Odelya's+Project

toc =﻿Rationale:=

What can American Jews do to help their brothers in Israel?
I've chosen to do my project about a family friend who is a philanthropist. He is a business man who manages a major American department store and although he lives in America, we might as well call him a long distance Israeli citizen because of all the charity and goodness he does for the Jews and the state of Israel. Most of us don’t even notice, but Israel just like many other countries has needs (regarding everything our state goes through, our country probably has even more and special needs). For example, since the pinuy from Gush Katif, my family friend has been supporting and constantly sending many different things to the mefunim who are currently living in their temporary homes in such difficult conditions. While others are forgetting about our brothers in distress, this certain philanthropist, amongst a small group of others, are still doing as much as they can in order to help them. We can't even imagine such grace and kindness. In addition, he continuously supports Israeli orphanages, while also sending donations and anything else he has to broken and troubled families. This is only a small amount of things this philanthropist does for the sake of helping the Jews, and the state of Israel. Despite the long way and the distance between America and Israel, my family friend is very connected to the land of Israel, so he comes to visit here at least twice a year- on Shabbat Parashat Chayay Sarah- this Shabbat he spends in Chevron. While he's there, he brings donations from America, and gives them to the place. He also comes to spend Yom Yerushalaim here in Israel. While doing this project, and talking to the philanthropist, I hope to learn about more of the things he does and although I believe that the ultimate Jew lives in Israel (as does he), I do believe that there is a small handful of people who can be ultimate Jews because of their actions, despite the fact that they haven’t yet come home. Also, I hope to bring up some of those who have different, hard lifestyles and others that we aren’t even aware of, who need help and support. I wish to learn from my family friend and his actions how to appreciate my life and to never take things for granted. = Background Reasearch - The Costume Project =

'kostumes4kids', where did it all begin??
// "having a costume may not mean more than food or clothing, but for a few days, being able to wear a costume may be more meaningful to each child and his parents"(interview). //

 The year following the expulsion from Gush Katif was an extremely difficult year for the evacuees. Those who didn’t have anywhere to go had been living in hotels, caravans, and vacation villages. Not only that, but these families had absolutely none of their possessions and belongings since they were in storage until now- given the fact they hadn’t been given a permanent home yet.

 Many people, feeling sympathy towards our brothers and sisters, would constantly go visit the hotels, caravans and vacation villages which housed the former residents of Gush Katif, while trying to support them in any way they could. Among the visitors were a group of women from Efrat and Gush Etzion who would go every month to visit women from the different communities of Gush Katif. "As part of our Rosh Chodesh efforts to show our support for and unity with women of other communities, this year, we have been visiting women from former Gush Katif towns", says Sharon Katz, editor of the magazine 'Voices'. These women developed a close relationship with the Gush Katif families. My mother recalls that on the way home from one of the visits, to part of the communities from Nve Dkalim and Moshav Katif, currently living in Ashkelon, in January, the women began to worry about Purim. The holiday was rapidly approaching and these unfortunate children didn’t have any costumes (due to the fact that all was still in storage since they weren’t living in a permanent home yet). Marilyn Adler, an Efrat resident suggested collecting costumes for the children of Gush Katif, from families in Efrat, and the project was born.

 At first these women thought they'd be able to give out a few costumes to the children in the vacation village in Ashkelon .The number of costumes needed for this one village was a little over 130.  There was a lot of work to be done in such little time so the women and my mother began scouting for Purim costumes. They asked the residents of Efrat and Gush Etzion to donate their children's lightly used costumes or perhaps buy an extra one when they went shopping for their own children. "Weeks passed, but costumes only dribbled in" says Sharon, the women who planned on giving out costumes began to worry that the task would not be done in time. ('Voices', 7)

 Sharon adds; "A month before this, I had written an article about an incredible series of clothing shipments, funded by the National Council of Young Israel, to the people of Gush Katif, from Jews all America. I had the opportunity then to interview the Young Israel's Executive Vice President, Rabbi Pesach Lerner, about the shipments." Rabbi Lerner said "There's so much more to do. We can't forget the people of Gush Katif." Sharon Katz told Rabbi Lerner about the costume project and asked him if he had any ideas of how to acquire some costumes. Rabbi Lerner was very enthusiastic, and got into the idea; "How much? How many? When? Where etc? – Let's make this story happen- a Purim costume for every kid!"('Voices', 7)

 Simultaneously, my mother emailed a family friend, who manages major American department stores and asked how much 100 costumes would cost for the children of Gush Katif. He replied, "I'll donate 80. The rest, cost." He got to work immediately looking for folks traveling to Israel who could bring boxes of costumes. Every day another call came; from Tel Aviv, Ashkelon, Jerusalem. Everyone had boxes from the American philanthropist. Meanwhile, Rabbi Lerner had gone into action. Four days after Sharon Katz had first mentioned the costumes to him. Rabbi Lerner had already launched a costume campaign in America, and sent out flyers for 'Kostumes4kids of Katif'.

