Janice's Favorite Photos

Bari's Favorite Photos

Note from Hazy Flint !

From: hazy flint [flinthazy@gmail.com]
Sent: Friday, March 23, 2012 8:44 AM
To: Fein, Prof. Beverly D.
Subject: Re: Thank you for Tour

Dear Professor Beverly,
I am deeply touched by this beautiful e-mail. Thank you so much for your warm, very complimentary and kind words.
I am thrilled that I was able to make the tour meaningful for the group... and what a unique group! What a privelege to have guided  such prestigious people in the group - Professor!
sincerely.
Hazy

On Thu, Mar 15, 2012 at 11:41 PM, Fein, Prof. Beverly D. <FeinB@sacredheart.edu> wrote:

Hazy,

I just wanted once again to thank you for your wonderful tour today at Yad VaShem.  (I am the group member with family survivors from Radom.)  As I mentioned to you this afternoon, I have been to Yad VaShem before --although not since the addition-- and have also been to many other museums of the Shoa.  I was skeptical about the need for a guide for this group, thinking to myself that just walking around independently would be more than sufficient.  Let me tell you again how wrong I was!  You immediately connected with our group and each of us felt a personal connection with you -- as if we were with a small group hearing someone's story and not a group of almost 30 participants.  Your knowlege and your passion were clearly conveyed to all of us and I cannot imagine any other way to have experienced Yad VaShem today.  This was a very special tour that was very meaningful for me; everyone in our group seems to have had the same response to you -- you were wonderful!

Thank you so much again for working with us and for making our encounter with Yad VaShem, the memories and the historical implications, so special.

Beverly Fein
Co-President
Congregation B'nai Torah
Trumbull, CT

Follow-up pictures and additional Blog info...

Please remember that our group will have a follow-up get together on April 1, 2012, including a speaker from AIPAC. 

I will be continuing to post to the blog site at http://www.bnaitorahct.blogspot.com/.

In the meantime, for anyone who would like to pick out some of their favorite Photos that they took from our trip, please send these to me electronically at jefflevi@earthlink.net.  Please send them as JPG Files or zipped into a ZIP file and attach to your email.  I will then take these photos and post them to the blog for inclusion in the blog 'book' (I'm looking into that...)

Thanks so much for a wonderful trip -- we couldn't have had such a great trip without all of you !!

Note from Schlomo Kessel

Dear Rabbi Brodie and all the wonderful members of the Bnai Torah Family,

Only a few days have passed since we said goodbye here at the Emunah Center in Afula to the participants of the Bnai Torah mission to Israel after a very special "mifgash" (encounter) spread over 2 days. The most important and significant element of the entire experience, both during our trip together on the Golan Heights - the chocolate factory, the fun lunch and the visit to the olive oil factory - and the group's visit to the Emunah Center for lunch the following afternoon - was the feeling of "chavershaft" and being together like one big happy family. The children had a wonderful time and enjoyed the warm embrace and attention.

I would like to thank each and every member of mishpachat Bnai Torah, and in particular, all who contributed so generously to the Heels for Hope initiative. The children are extremely grateful for this unique gesture and will most certainly enjoy their new shoes.

We are very touched by how the Emunah Center and the children have become so significant in the lives of so many at Bnai Torah. We are family.

“Thousands of candles can be lit from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness is not decreased when shared with others” (Tibetan proverb). I thank you for sharing with our children and making their lives better, and look forward to seeing you again soon.

May I take this opportunity to wish you all a Joyous and Kosher Passover.

Shlomo Kessel

--

THE EMUNAH CENTER - YOUR MISHPOCHE IN ISRAEL

Shlomo Kessel - Executive Director

Emunah Children's Center

50 Yehoshua Hankin Street

Afula Israel 18255

Tel: 972-4-6429542

Mobile: 972-52-4239512

MAKING LIFE BETTER

Some additional photos from our days with the Emunah Center kids...

(DAY 11) Afula and the Emunah Children's Center

We started off this morning with a trip to Safed (pronounced Tzfat).  This is the highest city in Israel, a small village really, an artists enclave, located on a mountaintop with many a winding path.

An artist at work in his shoppe



Walking down the main road full of shops

 We visited an old synagogue in town, that houses many old scrolls and books...

Visiting the old synagogue

Inside with the center reading table

Old books and scrolls

check out the lights!

Yosi opened up the Torah scroll for us to see!

The Rabbi looks like he's ready for his sermon

Some music from Yosi.  He promised he would send us a CD of tunes ...

Just a gathering of 7th graders on a field trip

We stopped at a Talis Shoppe specializing in hand woven wool Talit... i.e. very expensive.


The Talis maker's shoppe
All from hand woven wool !



The expert shows us how it is done, and explained the process...

Next we staopped off at this Candle Shoppe - very unique candles that are really works of art...


The Candle Shoppe -- Don't miss this...



Yes these are made of wax

Chess anyone?

Or how about this super-dee-duper Havdallah Candle

From Safed we travelled to Afula to visit the Emunah Children's center.  Prior to our trip we held a fundraiser called Heels for Hope. Congregants of B'nai Torah, families of our Talmud Torah, and friends and families of our Israeli Travelers participated in raising money for the Children's Center.  Today we will present our donation to the center and take a tour of their facilities.

Greetings from Emunah!

We had lunch at the dining hall with some of the children...

Hey -- Guess who met us at the Children's center ??  Remember Yael, our Israeli Emissary from last year?  Thanks to email contact from Margery - She visited with us on on tour of the Children's center!  Hi Yael!

Schlomo telling us about what the Center provides for the children here

Next we toured a residence dormatory for teenage children.

The playground area

Rabbi Colin and Yael

Next we visited the art room and saw
some very artistic works by the children

Back to the dining hall, we had a performance !



Music and dancing



The girls performed too.

Then we all decorated some hearts to be displayed on a large "poster" ...

Debbie presenting Schlomo with our Heels for Hope donation

A group photo in front of the new poster we made

Next door to the Afula Children's center is a synagogue.  Anita's family has deep ties to this synagogue, many were founders of the synagogue, and we found numerous plaques with the Batt name on them.

She talked to us about how meaningful this visit was, since on prior visits she has not been able to get in to see the inside.  She also told us about one of her relatives who came to Afula, and was a runner of refugees during and after WWII.  She was bestowed one of the highest honors by her native country.  Wow!

Check out the plaques here with the Batt name in Hebrew

The outside of the synagogue in Afula

After our visit to the Children's center, we travelled to Caesarea, on the coast of the Mediterranean.  This is north of Tel Aviv, and was one of Roman King Herrod's most crowing achievements.  The port he built here was one of the largest ports in history.  Some of the ruins can still be seen...

In front of the Moat



Can you imagine the moat filled with water?



Doris and Bari

Margery and Susan

Yosi playing this small guitar like instrument
It has a BIG sound.
Janice is moved to Dance...

Hey ! Hey !
What a beautiful weather day today.

Some parting comments from Yosi
in a small archway above a cistern

The sun is setting on a great trip -
One last group shot in front of the aquaduct along the coast

Sun disappearing in the west
from the bus window

We ate dinner at a Moroccan restaurant near Jaffa - coming full circle to where we began the trip. 

After dinner dancing

Arriving home on Wednesday morning
Bye!!

Heading home from the parking lot

Alone, with our thoughts of our wonderful experience in Israel