Olim
"Olim" in Hebrew means "immigrants." By coincidence on Tuesday I went to two programs about immigrants.
The first was arranged by a friend named Moshe Shamir, who I have mentioned before. He is a very dedicated man (and a Holocaust survivor) who runs a private charity called "This land is mine," which collects money for impoverished new immigrants in Netanya. Every year he runs a summer camp for Ethiopian kids. I was invited to the opening ceremony of the camp at a hut on a quiet street in a poor neighborhood. Inside 35 kids aged 8-10 were seated on one side while some of the donors who had made it possible were seated on the other.
Moshe introduced everybody, including the camp helpers and staff, and then there was some singing and presentations. He explained (in Hebrew and English) the operation of the camp, each child gets a breakfast, snack and lunch, and trips to educational and fun locations. I felt a little awkward, since all the kids were black and all the donors were old white people, but everyone was very friendly. I didn't have the opportunity to tell the kids that I grew up in as poor a neighborhood in East London as theirs. This is a very worthwhile charity, and if anyone wants to contribute I'll put the details at the end.
From there I went to another program nearby that is put on annually by the Netanya Municipality and the Israel Education and Aliyah Departments. It was entitled "The tribes of Israel," and was a description of all the different groups that have immigrated and that make up Israel, including the Russians (Yiddish speaking), the Yemenites (Taimanim), the Germans (Yecces), the Anglos (English-speaking), the Sephardim, the Ethiopians, etc. They had a craft show and showed a film taken in the different ulpanim (Hebrew schools) in Netanya. In my class at the ulpan there are 12 people and 11 nationalities (US, Canadian, Irish, British, Argentinian, Ukrainian, French, German, Hungarian, Swedish and 2 Russians) Then Naomi's class put on a skit in which each one played a member of a different group. Naomi played an English lady who asked for milk in her tea (laughter). The Yemenite complained that when they came here they didn't have tea let alone milk. The French lady (the most recent immigrants) said she expected an apartment by the sea, and the Yemenite said that when they came they had to live in shacks (ma'abarot). The Russian complained about everybody else (the audience laughed). But, in the end all was well, they linked arms and sang a song "we're all Jews together."
The Aliya Department announced yesterday that they expect 24,000 olim in 2007. Of these, 3,600 will be North Americans, mainly brought in by the Nefesh b'nefesh (Soul to Soul) program started several years ago. It is funded by various groups including Christians, and gives loans and grants. This year they have expanded again, and in September are bringing in three Jumbo jets of immigrants on one day, one from the US/Canada one from the UK and one from France!
But, we still have our problems, currently the Immigration Department has put a hold on all "controversial" decisions regarding immigrants, including converts to Judaism, the Falash Mura from Ethiopia (who had converted to Christianity) and the Benei Menashe, a tribe from Eastern India who regard themselves as Jewish and 218 of whom have recently been converted by the Israeli rabbinate in India. These delays have caused great personal inconvenience as reported in the Jerusalem Post. As far as most of us are concerned these Jews should have no difficulty immigrating to our homeland. If you agree write a protest note to the Ministry of Absorption.
___________________
"This land is mine" Day camp for Ethiopian children, Moshe Shamir, PO Box 2266, Netanya 42122 Israel, all contributions are US-tax deductible (IRS code #13-3731528).
The first was arranged by a friend named Moshe Shamir, who I have mentioned before. He is a very dedicated man (and a Holocaust survivor) who runs a private charity called "This land is mine," which collects money for impoverished new immigrants in Netanya. Every year he runs a summer camp for Ethiopian kids. I was invited to the opening ceremony of the camp at a hut on a quiet street in a poor neighborhood. Inside 35 kids aged 8-10 were seated on one side while some of the donors who had made it possible were seated on the other.
Moshe introduced everybody, including the camp helpers and staff, and then there was some singing and presentations. He explained (in Hebrew and English) the operation of the camp, each child gets a breakfast, snack and lunch, and trips to educational and fun locations. I felt a little awkward, since all the kids were black and all the donors were old white people, but everyone was very friendly. I didn't have the opportunity to tell the kids that I grew up in as poor a neighborhood in East London as theirs. This is a very worthwhile charity, and if anyone wants to contribute I'll put the details at the end.
From there I went to another program nearby that is put on annually by the Netanya Municipality and the Israel Education and Aliyah Departments. It was entitled "The tribes of Israel," and was a description of all the different groups that have immigrated and that make up Israel, including the Russians (Yiddish speaking), the Yemenites (Taimanim), the Germans (Yecces), the Anglos (English-speaking), the Sephardim, the Ethiopians, etc. They had a craft show and showed a film taken in the different ulpanim (Hebrew schools) in Netanya. In my class at the ulpan there are 12 people and 11 nationalities (US, Canadian, Irish, British, Argentinian, Ukrainian, French, German, Hungarian, Swedish and 2 Russians) Then Naomi's class put on a skit in which each one played a member of a different group. Naomi played an English lady who asked for milk in her tea (laughter). The Yemenite complained that when they came here they didn't have tea let alone milk. The French lady (the most recent immigrants) said she expected an apartment by the sea, and the Yemenite said that when they came they had to live in shacks (ma'abarot). The Russian complained about everybody else (the audience laughed). But, in the end all was well, they linked arms and sang a song "we're all Jews together."
The Aliya Department announced yesterday that they expect 24,000 olim in 2007. Of these, 3,600 will be North Americans, mainly brought in by the Nefesh b'nefesh (Soul to Soul) program started several years ago. It is funded by various groups including Christians, and gives loans and grants. This year they have expanded again, and in September are bringing in three Jumbo jets of immigrants on one day, one from the US/Canada one from the UK and one from France!
But, we still have our problems, currently the Immigration Department has put a hold on all "controversial" decisions regarding immigrants, including converts to Judaism, the Falash Mura from Ethiopia (who had converted to Christianity) and the Benei Menashe, a tribe from Eastern India who regard themselves as Jewish and 218 of whom have recently been converted by the Israeli rabbinate in India. These delays have caused great personal inconvenience as reported in the Jerusalem Post. As far as most of us are concerned these Jews should have no difficulty immigrating to our homeland. If you agree write a protest note to the Ministry of Absorption.
___________________
"This land is mine" Day camp for Ethiopian children, Moshe Shamir, PO Box 2266, Netanya 42122 Israel, all contributions are US-tax deductible (IRS code #13-3731528).
posted by Jack Cohen at 10:52 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home