 "Suddenly our goal had changed", says Katz in her article. "Now, we'd buy and distribute as many costumes as Rabbi Lerner could raise money for".

 That very same manager who was in contact with my mother, said; "when I received an email from Judy Rosenstark asking for some costumes for the kids from Gush Katif;to this day, I think all she wanted was a few costumes, but as time went by, it was decided that all kids should get a costume" (interview). The new goal in this project was 1800 costumes by Rosh Chodesh Adar. My mother made contact with all the different displaced communities, getting lists of children's ages in order to provide the right size costumes for all. A sum total of 236 emails remain on my mother's computer until this day, exchanged between my mother, the manager of the major department stores in America, Sharon Katz, and Rabbi Lerner, the people who volunteered to drive to the different communities as delivery men, in addition to all the communications between my mother and the many displaced communities of Gush Katif and the Northern Shomron. The emails allowed the project to be carried out in an organized fashion, in order not to leave anyone out. All of the costumes were collected and brought over to my house. I watched people come over and sort the costumes by gender and size, and package them with the correct amounts for each community. I saw with my own eyes the readiness and happiness of everyone who came to help with anything they were able to for the evacuees of Gush Katif whether it was schlepping the costumes over, or taking them to bring to the mefunim or even just come help with the counting and dividing the costumes to all 21 communities of Gush Katif. At the end of the counting, there were a total of 2030 costumes all ready to hand out to the children of Gush Katif. Rabbi Lerner said; "if we can make 2000 kids forget about the real problems they face, even for just a few minutes, that is a serious Mitzvah. As you hand out the costumes you will see the smiles, the thanks. Then we will know the truth" ('Voices', 10).

 Toby Greenwald, a resident of Efrat, came to pick up costumes for her grandchildren, themselves evacuated from Atzmona. She was so touched that she subsequently wrote an article about the project, which was published in a Long Island local paper. Says Greenwald "it was then that I realized the extent of which the Purim costume project was not about money or about an afternoon at the sewing machine. It was about Am Yisrael sharing their love with their beloved brethren of Katif who have been abandoned by the  Government of Israel, but will never be abandoned by the people of Israel, as least some of them"(Greenwald, 1).

 When I went with my mother to the Shalom Hotel to deliver costumes to the evacuees from Nve Dkalim, Dikla Cohen, the unofficial spokeswoman for the residents there, invited us into her hotel room. The room was small, with barely enough space for her family, and yet they invited me to sit with them and share the pizza they had ordered for their small children. They wouldn’t take no for an answer and were not satisfied until I sat down and ate pizza with their young triplets. They were so thrilled to finally be able to give, and invite in a guest, after months of taking. As we unpacked the costumes, Dikla started to recall costumes that she had made for her children, never to be seen again. Her children were so excited and began trying the costumes on. The next day Dikla called my mother and said that because of the costumes we've brought, her kids slept through the night for the first time.  In my home today, my mother has a folder, filled with thank you notes. Some are written by parents, some are pictures drawn by children. All are filled with gratitude and appreciation for the costume project. As Toby Greenwald wrote, it wasn't only about the money, it was the fact that Am Yisrael didn’t forget them that made such an impact on the evacuees.

=﻿Literary Connection=

'An Israeli song' by Shlomo Gronich and Ehud Manor
Your snow, and my rain,

Your valley, and my river,

Finally meet in an Israeli Coast.

With all of the dreams and the yearning,

With all of the memories, the good, and the bad.

In a new- old song that reunites the tear,

Here's what's good and how pleasant.

In a Greek rhythm with a Polish accent,

A Yemenite trill with a Romanian violin,

Who am I? Who am I? Yes I am!

My god, my god!

An Israeli song.

Your valley, and my hill,

Your forest, and my desert,

Finally meet in Israeli views.

With all of the dreams and the yearning,

With all of the memories, the good, and the bad.

In a new- old song that reunites the tear,

Here's what's good and how pleasant.

In a Greek rhythm…

Your Lamed, and my Het,

My Ayin, and your Resh,

Finally meet with an Israeli drum

With all of the dreams and the yearning,

With all of the memories, the good, and the bad.

