To see (many) more pictures or to view past written blogs, please visit our blog webpage: AFUWOFI 2013 Israel Mission  



      





   

 

  


 

 

A day in the Arab village, Jasar a Zarka by Lucy Keller

 

Today we went to Jasar a Zarka, an Arab village and had dinner at the Mediterranean beach. At first I was a little intimidated because of my experience at Westlake High School. The Arabs and the Jewish kids do not get along to well. So I didn't know how to approach this. But then I went up to one of the young ladies at Jasar a Zarka and said "hello my name is Lucy." She said her name then I asked her if she played sports and she told me she played basketball. At that point I knew this  was going to be okay.

 

In the city of Jasar a Zarka there are 13,000 people. Most of the people are young and 60 percent of the population are between 0 and 10 years old. There is one high school, one middle school and four elementary schools. Along with that there are thirty kindergartens and one special needs school. I had asked someone how they saw there life as an Arab living in Israel and they said they did not have a problem with it.

 

With what is told on the news and how it's portrayed it is important that we as advocates and explorers need to spread the word that there are examples of peaceful relationships between Arab and Jewish citizens of Israel. We came in peace when we ate dinner together and played soccer together.

 

 

We had some programs with them and we talked about what we want to be when we are older and some of the things we had in common. They are just as great as we are. I hope everyone had the opportunity to discover the eye opening experience of seeking the positive parts of Israel.

 


 

An Interview with Gal Katz , our new Cleveland Shin-Shinit by

Josh Raiffe


What is your name? Gal Katz

 

How old are you? 18

 

Where were you born? Tel Aviv, Israel

 

What is your job? I'm a ShinShinit for the Jewish federation

 

What does a ShinShinit do? We go to schools and teach students about Judaism and Israel. We work with the community to spread the greatness of Israel. We work with a lot of Jewish programs that work with Israelis and most importantly, we work with AFUWOFI!

 

When do the ShinShiniot come to Cleveland? August, 19th

 

Are you going to the army after your year in the Ohio? Of course! I want to be an education director.

 

Are you looking forward to the Cleveland winter? Yes, but I'm a bit scared. I'm not used to the cold.

 

What do you mostly want to achieve in your year as ShinShinit? I really want to spread the knowledge about Israel to the kids and adults that would normally not learn/want to learn about Israel. And of course, I want to make a lot of new friends!

 

Lastly, what are you going to miss most when you leave Israel? My friends and my family.



  

The Importance of Support in the Israel Army by 

Erick Madis

 
 

Today we all went to Camp 80 basic training army base. This was a really cool experience for many reasons. The first thing that surprised us all was that the commanders treated us like soldiers from the start. They taught us how to talk, stand, and overall act like soldiers saying "Yes, Sir!" when answering to a commander. All though most of us are high-maintenance and diva-like, the commanders quickly whipped us into shape. To many, this experience helped people understand the army better.


 The main thing that Camp 80 Army Base has is its Magal program. This program is a collection of five bases across Israel that all train not the combat soldiers but the support system that is extremely necessary for the operation of the army. They say that for every combat soldier there is at least three or four support soldiers behind him. It was very interesting to see that point of view that not everything is about the combat soldier but rather all of the people that help that combat soldier.


 We talked to three commanders at this base. The first one we talked to was a girl named Emma that moved to Israel from South Africa when she was very young. We talked to a man named Avi that has lived in Israel his whole life and is now a commander. Finally, the person whose story we thought was the most interesting was a girl named Miriam.

 

Miriam lived in New York her whole life and went to Israel a few times

over the years, but when she was 18, she decided that instead of going to college, and against her mother's will, she would go to the Israeli army.

She felt that she wanted a better connection to Judaism and to Israel.

This was the most interesting because it related the most to all of us.

One thing she said that really struck me as important was the fact that

many people can join the army and fight for Israel while in Israel, but

there is equal importance in people like our group who advocate for Israel outside of Israel. This was extremely relevant to us because that is exactly what our program is. All of us in WOFI are in WOFI to advocate for Israel and support Israel in that respect.


 Overall, this experience was definitely an eye-opening one. It was

interesting to see an army base in general but to see a unique one like this was even better. We learned about the importance of the people who support the soldier and not just the soldier. I think all of us enjoyed this experience very much and learned a lot from it.

 


  

A Most Unusual Tale of an Ethiopian Exodus and Later

Integration into Israel

 

  

 

Today was AFUWOFI's last day at Beit She'ean and for the last event the American and Israelis went together to an Ethiopian museum. When we arrived at the museum we met a woman named Chava who told us the museum was called "Germachi" which means pride in one's culture, color, and lifestyle. She then proceeded to explain to us a few customs from Ethiopian culture. She told us that coffee originated from Ethiopia and handed  guests coffee as they walk in.  She added that coffee is also used in Ethiopian culture to solve conflicts as well as a polite way to ask a father permission to marry his daughter.

  

She then demonstrated for us another custom which is that mothers hold babies on their back., The mother holds the baby this way while doing household chores like cooking and cleaning. Doing these things together creates a  special connection and bond between them.

  

  

After a couple of minutes of explaining Ethiopian culture and customs

Chava then began telling us of her journey to Israel. She told us that

ever since she was a little girl she would hear her parents talk about

how they don't belong in Ethiopia, they belong in Jerusalem. Then when she was nine her brother finished high school, and as an 18 year old he had to join the Ethiopian army. However, he didn't want to do this, so he created a plan for him and his friends to go to Jerusalem through Sudan.

