Yuval Marcus:
During my
experience in the JCM, I hosted Shmuel, who was born in Ethiopia and immigrated
to Israel when he was 7. I have hosted many Israelis before in my home, but this is the first time I
hosted someone my age who was not born in Israel. It was interesting to learn
from Shmuel about Ethiopian culture. He told us about the special bread that
his mother makes, and he taught us some simple words in Amharic. I was very
moved when he told me that he had to learn Hebrew from scratch when he arrived
in Israel. I have studied Hebrew for many years, but still find it difficult to
speak. My Israeli-born father helped translate for me. Shmuel definitely gave
me hope that anyone can learn Hebrew at any age.
I also enjoyed hearing about Shmuel’s experiences at his boarding school. He told me that all the kids sit at meals with kids who came from their own countries. They speak Hebrew in the classroom, but they can speak their native languages at meals. During Shmuel’s visit with me, he learned his brother got engaged. His brother sent a video of the engagement, and we got to see pictures of his family and his friends.
Even though Shmuel is an Ethiopian Israeli Jew and I am an American Jew, we are united by love for Israel and a feeling that Israel is a home for all Jews. What I liked most about hosting Shmuel is that we got to share a home in Boston too.
I also enjoyed hearing about Shmuel’s experiences at his boarding school. He told me that all the kids sit at meals with kids who came from their own countries. They speak Hebrew in the classroom, but they can speak their native languages at meals. During Shmuel’s visit with me, he learned his brother got engaged. His brother sent a video of the engagement, and we got to see pictures of his family and his friends.
Even though Shmuel is an Ethiopian Israeli Jew and I am an American Jew, we are united by love for Israel and a feeling that Israel is a home for all Jews. What I liked most about hosting Shmuel is that we got to share a home in Boston too.
Shachar Berkowitz Regosin:
After a day filled with getting to know the city of Boston,
the Haifa fellows spent the next day exploring and learning about the different
Jewish communities and organizations in Boston. They kicked off the Jewish
Community Tour Day with a tour of the JCC with Mark Sokoll, and then went on to
visit organizations such as Gateways, Maayim Hayim Mikveh, and CJP. Each
organization focused on different aspects of Jewish life in Boston. In the
later afternoon the Boston fellows met up with the Haifa fellows at Temple
Emanuel. After a tour of the synagogue, everyone sat down for a rabbi’s panel
with four amazing rabbis. Coming from diverse backgrounds, each rabbi
represented a different Jewish denomination. After an introduction from Jonathan
Sarna, each rabbi went on to describe his or her Jewish background. It was
amazing for the Haifa teens to see four very different rabbis with many
different theologies, points of view, and understandings of what it means to be
Jewish, in one room agreeing to openly talk about their differences. We then
went on to asking the rabbis questions and delved deeper into the intricacies
of each denomination. My group covered topics ranging from women’s rights in
Judaism, and how the denominations are changing, to the experience of being a
rabbi in the south and educating the people there about Judaism. After the
program, as the Israeli I was hosting and I were reflecting on the rabbis
panel, one of the first things she said was that though she didn’t agree with
all that the rabbis had to say, it was so interesting to her to hear the
different viewpoints. The denominations in America are so
different than the way Judaism is practiced in Israel.
Aleeza Shoenberg:
Thursday was the day we left for our Haifa-Boston shabbaton.
But the day was no less packed than usual. The day's theme was social justice.
I met the Israelis at Home for Families, an organization that tries to solve
the problem of homelessness in Boston. They told us about the troubles people
face and how the state is required to provide people with shelter, but that
those people's lives are still very difficult. We heard from one woman who was
previously homeless and she explained that after living in a shelter, it was a
great relief to, with some help, get her own apartment. She explained that just
the feeling of homelessness is terrible and it's great seeing that there are
entire organizations devoted to ridding people of that awful feeling. Still,
the job is continuous and not at all easy.Writing post cards in which we asked
people in the state house for the money needed, I realized that the issue of,
as well as the solution to, homelessness is nowhere near simple. It takes many
steps.
At MassChallenge, we met up with the rest of the cohort.
Dividing into three groups, we heard from representatives from three
organizations that provide social justice to different parts of the community.
By hearing about them and helping to put together packages, we were able to
participate in providing to the causes that these organizations stood for. Not
only was social justice a concept, but it was also put into action. At
MassChallenge, startups compete to get money to support their cause. A
passionate cause is key to creating a successful nonprofit. Social Justice day
was integral to our growth as leaders because it opened the Bostonians and the
Israelis up to real problems that face Boston on a daily basis and to
their continual forward-minded directions towards solutions.
Isy Mekler:
Tuesday,
March 31st, the 9th and last day that the Haifa cohort
was in Boston was definitely my favorite day with them. The theme of the day
was innovation. This was the day that I
along with many other Boston Diller fellows joined programming all day and we
definitely chose the right day to go.
The day
started with a Maagal Boker (morning circle) for the Israelis as every day did. The first place we had the pleasure of
visiting was District hall. I missed
this part, but from what I heard about it from other fellows and a quick
internet search I can say that it is a non-profit space “where the innovation
community can gather and exchange ideas” (according to their website), dedicated
to the spreading of new ideas. I heard
that the space was really cool and most walls were dry-erase boards that were
all covered in ideas and sketches left by other innovators. Even the architecture of the building is
striking and beautiful with a high slanted roof extending over an almost
entirely glass entrance. Then I got to
join the group at our next location, the Cambridge Innovation Center (aka CIC),
where we had lunch and then got a tour.
For me, every aspect of this place was incredible and every corner we
rounded made me want to work there more and more. The company is dedicated to helping startups
make the necessary connections to be successful and they rent those startup companies
cheap workspace. We met with Liana's friend, Stas Gayshan who is the director and he has inspiring words for us. After our tour of the
CIC we spent some time at Harvard Square because the Israelis decided they
hadn’t gotten enough shopping in yet.
This is when we got a tour of MIT from an Israeli student which was
really special and eye opening because we learned about so many of the
differences that there are between college in Israel and in America. Once the tour came to an end we met the rest
of the Americans to meet with MEET (Middle Eastern Entrepreneurs of Tomorrow)
and heard about the program they run that teaches teens connected to the middle
eastern conflict about programing and had dialogues about the conflict as
well. Then we learned a bit about MIT
Hillel, which helps Jewish college students stay in touch with their
Judaism. At this point we took a bus
back to the JCC and had our closing dinner ,which was followed by many hugs and
tears as the Israelis boarded their bus and said goodbye, until we see them
again in Israel.
