Thousands of solidarity with Israel bracelets were given this week in Mexico to students in the Community , with the Court: “Israel ,always with you.”

We wanted to share with you last night’s rally at Beth Emeth. We had over 600 people there – young and old, Israelis, Americans, an Ethiopian Jew who is studying at the university, chabad and unaffiliated – almost all in red. It was so moving and powerful! We had nearly ALL of the Rabbis in the community come together on the bimah to offer the Prayer for Israel. Unprecedented!

Below is a video which will give you a sense of the rally.

Video streaming by Ustream

Malka Evan, Chair of Jewish Federation of Northeastern New York, was the master of ceremonies. Hank Greenberg gave one of the most unbelievable speeches I have ever heard. He begins at about 13:30 on here.

A proclamation by Mayor Gerald D. Jennings declaring November 20, 2012 as “Stand With Israel Day” was read.

Please understand we as a whole community are rallying behind the region and hold everyone in our constant thoughts.

Marci Galinkin
Director, Community Coalition for Jewish Education

Buenos Deseos 01 from Colegio Hebreo Tarbut on Vimeo.

Buenos Deseos 02 from Colegio Hebreo Tarbut on Vimeo.

Day 3 – (4/19/12) – by Mollie

It’s only 11:13 in the morning and we have already had a very touching and meaningful experience. Before we came to Israel, in school, Ruti asked for volunteers to participate in the Yom HaShoah Memorial Service in Israel with the Israeli eighth graders. I volunteered to write and speak in English, and Noah volunteered to speak in Hebrew. On the plane, Ruti worked with both of us, helping us prepare our speeches. Little did I know that we were going to be speaking in front of the entire 7-12th grade school. I was starting to have major anxieties about this, especially when I walked into the huge auditorium filled with 900 students.

Their ceremony was much different than ours. The program began with the head of school welcoming the students, the faculty, community guests, and a special welcome to HACD. The entire program was in Hebrew, and everyone in the audience was wearing white shirts. The program included video clips of some of the students who participated in the “March of the Living” experience in Poland, some quiet songs, and poetry.

Noah and I were escorted on stage about half way through the program. I was so incredibly scared and nervous. We both said our speeches, and were later told that we did an amazing job. We even got to meet the mayor, and take a picture with him J.

For the past nine years, I have been used to going to school on Yom HaShoah, and spending the day with the lights out, wearing a yellow Jewish star badge, planting a tree, and having a small ceremony. However, being here in Israel, with Israeli students, in an Israeli school, surrounded by Hebrew, made everything so much more meaningful. The students in that school all behaved as though it was their personal tragedy. I finally became aware that this is also my personal tragedy. Yom HaShoah will never be the same for me, because I will always remember my experience at Nofei Habsor.

Today, we again saw our new eighth grade Israeli friends, and after becoming friends with so many of them yesterday, it was not easy to say goodbye so soon. They were all so friendly and welcoming, and we promised each other that we will keep in touch on Skype and Facebook. We are all so grateful to have met them. Lots of pictures to come J…

On Thursday, 3 March 2010, a “Coffee and Art” encounter was held at the Mexico-Israel Cultural Institute with Mexican artists who participated in the Mikomi Mikomcha exhibition. Surrounded by artworks, the artists gathered in the wonderful building that houses the Mexico-Israel Cultural Institute.  After hearing about Partnership 2000 and viewing a short video, in which four Israeli artists talk about this very special joint exhibition with Mexican artists and about the feelings that their participation in it elicited, the Mexican artists shared their experiences with us.

Within the framework of Mexico-Eshkol Regional Council partnership activity, and with the participation of the Jewish Sports Center and the Mexico-Israel Cultural Institute, 15 artists from the Eshkol area and 15 Mexican artists were invited to take part in the Mikomi Mikomcha exhibition.

The highly original idea behind this unique exhibition called for the formation of 15 Israeli-Mexican artist pairs.  Each artist was asked to choose his/her favorite place, photograph it, and send his/her partner the photograph with an explanation of why that particular site was chosen.  Afterward, each artist painted his/her partner’s favorite place, as an exercise in mutual understanding and empathy.  The results of this exercise were the paintings displayed at the Mikomi Mikomcha exhibition.

The idea was conceived by two artists, Ziva Yellin, director of The Gallery at Kibbutz Be’erii, and Dvora Levinson, then director of the Pedro Gershon Gallery at the Jewish Sports Center; both women had participated in two earlier exhibitions organized by Partnership 2000 when this unusual idea came to them.

It was very exciting to see the interaction that developed between the artists as they exchanged information, stories and family pictures.  Most of them are still in touch with each other, thanks to the feelings of friendship engendered by the shared experience.

The exhibition was held first in Israel, at The Gallery at Kibbutz Be’eri in Eshkol and at the Beit Elim Gallery in Ashkelon; in Mexico the exhibition has so far been mounted at the Jewish Sports Center, at Kehillat Magen David and at the Mexico-Israel Cultural Institute.  The exhibition is also scheduled to be shown at San Pedro Museum in Puebla, where it will be open to viewers from 24 March to 30 May; from there it will go to Valle de Mexico University’s Tlalpan campus, where it will be on display throughout the month of June.

On February 3, 2011 net@ held an activity on the topic of “Safe Internet Day,” which has become a tradition at the Nofei Habesor school in Eshkol.

The activities for this special day were conducted by pupils participating in the net@ program in Eshkol for all 7th-grade pupils (a total of 115 children), and lasted for three hours.

The program started with the children in separate classrooms, and during the first hour there was a presentation and clips on the subject, giving the day a “like” from everyone.

During the second hour there were active workshops where all the pupils worked on making a clip about safe web surfing and describing suitable behavior for each situation – the activity led to interesting discussions in the classes.

During the final hour everyone gathered in the auditorium for a summary of the day’s activities, where net@ students gave tips for safe web surfing and held a closing trivia contest, “The net@ Screening Room” – a game to test the knowledge the pupils had gained during the course of the activities in the form of a contest between the classes; the winners were given “krembo” treats.

On Thursday, 24 February Daniel Liwerant, head of the Mexican Jewish community, came to visit the Council.

His visit started in Sde Nitzan with a personal meeting at the home of Steering Committee Chair Yardena Visoker, and Partnership Director Ravit Ochayon-Michal.

Afterward, a joint visit was paid to Beit Mexico on Kibbutz Gvulot, a project that Liwerant personally launched and that has enjoyed his continual support.

A meeting was held there with Gesher L’Kesher (People to People) Coordinator Tal Klamer-Gilad, Ori Vorba and Nitai, coordinator of agricultural operations and director of the Mitzpe Gvulot Guest Houses.

Later, we took Daniel to see the final preparations for one of the special events planned at Eshkol Hall in honor of the 60th anniversary festivities ? an exhibition of works by Eshkol artists that includes some of Yardena’s sculptures.

Daniel was very impressed by the Nofei Habsor School and the new library, to which he was accompanied by the Council head and by Vered Tal, the school principal.

Daniel Liwerant concluded his visit by meeting with representatives of the Steering Committee and with two members of the counselor delegation that traveled to Mexico.

Daniel’s visit was a very successful one, and the Council head personally invited him to be present at the main 60th anniversary event, to be held this coming May.