THE ZALUDA’S OF AITZ HAYIM

AND NEVE HANNA—A SPECIAL BOND

For the Zaluda family, our relationship with Neve Hanna in Kiryat Gat has taken on a personal and meaningful dimension.  Let this report not only inform you about this extraordinary center for children in Israel who are unable to stay at home, but inspire you to make Jewish living intense and worthwhile.  

In thinking about what to do last year on spring vacation, we decided it was time to once again visit Israel.  It had been two years since we had been as a family, and it seemed to be the right time.  But we wanted to do it differently this time.  Last December we met Gabi Nachmani, the Jerusalem director of Livnot, an organization devoted to doing community service projects in Israel, and a seed was planted.  Perhaps we could do a mitzvah trip! We would spend some time volunteering with Livnot.  Then, at High Holiday services, we learned about Neve Hanna and we thought – sure we’ll give money and Jacquie will “twin” for her bat mitzvah, but actions are even better.  A visit to Neve Hanna would have to be added.  And with a little planning, it happened.

            We began to plan our trip, and decided we would spend two or three days volunteering with Livnot.  As our daughters, Lauren and Jacquie are “hands on” people, we thought it would be fun to do some hands on activities, and Livnot suggested that we could paint the apartment of a needy person in Jerusalem.  When we arrived the first day to volunteer, there were many others there, some of whom were also to do some painting, some to help at a soup kitchen, and one gentleman with experience in woodworking, would repair furniture for a needy family.  On that day, we were brought to an apartment in the heart of Jerusalem that had been burned as a result of an electrical fire.  We got there and saw the incredible damage to this two room apartment which housed a family of 10.  We got to work and Jacquie quickly made friends with a little girl from Efrat who was also there to do community service in anticipation of her bat mitzvah.  She spoke English and they got along beautifully! Toward the end of the day, we were visited by the husband and wife who lived there – they expressed there amazement at how much had been done and were very moved by our work.  Although they had very little money, they brought us cookies and drinks.  It was wonderful.  On the second day of volunteering with Livnot, we were the only family there that day.  We were brought to the apartment of an elderly woman who had immigrated to Israel from Morocco in 1948.  She was wonderful! We heard a great deal about her story – how she arrived in 1948 and her husband was immediately conscripted to fight in the War of Independence, how she lived in a tent city with her young children, how she went on to have more children and how all of her children, and now her grandchildren, have served and will serve in the Israeli army.  She lost a child and a grandchild who fought for Israel at different times.  She has seen many terrorist activities while living in Jerusalem.  And like any Jewish grandmother, she proudly told us how her granddaughter and her friends had stayed with her the night before, and then told us “but I had to do everything! They didn’t clean up or anything!”  We had the impression, though, that she wouldn’t have it any other way! Before we left, she insisted that we have lunch, and she served us wonderful homemade borekas! It was terrific!

            We of course also wanted to visit and volunteer at Neve Hanna.  Through a series of emails, we were introduced to Antje, the PR director for Neve Hanna.  When we told her that we wanted to visit for a day and perhaps volunteer our time, she arranged for us to come on a day which was to culminate in the model seders.  After enjoying another hotel Israeli breakfast,  Antje came and picked us up at 8:30 and we proceeded on a nice back roads drive to Neve Hanna in Kiryat Gat.  Antje’s story is fascinating.  She is a German Christian from some small town in Germany and when she was in high school she did a history assignment that resulted in her finding out a little about the Jews who used to live in her town and who were either killed or fled or otherwise survived the Holocaust.  She became fascinated and with some friends worked for a long time to discover who the survivors were, many of whom were spread around the world.  They planned an event where they invited these people back for a commemoration.  The older people in the town were very resentful and gave the kids a very hard time and it was only because it was kids doing the program that the survivors agreed to attend the ceremony.  The ceremony was a success but the resentments stayed. Then Antje applied to college to pursue studies in Jewish history.  When she expressed her interests she met up with further anti-Semitism from the university in Berlin which denied her funding.  She determined it was because of the course she chose to study.   She decided not to attend and took a trip to Israel instead.  She has basically been here for 20 years since.  She is an Israeli citizen.  She worked at the Holocaust Museum for 16 years but with budget cuts during the Intifada, she lost her job.  Shortly thereafter, she was hooked up with Neve Hanna (which was founded by and continues to be largely supported by Germans) and she has been the head of PR for Neve Hanna for the past year. 

