Off The Sidelines

By Naomi Kohn (Klians) 2001
Bogeret Bat Zion Program 

I always tell people that the reason I made aliyah is because I went to Orot. Rav Shvat, in his inspiring Torat Eretz Yisrael class told us to always remember במדבר ל”ג נ”ג, and remember I did. It took 11 years, marriage, four children and the purchase and sale of a house, among several other hurdles, but we made it. When asked by Nefesh B’Nefesh why we chose to make aliyah, my reply was obvious - because Hashem said so.

The past 3+ years of living in Eretz Yisrael have been filled with moments of intense happiness, sadness, anxiety, fear, wonder, questioning, yearning, excitement, and now most often thankfulness. There is nothing like waking up to run with the sunrise in the Judean Hills where our forefathers created history. I now have the zechut to daven at the Kotel, Kever Rachel and Mearat Hamachpela all within a short drive. Upon completion of learning the entire Sefer Bereishit in Kita Aleph, our children recite the Birkat Yaakov by heart in the very spot where it all took place.

As each year passes that I am here in our land, I am continuously amazed by the people of Am Yisrael - by their strength, conviction, caring for each other, and open ruchniyut. Unfortunately, in recent times there have been tragedies one after another. We are told that Am Yisrael is one body, and when one limb is injured, the entirety of us feel its pain. This is what it means to be part of Am Yisrael. A nation that davens for each other, cares for one another, lives for one another and dies for one another. Never before have I felt so much a part of Am Yisrael.

Baruch Hashem we were recently zoche to have our first sabra. As I am now a mother of four boys and one girl, I know that IY”H the time will soon come for my sons to give back and battle for our nation. We are intensely proud to no longer be sitting on the sidelines just learning about Jewish History, but actively taking part in shaping Jewish History. In this zechut may we merit the coming of Moshiach- אחישנה.


Aliyah: Finding our Home

By Michal (Vogel) Mandelbaum

Growing up, I was always a spunky kid. I recall being in seventh grade and telling my mother that I was going to go to Bar Ilan University for college. I would make aliyah, and if she wanted to see me, she would need to come and visit me in Israel. Clearly, at a young age the importance of living in Israel was instilled in me.
While looking into schools in Israel for my year of study after high school, I wanted a school where learning to speak Hebrew was a priority.  Throughout my formal education, I did not receive a proper Hebrew language education, and wanted a way to converse with my Israeli relatives (of which there are many) without miming. Orot was the perfect choice. It was a small school, in an out of the way area similar to where I grew up.  I loved Orot so much, and learned so much while I was there, that I chose to spend another half year there.
I must insert here that I was already going out with the man who would become my husband in high school. At the beginning of my second year, I had a conversation with my father that I still remember like it was yesterday. He said I needed to make a choice, and only I could make it. To stay in Israel or return to the United States. So I did what any girl in love would do, I turned to my then boyfriend. He and I discussed our future at length, in terms of where we wanted to live and raise our family. The answer from both of us was here in Israel.
So the choice was simple. I left Israel to return to the States for college, with the agreement from my boyfriend/soon to be husband, that we would finish our degrees, and then move to Israel.
Many things happened along the way, one of them not being Aliyah, as we had originally intended. Knowing that our Aliyah would not happen for a few years, we bought an apartment, sold it and bought a house, with the intent of selling it when we moved. We also started our family.
So what helped us along? A few things. First, really good friends of ours, who we intended on moving with, moved; and we were still in America. Second, when we named our kids, they were given Israeli names, so that when we moved, they would not feel completely out of place.
When my second daughter was born, we gave her the name Idit. My little sister asked if we realized what would happen to her name if an “o” was added in. My mother immediately responded that we would be living in Israel before that became an issue.
We moved right as children in her class were starting to read in Pre-K.
A year before we moved, I came on a pilot trip with my 2 kids for 6 weeks.  I, as a Hebrew first grade teacher (thank you Orot) had the summer to spend traveling throughout Israel, looking for a community to move to. So the 3 of us embarked on a great adventure to find where we wanted to live.
My husband and I came up with a list of what was important to us, and our family, and what we were looking for. Nothing outlandish, in my opinion, just what mattered to us. We wanted something small, but near a city. Bare minimum 90% Hebrew speaking community (we wanted and still want our kids to speak Hebrew outside the house at all times, or as much as possible). We wanted a cohesive community, 1 Beit Knesset, 1 Rav, a school in the community, an open mind to practice the religion in your own way (head covered/not covered, pants/skirts, length of sleeve), a “winter” of some sort, and if possible, someone we know from before to help make the transition easier.
Thanks to a very good friend, we came upon Moreshet (near Karmiel, in the lower Galil) which had everything we were looking for.
Moving to Moreshet has been the best decision we could have made. My older kids are fluent in Hebrew. Those who know both English and Hebrew, ask Idit to show off her Hebrew as they love her “raish”. We have found a community in the true sense of the word. Everyone looks out for each other, and we all help each other out. 
While on Shabbat Klita here, and after we moved, everyone would ask me where I learned to speak Hebrew so well, that I sound like an Israeli. Some had no idea I am American, born and bred. My answer is always the same. I spent a year and half in Michlelet Orot in Elkana, where I learned to speak Hebrew. I often think about our “little school on a hill” and how much fun I had there, the friends that I made, the bonds that have lasted over a decade, and will for many more to come.
I look forward to taking a trip with my family to Orot to show my kids where I spent my time learning Hebrew and forging friendships that remain with me to this day. Without the help of Orot, I would not have had the opportunity I had in America, teaching Hebrew to children. I was able to do what I love, teaching children a love for both the language and the country. At the end of the day, one thing is important above all, and of this I know Orot is proud when I say, I AM HOME.