 

Chava heard about his plan and told her parents that she wanted to join them. Her parents emphatically said no.    However she snuck out with her brother and her friends without anyone noticing she was there. For a couple of days she proceeded on the journey without anyone seeing her until one day she fell in the river and couldn't get out. She called her brother for help and everyone then realized that she had snuck out and had been hiding with them. They couldn't tell her to go back home since it was too far so they allowed her to stay but they told her that she had to keep quiet. She was then given a letter from her brother that was actually from her father that said "keep yourself safe". (Chava said that she keeps that message with her till this day.)


 The journey continued for three long brutal months. One night bandits caught them and took all of their cattle, food, and money, they were left with nothing. Later on Chava's brother almost passed out but she found water to give him and he was able to continue the journey with everyone.

Chava then told us that a couple days before they reached Sudan they ran out of food and water. However, Chava remembered that her mother tied a piece of candy to her clothes. Chava took the piece of candy and split it between her brother and her. That piece of candy ended up saving their lives and enable them to reach Sudan.

  

When the group reached the border of Sudan, the Red Cross helped them out.  Still, many of them died throughout the journey, Chava and her brother were able to make an Aliya in 1984. Chava arrived in Israel as a teenager so it was very difficult for her to survive without her parents, however she pushed through and thrived and is now married, a mother of eight, works as a professional counselor, and runs the center for Ethiopian culture.

  

(Additional material about Chava's present life now comes from the blog of Sarah Pincus)

 

What is your favorite color?

Green because I grew up in nature.

How did the Aliyah process affect your life?

I didn't see my parents for a while so I was lonely. I tried to look for

my parents but I didn't have a typical childhood. Since i didn't have

parents, nobody was there to recognize my talents. Im proud that i was independent but i missed having a normal childhood. That is why I got married young when I was around seventeen years old. I also got married young because in my culture women don't learn and don't have jobs. Now I make sure that my eight children have a better life then I had when I was a child.

What are the struggles that face Ethiopians in Israel today?

The tension between parents and their children. Since they grew up in different cultures, they see things differently. For example, parents

don't want their children to get piercings.

How did you end up living in Bet Shean?

I didn't intend on moving to Bet Shean but my parents moved here so I wanted to be here with them.

Do you miss Ethiopia?

No. I am planning on going back in a couple months. I was in a choir when I lived there when I was young. I want to return and write a song and produce a CD about my childhood in Ethiopia.

 

After Chava told us her unbelievable story, we then were able to hear

from an actual Ethiopian teen from our program. Her name was Lital, She was born in Israel however her parents came from Ethiopia. She told us that she goes to school like normal teenagers and participates in theater. I then had the opportunity to ask her a couple of questions

regarding her experience as being an Ethiopian Jewish teen in Israel.

Q: What do you do that is different than most Israeli teenagers your age?

A: My life is not that different than most teenagers. I am very connected with Israeli culture, all my friends are Israeli. However, we do have a center just for Ethiopians where we go on many different trips and do many Ethiopian cultures in order to try to  make sure the customs won't be forgotten.

Q: Have you ever been a victim of racism?

A: When I was younger people used to call me names and tell me that I wasn't Jewish but it has gotten better.

Q: Do you ever feel like you are treated differently because your

Ethiopian?

A: I haven't really had many problems. I really feel accepted in my

community.

Q: How do you have so much confidence with yourself?

A: I used to not have so much confidence but I think the more I got

involved in theater the more I got comfortable in my skin.  In my plays I have skits where I talk about who I am and why I am special and why it's beautiful to be black. I am not longer scared of how I look. I love it and embrace it.

She then proceeded to tell me a part of her lines in her skit:

אני לא קושית, אני צבע שוקולד, וכולם אוהבים שוקולד . גם, אני נולדתי שזופה,

אני לא צריכה לבזבז זמן להשתזף כמו אנשים אחרים. אני נולדתי יפה.

I'm not black. I'm the color of chocolate and everyone loves chocolate.

Also I was born tan, I don't have to waste time tanning like everyone

else. I was born beautiful.

  

With that I stopped the interview because I understood that Lital was

truly, born beautiful.

 


  

  

A volunteer day in Beit Shean by Arielle Shapiro

 

 

Today we volunteered at the Matnas (JCC) in Beit She'an by helping out at an end of the school year party for the neighborhood. The goal was to help kids learn fun things to do so they wouldn't get bored over the summer. We divided into pairs to work at different stations. People baked challah, made jewelry and puppets, and made objects out of clay and recycled materials. Some people also worked on painting a mural. We did this together with our partners from Beit She'an, who we've spent the past two days.

Q: Why did we do community service as opposed to just donating money?

A: Doing community service has a much more direct effect on the community than simply donating money. Also, it is much more fun to actively participate.

Q: How did this help the community?

A: This helped the community because we taught the children in the area to find things to do over the summer. We also helped to provide the people in the area with a fun afternoon.

Q: What were your impressions of the people who attended the festivities?

A: Everyone was extremely nice. Even people who didn't speak English tried their best to communicate with the people who didn't speak Hebrew and people were more than willing to have their photograph taken. 


         
 
 
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

 @Akiva is a beneficiary agency of the Jewish Federation of Cleveland 

 

@Akiva is a partner agency of the Jewish Education Center of Cleveland

 

26500 Shaker Blvd / Beachwood, Ohio 44122

 

216.367.1388 (p)