            This day is better described by the photos (which we would be thrilled to share!) than by words.  Neve Hanna is a very happy and very sad place all at the same time.  Sad because every kid there has a tragic story (we were very curious but reticent to ask what those stories are), but happy because these kids have a safe “home” in which to live and in some cases (like Nofar, who has lived there almost her whole life) grow up.  You could tell there was something lurking below the surface with almost every kid. Sheral, who is around 13, and was our self appointed guide for the day, and as sweet as could be, had a lot of anxiety at saying good bye or being separated even for a short period of time.   When we first arrived we went to the administration building and met Dudu Wagner, who runs the place, Shoshanna, who is Dudu’s #2, and Ian, the former South African who is now the psychologist for the place.  They gave us a little background.  Sheral, who had been waiting just outside, then asked if she could be our guide.  We couldn’t say no, and wouldn’t have if we could have.  She took us to her house and showed us what it is like to live there.  There are about 10-12 kids per house, with a house mother and father in each who are there in the morning to get the kids off to school and then there after school and until bed.  The day is very regimented, with scheduled study time, play time, etc.  They try to make things as family like as possible.  We then went over to the bakery.  The girls were then put to work there for the rest of the morning, baking and packaging cookies (the granola cookies, mostly, which are very good).  After a short tour of the older kids’ (15-18 year olds) family house, we went to the “Erez” family for lunch with the kids and house parents.  Shortly after lunch, Dudu took Antje, the four of us, Sheral, Hayim (a 14 year old) and Nofar for a little driving tour of the area.  Dudu claims it is the most wonderful area of Israel, and also has the best wine grapes (but he has lived there his whole life and is a little bit biased, maybe).  Lauren was able to use her years of Hebrew classes to her benefit as the kids all chatted in the back of the van during the drive. First, we drove a little around Kiryat Gat, then out of the town and over to Moshav Lachish, which is a pretty town, and then up a mountain dirt road near Bet Guvrin .  At the top of the hill there was a watch tower that we wanted to climb but it was fenced in.  Of course, kids being kids, they wanted to climb the fence, and they did, only to find that the tower stairs were also fenced in.  Of course, Hayim found a way up that bypassed the first level of stairs and then all of the kids followed him.  It was easier getting up than down, but all returned safely.  We then sat at a little picnic area and ate Neve Hanna bakery cookies and talked about Bat Mitzvahs and Bar Mitzvahs (the Neve Hanna kids sang a couple of songs and made a mazel tov toast to Jacquie on tape for Jacquie’s upcoming event).  We then headed back to Neve Hanna and got washed and dressed for a model Seder with the Avivim house.  The Seder was wonderful because of the kids and the house parents (we were also joined by Chaim Appel, Chairman of the Neve Hanna Board, and by Antje).  The house has about 12 kids, evenly divided between boys and girls.  You need to watch the video and look at the pictures to understand the wonder of the evening.  After the Seder we went over to Erez house and gave the house a bunch of balls and toys.  We also presented the Aitz Hayim quilt and the kids and adults all seemed very happy and touched by it.  After picture taking, we went back over to Avivim house (they had now finished their afikoman scavenger hunt) and gave them a bunch of balls and the like and also took a bunch of pictures.  Then, it was late and we got back in the car and Antje took us back to the hotel.

It was truly an amazing day and Neve Hanna is an amazing place. 

As a postscript, for Jacquie’s bat mitzvah, she asked her friends to sacrifice some of their gently used toys, games and books so that she could send them to her friends at Neve Hannah.  Her request was a resounding success, and with the help of our good friend, Hezi Levy, the toys, games, books, etc. were delivered to Neve Hannah in time to provide the children with some wonderful gifts for Hanukkah.  In addition, Jacquie has been in regular correspondence with Shirel, a young lady who many of us met on visits to Neve Hanna.   We hope to go back one day and visit these amazing children again!

As a post-postscript:  touring Israel is the best, but having the opportunity that we did to help ordinary everyday Israelis with their everyday lives was even better.  We cannot put into words how strongly we recommend a Mitzvah mission to Israel for the Aitz Hayim community (and for the Federation missions generally).  It will never be forgotten.