Active retirees find spiritual, emotional connection to Israel INCLUSION MATTERS August 08, 2018 By Rachael Wurtman, Advocate columnist FacebookTwitterGoogle+EmailCopy Link
TEL AVIV, Israel Israel fills your Jewish soul. You feel a very special spiritual connection, explained Rosalie from her home in LaSalle Village in Newton. Age 89 and a member of Temple Emanuel, she has traveled with the Canadians and American Active Retirees in Israel Program 14 or 15 times. CAARI includes volunteering for four weeks in Tel Aviv and touring many sites in Israel. I felt a very special spiritual connection when sitting by the wall, sticking notes in cracks, said Mark, a five-time participant from Peabody who attends services at Congregation Ner Tamid. I felt the presence of G-d. At a Friday night service at the Orthodox-egalitarian minyan in Jerusalem, Or Chadash, young women sang Lechah Dodi Lekrat Kallah Come My Beloved, to Greet the [Shabbat] Bride while dancing in a circle around a bride-to-be. Amy, from Easton and member of Temple Chayai Shalom, said she was moved by the experience. Israel is an incredibly humane place, Rosalie said. America could learn from observing the way veterans are treated at the veteran centers, and the way Israelis care about children. Newton s Rachael Wurtman, J.D., M.S. is a special education consultant whose areas of expertise include mental health and Autism Spectrum Disorder. Contact her at rachael.wurtman@gmail.com.
Veterans have special gyms and pools. Because there is such a large population of handicapped persons, picnic tables at the parks are adapted so that wheelchairs can fit in the middle of the tables. Children are adored. Teachers hug them; children stay after class because they need hugs. All of the musicians who play in the Israel Philharmonic are required to spend time visiting schools, introducing children to music and to instruments. The musicians play age-appropriate music; for kindergarteners, they play young children s songs. Rosalie visits Israel every year because it fills me up emotionally, she said. Israeli society has its tensions; however, there is unity for the sake of the common good and mutual respect for those who have experienced loss. On Tu b Shevat, Amy assisted in tree planting. She watched as Israelis from all walks of life, including secular, Orthodox and Arab, arrived at the Jewish National Fund forests to plant trees. It was a beautiful, spiritual experience to work together to beautify Israel, she said. Rosalie found especially moving when families who had lost members serving in the Israel Defense Force entered the tree-planting area first, while others waited. As the homeland for Jewish refugees, Israel is very diverse; however, as Jews, we are all connected. In the elementary schools in Tel Aviv, Mark met young children who had walked hundreds of miles from Eritrea and children from many other countries. The CAARI participants with whom I spoke, including Burt, from Winthrop, a member of Temple Tifereth Israel; a seven-time participant, Roberta, from Swampscott; and Cliff, from Cambridge, a member of Eitz Chayim, described the personal relationships that they developed with Israelis in the communities where they stayed and volunteered. Amy noted teachers frequently invited them to their homes. The program has a strong Boston connection. Susan Horwitz, the administrative director, lived in the Boston area for 20 years before she made aliyah to Tel Aviv in 1995. The six people with whom I spoke represent a small sample of the large contingent from the Boston area: at least 17 people from Boston have participated in CAARI since 2010. While CAARI has several missions, its primary purpose is to help participants experience the joy and delight of living and traveling in Israel; for them to learn about the culture and land of Israel; to make a meaningful contribution; and to form connections with Israelis and with each other. The basic program consists of a two-to-six-week program for active retirees ages 50 and older. Based in Tel Aviv, it includes four weeks of volunteer work in the morning, and over 40 tours and special activities several afternoons every week.
There are speakers several nights every week. Participants spend two weeks in other cities, including Jerusalem. There are three types of volunteer opportunities: tutoring elementary school students in English; gardening in a botanical garden; and assisting nurses and providing companionship in a rehabilitation hospital. Most of the CAARI participants with whom I spoke had elected to volunteer in the school; many spoke of this experience as extremely meaningful and said they had returned multiple times. The volunteer segment of the program emphasizes the personal relationships between the volunteers and the people whom they serve at the sites, which are the same every year. CAARI participants said they formed connections with the children: when they return for a new year of volunteering, the children and teachers are excited to see them. Before volunteers start to work at the school or the hospital, Susan, the administrative director, and Neil, the operations director, accompany them to the sites and introduce them to their supervisors. Volunteers who are returning from previous years also make the introductions. At the school, they work in pairs, tutoring groups of two-to-five children in Grades 4 through 6. During breaks, volunteers spend time meeting with the teachers. According to Rosalie, spending time inside an Israeli school provided her with a perspective and an appreciation for Israeli society that she could not have experienced otherwise. Roberta weeded yellow flowers in the Tel Aviv Botanical Garden. With five other volunteers and a 20-year-old Israeli staffer, they chatted and sang as they worked together. CAARI offers participants the opportunity to learn and experience Israel s history, science including archeology and culture, including music, art, literature, architecture, film, religion, social action and disability services. Activities planned for 2019 include kosher winery tours, kosher cooking and baking classes, nature reserve hikes, and visits to the Western Wall tunnels and the Levi Eshkol and Mount Herzl Museums. CAARI typically attracts single and married individuals who in their 70s. About 25 people participate in each two-week segment. Some join only for the travel segment; others, only to volunteer. CAARI is especially welcoming for individuals who are single and who are reluctant to travel alone to Israel or as part of a group in which everyone else is married. The CAARI experience is a wonderful opportunity for camaraderie and developing close friendships with one another, Roberta said.
We became a family, Burt said. After the fourth day, Susan noted everyone bonding over lunch as they discussed their volunteer work. Susan plays an essential role in fostering connection and caring for the program participants. By living for an extended period in Tel Aviv, participants learn to navigate the city. Cliff, Roberta and Mark explored extensively on foot, discovering architectural marvels, beaches, grocery stores, bus lines, neighborhood synagogues and laundry facilities. Cliff said that after spending two weeks in Tel Aviv, he had the feeling that he was in a familiar place: people greeted him and he recognized faces. Mark said his favorite aspect of the program was the opportunity to experience things he would not have on his own, including meeting representatives of the Samaritan and Yemenite communities; participating in an archeological excavation in Jerusalem; climbing through the tunnels in the City of David; picking oranges at Project Leket, a food bank; and meeting Palmach veterans. All of the participants whom I interviewed agreed the most meaningful experience was participating in the annual national tree-planting event. Every year CAARI participates in the National Tu b Shevat Event in Israel, Susan explained. We hand out thousands of trees to all that come to a park to plant. There is an Israeli flag in each hole dug for each new sapling. Families, kindergarten classes, seniors, people with dogs, from all over Israel, come to plant. It is a joyous time in Israel and very moving to see so many participating in the non-religious holiday. Susan Horwitz and Nahum Eisenstadt, the licensed tour guide who accompanies CAARI members on tours, plan an incredibly rich and varied agenda for 2019, which they hope will develop pride in our heritage and in our accomplishments as a nation, as well as a sense of belonging to the Jewish and Israeli people. For program details, please visit caarivolunteers.com