Its Zionism Y'all: Bringing Israel to the South

By Jaqueline Rose (Gray)
Bogeret of BZ 5753

In the summer of 2010, myself, my husband and our four children moved from our home in Modiin to Atlanta, Georgia for שליחות. My husband is a teacher and so the decision to go on שליחות was about giving something back to a community in the diaspora. We also thought it would be an amazing experience for us as a family - the opportunity to live in a different country, met different people and visit places that we would not normally get a chance to see.

We were sent by הסוכנות היהודית as שליחים מורים and have spent the past 15 months in Atlanta working at Greenfield Hebrew Academy and Young Israel of Toco Hills shul. I have been providing Hebrew enrichment and support to 1-8th grade students, together with giving yoga and environmental education classes to gan age kids. My husband has been teaching 7th and 8th grade Kodesh and History of Israel - his area of expertise! Shabbat is no time for rest as my husband is also Youth Director in the local Young Israel shul, organizing youth tefilla in the morning and Bnei AKiva in the afternoon. Being שליחים is a 7 days a week job!! We have worked very hard devoting ourselves to the community that brought us here, and trying to ensure that our שליחות has meaning and purpose by being an example to the community of what is means to be a religious Jew with Israel as a core value.

Despite the hard work, we are having a wonderful time here. We have been welcomed into the community with open arms and have made really good friends. Most importantly our children have integrated well and made amazing friends, having none of the social challenges you worry about as a parent. We have made sure to make the most of every Sunday, vacation, and family outing. We have enjoyed all the small things that make America such a fun place to be - Starbucks and Target to name a few!

But not a day goes by when we don’t miss Israel. During my year at Orot (1992-93) my love for Israel developed into an ideology, a life path, a passion. I meet and learned with people who had a deep love and respect for Israel and the Jewish people, and the way they lived their lives inspired me to want to live by those values. I knew that there was nowhere else that I wanted to live my life and raise a family. Five years after leaving Orot, I left my home town of London for Israel. I still remember how I cried the whole 4.5 hour flight, but once I landed at Ben Gurion I felt like a huge weight had been lifted from my shoulders and I had done what I promised myself I was going to do – I had made aliya.

Today, it is hard being away from our house that we built, our family and friends, relaxing Fridays when you DON’T come home from work and have to cook for Shabbat in two hours, and the sense of being part of a national community. Soon we will return to Israel. I do not under estimate how hard it will be to leave here, for myself and my husband, for our children. Even though we always knew this was temporary it's still hard to leave a place that you have invested time and energy, and made every effort to be part of the community. But once we touch down at Ben Gurion I know that I will have the same feelings I had when I made aliya - I am home, and as we all know “there is no place like home”!

The Bat Zion 5764 Reunion in Nof Tzion

By Debbie Ifield, Bogeret of BZ 5764

It was Chol Hamoed Succot and I was off to Jerusalem. I set out from South Netanya, very excited to reunite with my Orot friends. I finally made it into Jerusalem, despite heavy Chol Hamoed traffic, and asked a taxi driver to take me to Nof Tzion. 'Sof Ha'olam!!' he said, but he eventually found the area, and I ran into my friend Eddie's (Shoshana Bauer) apartment to be greeted by the greatest bunch of girls I've ever had the privilege to spend time with.

