Rivki's+Project

B"H **IFACES 2011**

toc =Rationale =

For my project, I chose to interview Adina. Adina works in Nefesh B'Nefesh- an organization that helps Jews from North America immigrate to Israel. I decided to do my project on Adina because I believe that she is helping build Israel today. She is doing this by increasing the Jewish population in Israel by bringing Jews to their homeland, Israel.This to me is an important factor in building Israel today. Not only does Adina work in Nefesh B'Nefesh, but she was also one of the founders of a youth movement for Americans who have moved to Israel called NESTO (which recently closed). I hope that over the course of this project I will get to learn more about the work of Nefesh B'Nefesh, how they help people make immigrate to Israel, and what motivates them to do this amazing deed.

=Profile = Adina, a religious Jew works in the organization Nefesh B'Nefesh which helps Jews from North America immigrate to Israel, in my eyes is helping build Israel today.

Originally from Riverdale, NY, Adina moved with her family to Israel at ten years old. They lived in Beer Sheva, and although it was difficult at the beginning for Adina, by the end of the first year she was here, she was fully integrated into the Israeli society and loved it here in Israel. After one year of living here, she and her family had to return to the States due to an illness in her family. However, she always knew after her year here that there was a chance of her family immigrating to Israel and she was happy about that. In 1991, at the age of 15 and a half, Adina moved with her family from Riverdale, NY to Israel. When she immigrated to here, Adina didn't want to move here despite her passion for Israel because of all the difficulties she went through. The difficulties were the normal difficulties immigrants go through- learning a new language, succeeding in school, making new friends, and adjusting to a new culture. Just like most other immigrants, she had a hard time leaving family and friends.

Currently living in Jerusalem, Adina is very happy and loves Israel. In March of 2006, Adina started her job at Nefesh B'Nefesh. The ability that Nefesh B'Nefesh provided to Adina to combine her professional and personal experiences together to help immigrants is what motivated her to work in Nefesh B'Nefesh. In addition, she strongly believes in the mission of the organization. According to Adina, the importance of this organization is that it helps facilitate immigration to Israel from western countries which is helping to build Israel today. She says that immigration from western countries is impacting different areas in the Israeli society such as the medical, educational and hit tech areas and more. In Nefesh B’Nefesh, she is the director of the Absorption and Integration department. The main purpose of this department is to help the immigrants once they've already arrived in Israel by calling them monthly, and having educational, informational, and social events.

According to Adina, the importance of her job is helping people through the process of immigration and making their immigration successful. Adina says that Nefesh B'Nefesh doesn't try to persuade people to move to Israel, rather they provide them with all the information someone needs to immigrate to Israel. Adina says that her job doesn't really affect her family's life. However, sometimes she has to work unconventional hours, but her family understands the importance of her job.

Part of Adina's job is to work with lone soldiers- soldiers that immigrate to Israel by themselves and join the IDF. She says that she really admires these soldiers for what they do for Israel. In my interveiw I asked Adina if she thinks the percentage of the immigration to Israel will go up and if she will be a part of that change, and she answered yes and yes. She believes that more people will start moving to Israel, and she will help that happen.

Not only does Adina work at Nefesh B'Nefesh, but she also attended programs that show her dedication to Israel since her youth. She is a member in Bnei Akiva, and went to Camp Moshava for years. Both of these programs strongly encourage immigration to Israel. Since she went through the whole immigration process herself, she knows how hard it is and therefore she wanted to help other teenage immigrants. She was one of the founders of a youth movement for immigrants, NESTO- Native English Speaking Teen Olim (which recently closed). NESTO was a support group for teenage immigrants that held social activities for them.k All of these programs show Adina’s dedication and passion for Israel.

When I asked Adina what defines her as an Israeli and if she still identifies herself as an American, she answered that she thinks of herself as a mixture of the two. Moving to Israel at the age of 15 allowed her to live a decent amount of time in America, and those years will always have an effect on her.

However, she's also lived in Israel for a decent amount of time and she's done national service for Israel, got her BSW and her MSW in Israel, and her brothers and friends served in the IDF so therefore she can also describe herself part- Israeli. She's also integrated with the Israeli's around her so that helps build her Israeli identity.

