I had the unique opportunity to volunteer at the Learning Center in the Dr. Helena Kagan Youth Center this past summer. I helped facilitate enrichment activities in English as a second language for neighborhood children and adults in Katamonim, an underprivileged area in Jerusalem. To say that I learned more from them is an understatement Continue Reading »
This summer I participated in the Volunteer & Study track of the Conservative Yeshiva. Skilled Volunteers for Israel set up my volunteer assignment as a counselor at the YMCA Peace Camp. The experience was truly a treat. Everyday brought new challenges, each needing to be solved in different languages and in different ways. I was Continue Reading »
The purpose of my trip was personal growth as a Jew, a member of the second generation of European Jews who lived through the Holocaust and a chef. During these past few weeks, I found way more than that. I learned what it is to fall in love with a country. Belgium is the country Continue Reading »
I cannot believe that in a few more days my work at the Gan will come to an end. Never in my wildest imagination did I expect to become so attached to the staff and the children during a three week placement. I expected an opportunity to experience an immersion into a segment of the Continue Reading »
Israel…… Even writing the Word brings tears to my eyes. This is not a trip that you can simply make by reserving flight, hotel, and tours and expect to have an authentic experience of the country and the people. Somehow I understood this and knew that I had to make a positive contribution to this Continue Reading »
This summer (2016), I came to Jerusalem to study and volunteer. My volunteer assignment was in a learning center in a working class Jerusalem neighborhood where I volunteered three afternoons a week for five weeks. I was assigned to work with elementary school age children. To get their attention during the hot summer months I Continue Reading »
Although I only spent two weeks at ‘Melabev Memory Club English’, it really made a lasting impression, and I was sorry when my time there came to an end. Skilled Volunteers for Israel was incredibly helpful in setting up the placement for my specific requirements – a significant one being that I speak no Hebrew. Continue Reading »
Last summer I knew I wanted to spend the summer in Israel. However, here I was a mature woman in my 50’s, a New York City Department of Education teacher of English as a Second Language as well as Reading, English and History. Every Israel volunteer summer program I found was geared to young people Continue Reading »
מוגבל, in Hebrew, means limited. The individuals who live at Israel Elwyn are labeled by this term. But, they are not defined by this word. Who amongst us is not מוגבל, limited? Yet, are we not all whole, precious, worthwhile souls, regardless of our skills, abilities, goals, ambitions, competence, talents, awards, degrees, achievements? Do we Continue Reading »
This summer I volunteered at Melabev three times a week for three weeks. Melabev is a day care center for individuals suffering from Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia. My role, in its essence, was to listen. What did I hear? Stories. So many stories, like snapshots from the past. Reimagined, sparked from some suggestion, Continue Reading »
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