I was quite late, so everyone had already arrived, complete with husbands, children and smiles on their faces. This year the Orot Succah Party was particularly special. Not only was it 8 years since we first became a Bat Zion group, but this time we were also celebrating our fantastic madricha Debbie's 30th birthday. It was a surprise for her, and we partied in style, in the succah and the main room, with lunch and birthday cake, with recounting old Orot stories and playing with the new generation - the Orot kids. I finally saw the newly engaged Chaya and had the chance to wish her mazal tov in person, (as well as Bshaa tova to quite a few of the other Orot ladies). The Tal programme was also represented. We gathered together from all areas of Israel, from Jerusalem to Shuva to Netanya to Maale Adumim all the way to Mizpe Rimon!

Seeing my Orot friends was a definite highlight of my trip to Israel. It always is!!

2nd Annual Sukkot Orot Reunion

By Debbie (Krug) Shochat,
Madricha of Bat Zion 5764

A long time ago, when I was a madricha at Orot, “Batzi” the car was driven into the Orot parking lot, and there was room for 4 other passengers. 7 years later, Baruch Hashem there isn’t an available seat. As Oriya and I drove down the windy road to get to Nof Tzion, standing at about 5 different bus stops stood all the Orot Bogrot, with Baruch Hashem, many children in sight. Sadly, I wished that I had room for everyone in the car, but I was beyond happy looking at the continuity and growth. Though it was no simple task arriving, over 30 people attended the reunion, and from literally all over Israel, as far south as Mitzpe Ramon, to as far north as Shilo. (Though, a bogeret from Ma’a lot wished that she was able to come). There was good food, good laughs, and reminiscing over the good times. And while topics of discussion 7 years ago were about Rav Kook, filling out Shabbat lists, what’s Shula serving for lunch, and Rav Shvat’s latest new song, suddenly other realms of conversations can be heard. Whether it be careers, politics, children, communities, with occasional divrei Torah as well, it’s a true blessing to see commitment to Torah, to Israel, and to friendship, so many years later.

A Bat Zion Graduate in Time Magazine

As the "territories" in Yehudah v'Shomron garner ever-increasing attention due to U.S. President Obama's insistence that all building come to a halt (God forbid), the residents who live in these areas have become increasingly visible in the American media.
Mimi (Geller) Katz, a Bat Zion student (who later attended the teachers college and even worked as an Eim Bayit at Orot) who currently resides in Beit El, appeared in a spread in Time Magazine that featured some of the residents living in different areas of the "occupied" territories.
First and foremost, we are proud of Mimi and her connection to Eretz Yisrael and Am Yisrael. But we must also highlight stories like those of the Katz family, who wish nothing more than to live quiet and peaceful lives in the Land granted to us by Hashem.
As any Orot student knows, the Orot Israel College in Elkana was built on the "wrong" side of the green line, and intentionally so. Orot emphasizes the powerful connection of Am Yisrael to her Land, and the simple act of coming to school and studying in Elkana reinforces that connection each and every day.
So send this story to your friends. Let them know about Mimi, her extended family and normal lives they lead - regardless of what the media promotes. However you do it, each and every one of us must support the thousands of Jews whose lives articulate the dream of inhabiting, settling and building Eretz Yisrael.

Alumni Highlight - Fun in Jerusalem

Joanna Shebson attended Orot in 1993-1994. In 2007 she came on aliyah with her husband Jonathan and their two sons, Aryeh and Marko and they settled in Jerusalem. Joanna spent the first year getting her family adjusted and finishing shiputzim on their apt which is a job in itself. With the Israeli gan schedule finishing at 1pm she got used to finding fun activities to do with her kids in Jerusalem. Jerusalem is full of wonderful attractions, special events and even fun parks. In May 2009 Joanna started to collect information about events in Jerusalem for kids and from there her blog was born. Fun in Jerusalem is the source for kids' activities in Jerusalem. It includes an online calendar of events and blog posts about all sorts of topics for locals and tourists including swimming pools in Jerusalem, volunteer opportunities for teens and fun restaurants to take kids to. You can also find information and some fun discussions on the Fun In Jerusalem facebook group. For those who like to twitter you can find her @funinjerusalem.