=Background Research =  My research question: Who is helping build Israel today and how? <span style="direction: ltr; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"> <span style="direction: ltr; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">I chose to do my background research on the organization that Adina Bennett works in, Nefesh B'Nefesh, because I think that this organization is helping build Israel today. Nefesh B'Nefesh is an organization that helps people in the United States of America and Canada immigrate to Israel. Helping people make immigrate to Israel is important because this immigration is building Israel by bringing Jews to their homeland. <span style="direction: ltr; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"> <span style="direction: ltr; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"> Nefesh B'Nefesh was co- founded by Rabbi Yehoshua Fass and Tony Gelbert. After a family member of Rabbi Fass was killed in a terrorist attack, he decided to found an organization that will help and encourage people to move to Israel. <span style="direction: ltr; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"> <span style="direction: ltr; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">When someone decides that he wants to move to Israel, he will most likely encounter many difficulties, like financial, employment, social and more difficulties that may want to make him change his mind and not want to immigrate to Israel. What Nefesh B'Nefesh does is they help people overcome these difficulties, and encourage them to immigrate. <span style="direction: ltr; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"> <span style="direction: ltr; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">The Nefesh B’Nefesh website describes all the services they provide before and after the immigration. Before immigrating, the organization provides guidance through all the stages of moving to Israel. The staff members of Nefesh B’Nefesh talk to people interested in moving and will personally consult with them and will answer any questions they have. The organization Nefesh B’Nefesh also provides post- immigration assistance. Their Department of Absorption helps immigrants integrate into the Israeli lifestyle and helps them overcome their difficulties as new immigrants in Israel. This department offers different services that include seminars, a buddy program and more. Nefesh B’Nefesh reserves for its immigrants charter flights- when               <span style="height: 97.5pt; margin-left: 275.95pt; margin-top: -6.75pt; mso-position-horizontal-relative: text; mso-position-vertical-relative: text; position: absolute; width: 182.1pt; z-index: -1;">  <span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">they reserve and entire plane just for their immigrants. For some immigrants, this is the highlight of their immigration experience- being on a plane full of immigrants all moving to Israel. If for some reason immigrants aren’t on the chartered flights, they go on group flights which are regular ELAL flights with a bunch of seats reserved for immigrants. The Nefesh B'Nefesh Employment office helps the newcomers find jobs. They find information for them about retraining and about businesses. New immigrants are entitled to certain rights after their arrival in Israel, and Nefesh B'Nefesh's Government Advocacy Department guides them with any questions they might have considering any element of government absorption. (1-2) <span style="direction: ltr; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"> <span style="direction: ltr; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">On top of all this guidance and support that Nefesh B'Nefesh provides for its immigrants, it also offers many events all throughout the year. These events take place in Israel, the U.S., Canada, and in the U.K. <span style="direction: ltr; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"> <span style="direction: ltr; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">Unfortunately, Nefesh B’Nefesh does not get as much support as it needs. The Jerusalem Post states that recently Nefesh B'Nefesh fired 15 staff members and was forced to reduce the salaries of their employees due to a fund- raising dip, despite the raise in immigration from the US and Canada in 2010. This fund- raising dip was caused from global recession. Nefesh B'Nefesh realized that they have to make a few cuts in their budget for 2011, but these cuts won’t affect any of the services they offer to new immigrants. One of their solutions to their money problem is that they might increase their Skype meetings and use the Web more than they use to. Also the amount of immigrants has increased tremendously! “Since Nefesh B'Nefesh was founded in 2002, the number of immigrants from that part of the world has more than doubled from 1,815 in 2002 to 3,992 in 2010, according to the Immigrant Absorption Ministry.” (Shefler 1) <span style="direction: ltr; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"> <span style="direction: ltr; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">Gil Shefler continues in his article by saying the number of newcomers in Israel hasn’t increased over the past year and has stayed at about the same number- at just below 4,000 immigrants. Critics say that Nefesh B'Nefesh isn’t fulfilling their goal of significantly boosting immigration to Israel, despite the increase in the numbers of immigrants between 2002- 2010. They largely increased immigration to North America, and I think they can increase it even more. (1) <span style="direction: ltr; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"> <span style="direction: ltr; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">In summary, Nefesh B’Nefesh has made a huge impact on immigration to Israel in North America in the past few years. I believe that what this organization does is an extremely important factor in building Israel today. <span style="direction: ltr; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"> <span style="direction: ltr; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"> <span style="height: 161.95pt; margin-left: -19.5pt; margin-top: 0.05pt; position: absolute; width: 214.6pt; z-index: -2;">

<span style="display: block; font-family: Times New Roman; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: right;">. <span style="display: block; font-family: Times New Roman; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: right;">

