The children of the MetroWest family mission get to know the children of Ofakim just before embarking on a mitzva project together in a local nursing home. Facilitating the get-together is Inbal Bistri, a former MetroWest rishona and youth counselor of the group.
January 03, 2008
JERUSALEM — Maya Bea Schechner of Short Hills and Eden Turjeman of Ofakim were raised thousands of miles away from each other. But on MetroWest’s family mission to Israel they found out how much they had in common.
In the first United Jewish Communities of MetroWest NJ family mission in a decade, 14 families — comprising 47 people, including 21 children — came to Israel. One of the highlights of their Dec. 22-Jan. 1 visit was a day spent in Ofakim, MetroWest’s sister community in the Negev under the Jewish Agency’s Partnership 2000 program.
The group joined several local families volunteering at a nursing home. The Israelis and Americans bonded as they painted flower pots, stained lawn furniture, and planted seeds at the site.
One seed that is sure to blossom is the connection between Maya Bea, 15, and Eden, 11, who exchanged e-mail addresses and phone numbers after hours of painting and talking as much as they could manage without completely understanding each other’s languages. Their conversation was conducted mostly in basic Hebrew, which Schechner learned at MetroWest’s Central Hebrew High School.
The girls talked about the similarities and differences in their lives and how many siblings they have. They taught each other the names of the colors in their native languages as they applied those colors to flower pots at the nursing home.
“It’s my first time having an American friend,” Eden said following the encounter.
Their mothers will also keep in touch after Ruti Azulay Turjeman and June Schechner took turns telling the stories of their families, who originated in Morocco and Denmark, respectively.
Maya Bea donated books from her bat mitzva to the schoolchildren of Ofakim. Her mother said it was important to set an example for the other children, because Maya Bea was one of the oldest youngsters on this mission.
“We think it’s never too late to do a mitzva,” Schechner said.
Jacob Wieseneck of West Orange creates a colorful atmosphere at the Ofakim nursing home. Working with him is Julie Rosenberg, assistant campaign director at United Jewish Communities of MetroWest NJ..
UJC MetroWest Israel operations director Amir Shacham was pleased to see the bonding between the Turjeman and Schechner families.
“For me this activity is a microcosm of everything we do, because what’s important is the encounter between the two communities,” Shacham said. “Our projects and platforms are just an opportunity for the two communities to interact. What’s most important is the relationships that are developing as we speak.”
Lisa Lisser, who cochaired the mission, said its goal was to teach the children of MetroWest why their parents do so much to support UJC’s efforts in Israel and around the world.
She and cochair Donna Davidson started planning the mission in August 2006 during the Second Lebanon War. The war provided an impetus to get the mission off the ground, but they made sure to wait until the war ended to start publicizing it.
The families came to the Jewish state despite the constant Kassam rocket attacks on southern Israel. The group skipped a planned visit to Kibbutz Erez, MetroWest’s partner community near the Gaza border, which has been hit hard by rockets. Ofakim is for now outside the ever-improving reach of the rockets.
Lisser recalled the visit to MetroWest of a delegation from Ofakim three years ago, when the visitors were asked if they feared the spate of suicide bombings that were raging at the time. The group from Ofakim said they were not afraid, because they did not think a suicide bomber would bother with the small development town.
“They said not to worry about them, but now that’s changed,” Lisser said. “People are concerned that it’s just a matter of time before the rockets can reach here.”
Lisser said that UJC MetroWest had explored the possibility of renovating bomb shelters in Ofakim now so they would be ready should the need arise. She said that despite the Kassams, no one backed out of the mission.
“The planning of the trip and the treatment by the people here have well exceeded my expectations,” Davidson said. “All the people here have gone above and beyond to make us feel wonderful. My kids are happy. I am happy. It’s terrific.”
Michael Fishman of Short Hills, who came on the mission with his wife, Pamela, and two children, said it was the first time in Israel for the youngsters and the first time in 30 years for him. He said he was glad to expose his children to their counterparts in Ofakim.
“We thought about coming to Israel in the past but we weren’t ready until now,” Fishman said. “The kids are having a blast. It’s like one big play date. They have made many friends and they are learning. They are working on projects together with the Israeli kids and they are laughing together.”
Mission cochair Donna Davidson and her son Max, on right, pitch in for a mitzva project at the nursing home in Ofakim, a partner community of MetroWest.
The group also visited the Klinghoffer Art Igloo in Ofakim, where top Israeli artists come to work with local children. The children from New Jersey presented art supplies they had collected to the students who attend after-school programs at the igloo. Fishman asked one of the children for his autograph so he would have it when he becomes famous. The young artist laughed and obliged.
Besides Ofakim, the mission visited sites in Jerusalem, the Dead Sea, Masada, Tel Aviv, and Rehovot. They also stopped in Rishon Letzion to meet with the Ethiopian immigrant families involved in the MetroWest-sponsored Atzmaut program, which has become a model for the rest of the country. Wherever they went, the mission participants made a point of bonding with the local Israelis. Schechner said she met a young girl at an encounter 16 years ago, and they still keep in touch now that the girl is grown up and has a little girl of her own. She left open the possibility that the same thing will happen with Eden Turjeman. “We considered hiring a guide and doing Israel with our children on our own,” Schechner said. “But then we learned about the family mission and decided it was the best way to expose our children to Israel. We decided it was important to form friendships with the people of our community and the children here.”