In a new- old song that reunites the tear,

Here's what's good and how pleasant

In a Greek rhythm…

'The Faces of Israel'
 In my mind, one of the many things that makes Israel more special than any other country is the variety of people and cultures that can be found here. We have Israelis, Americans, Russians, Ethiopians, Druze, Yemenites, South Africans, and people of so many other cultures and ethnic groups who have different customs and lifestyles. Some were born here, and some came here on Aliya. Some came by plane, and some came by foot. Some came with their families, and others came by themselves. Some people who make Aliya, learn the Hebrew language right away and live a happy life in Israel without a problem, while there are others who have trouble acclimating to a land where people don't speak their language or live the lifestyle to which they are accustom. The song 'An Israeli Song' by Shlomo Gronich and Ehud Manor, shows how this to comes to fruition. In Israel, everyone is different. The cultures and lifestyles are diverse, and yet, we all find a way to connect to one another by building Israel and making it our home.  I thank Hashem everyday for giving me the privilege to be born in Israel and live a happy life here. Although some people must make a bigger effort to come to Israel and others are born here, we are all in this together. We fight for Israel and we pray that someday all the Jews will be in Israel. We are the faces of Israel.

=**﻿Reflection**=

 When I first heard about the project, I knew this would not be just another school assignment, rather it would be something more special and meaningful. While working on the project I recognized that it had turned out to be so much more than what I expected. The work I was up against was expansive and challenging. Learning about the special people who I've mentioned in my project was so important and they have truly inspired me in so many different ways. Specifically, I was inspired by their true love for the land of Israel and the people living here. I was amazed to see that there are people who would do and give anything for Israel. Now, I finally understand that there are things most of us are barely aware of, or that may not seem important or meaningful to us, but there are a handful of people out there, who put their entire life into giving and helping others less fortunate than themselves, and they make a tremendous difference in other's lives. After learning about some of these types of people and some of the things they accomplish, I can't imagine a world without the type of benevolence they perform on a daily basis. <span style="direction: ltr; display: block; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left; unicode-bidi: embed;"> I'm happy I had the opportunity to do this project. I've learned so much from it. I feel that working on this project for all this time really strengthened my connection and love to the land and the people of Israel. I am grateful that I can say that I live in Israel and I hope that all of the Jews who don’t live in Israel just yet, will soon come back home. =Work Cited= <span style="direction: ltr; display: block; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left; unicode-bidi: embed;">// "Having a costume may not mean more than food or clothing, but for a few days, being able to wear a costume may be more meaningful to each child and his parents". // Voices magazine, March 2006.

<span style="direction: ltr; display: block; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left; unicode-bidi: embed;"> Katz, Sharon. //"As part of our rosh chodesh efforts to show our support for and unity with women of other communities. This year, we have been visiting women from former Gush Katif towns"//. Voices magazine, March 2006.

Katz, Sharon. //"Weeks passed, but costumes only dribbled in"//. Voices magazine, March 2006.

Katz, Sharon. //"A month before this, I had written an article about an incredible series of clothing shipments, funded by the National Council of Young Israel, to the people of Gush Katif, from Jews all America. I had the opportunity then to interview the Young Israel's Executive Vice President, Rabbi Pesach Lerner, about the shipments."// Voices magazine, March 2006.

Rabbi Lerner. //"There's so much more to do. We can't forget the people of Gush Katif."// Voices magazine, 2006.

//"I'll donate 80. The rest cost."// Interview, January 17, 2011.

Katz, Sharon. //"Suddenly our goal had changed now, we'd buy and distribute as many costumes as Rabbi Lerner could raise money for".// Voices magazine, march 2006//.//

// "when I received an email from Judy Rosenstark asking for some costumes for the kids from Gush Katif; to this day, I think all she wanted was a few costumes, but as time went by, it was decided that all kids should get a costume". // Interview, January 17, 2011

<span style="direction: ltr; display: block; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left; unicode-bidi: embed;"> Greenwald, Toby. //"It was then that I realized the extent of which the Purim costume project was not about money or about an afternoon at the sewing machine. It was about Am Yisrael sharing their love with their beloved brethren of Katif who have been abandoned by the government of Israel, but will never be abandoned by the people of Israel, as least some of them."// 'Costumes light up their eyes' article, March, 2006.

<span style="direction: ltr; display: block; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left; unicode-bidi: embed;"> 'An Israeli Song'-__[]__

<span style="direction: ltr; display: block; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left; unicode-bidi: embed;">__ Pictures, graphics: __ <span style="direction: ltr; display: block; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left; unicode-bidi: embed;"> 'Voices' magazine March 2006 <span style="direction: ltr; display: block; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left; unicode-bidi: embed;"> [] <span style="direction: ltr; display: block; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left; unicode-bidi: embed;"> [] <span style="direction: ltr; display: block; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left; unicode-bidi: embed;"> <span style="direction: ltr; display: block; line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left; unicode-bidi: embed;"> [|www.michaeltotten.com/images/Israeli%2520]