=<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">Literary Connection =

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">Through Kadish Goldberg’s poem “The View from Tirat Zvi”, I was able to express my feelings for Israel.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">** The View from Tirat Zvi ** <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">"If it (the Garden of Eden) is in the Land of Israel, then the Beth Shean Valley is its gateway." <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">(Tractate Erubin 19a) <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">Jogging down to synagogue, across the dew-drenched lawn, <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">I lift my eyes towards the east and watch the warming dawn <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">Illuminate the ancient home of Reuven and of Gad, <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">Of Yiftach and his hapless daughter -- <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">Hills of Gilead. <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">Mincha done, I trudge the walkway warmed by searing sun <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">And see the silhouetted hills where Saul and Yehonatan <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">Brave, in final combat fell -- <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">Gilboa, dry of dew. <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">From the south, Mehola's lights the ancient tale renew: <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">Elisha, newly mantled, leaves the plow to serve the seer. <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">Beneath the Northern Star each night, the heroes reappear: <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">Gideon picks, at Harod stream, three hundred brave and strong; <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">The prophetess, atop Mt. Tabor, sings the victor's song. <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">From hill to hill the holy echoes still reverberate. <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">Come live with me in history, at Eden's verdant gate. (quoted from The Pregnant Pen)

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">This poem is describing the view from a place called Tirat Zvi in Israel. When the poet Kadish Goldberg looks at the view from there he doesn’t just see towns and cities, but he sees the deeper meaning behind those places. He looks out and sees historical events that took place in those hills and towns. He can see how amazing it is to be living in place where thousands of years ago his ancestors lived and had miracles done for them. When the poet leaves his synagogue, he looks around and sees the home of the tribes from thousands of years ago. He’s able to look out just like every other person, but he can see events from Jewish history that are right before his eyes.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">After the second prayer of the day, Mincha, walking in the hot sun, Kadish Goldberg is looking at regular hills but is seeing the hills of the Gilboa in which a great king of the Jews, Saul was killed along with his son in a war. <span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">When he looks to the south, the lights of the city Mehola remind him of the prophet Elisha. Each night when he looks up at the Northern Star he says that heroes from the Bible reappear. He imagines the leader and judge Gideon at the Harod stream picking three hundred soldiers for war, and the prophetess on Mt. Tabor singing the song she sang after a war as thanks to G-d. Then poet ends the poem by saying that the holiness of all these places that he sees is still there, and by saying that he is living in history.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">Coming from the United States, where all you can do there is dream about walking in places that our fathers walked and lived in, being able to live in these places is still amazing to me every day. The way the poet describes Israel reflects my own personal feelings towards Israel. When I go to see places in Israel on hikes or just a regular walk I’ll be on, I look around me and think to myself- how amazing this is, that I am walking in the same places that my ancestors did thousands of years ago. I’ll also think that our G-d appeared to great people in exactly these places. When I’m looking at a place, similar to the poet, I think of the historical and biblical events that happened in that specific place. This poem describes my feelings towards Israel.

=<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">Reflection = <span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">Over the course of this project I definitely met my expectations. My expectations were to learn about what Nefesh B’Nefesh does for people because I feel that I share a feeling with them which is the importance of helping people immigrate to Israel. I also wanted to find a way to express my feelings towards Israel in a special way, and I feel that the poem I analyzed really reflected the way I feel about Israel and why I think that Israel is so special. The most successful part of my project was the literary connection because I was able to find a poem that was exactly what I was looking for. It really described my feelings about Israel. This project was really meaningful to me and I enjoyed working on it.

=<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">Works Cited = <span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">Shefler, Gil. “Layoffs at Nefesh B’Nefesh due to fund raising dip.” //The Jerusalem Post.// The Jerusalem Post, February 6, 2011. Web. February 7, 2011. <span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">Moon, Deborah. “Eilon Hoter home in Israel.” //Jewish Review.// Jewish Review, 15 July 2010. Web. 7 February 2011. <span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">“Nefesh B’Nefesh Aliyah Services.” //Nefesh B’Nefesh.// Nefesh B’Nefesh. Web. 10 February 2011. <span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">Goldberg, Kadish. “The View from Tirat Zvi.” //Israelvisit.co.il.// //The Pregnant Pen.// Poetry from Israel. Web. 10 April 2011.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">__Graphics:__ <span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">Ou.org. Web. 7 February 2011. <span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">//Los Angeles// //Times World//. Los Angeles Times World. Web. 7 February 2011. <span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">“First Summer NBN Aliyah Flight Arrives on Tuesday.” //The Yeshiva World News.// The Yeshiva World News, Tuesday, 7 July 2009. Web. 7 February 2011.