Esti's+I_Face

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= = = = = = = = = = =Rationale=

I have chosen my "Savta" my grandmother - Natya, for the project because I think what she does for the community is remarkable. She gives so much of her time to others. Even her job just shows what an extraordinary person she is. For 25 years she worked at Yad Sarah which is an organization that lends medical equipment to handicapped and ill people. Today Yad Sarah has developed and does much more for the handicapped. Even after she retired, in order to take care of my grandfather, she continued volunteering at Yad Sarah and various other organizations. Her making Aliya shows how outstanding she is and how she really stands for her beliefs. She was willing to leave her parents, family, her home and her lifestyle, to come and make Aliya. The fact that she does so much for her fellow citizens here in Israel, is how she represents a face of Israel to me.

=Biography=

My grandmother Natya is one of the most amazing people I know. Natya, who is married to her husband Gerald, now lives in Bayit Vegan, Jerusalem. She was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, in 1936. She lived there until she made Aliya in 1978. She is the second oldest of four daughters. Her family was very close. She grew up with her parents and siblings in a beautiful home where they had all the comforts of life, including, several servants, which made their lives very easy.

Although her parents felt very Jewish and were involved in a number of organizations which supported Jewish education and Israel, the idea of making Aliya was never discussed.

In South Africa, Natya initially worked for the Jewish Veterans Association. Following this, she worked in her husband’s clothing business. Finally, they received a phone call that changed their lives. Her husband was offered a job at Shaare Zedek Hospital in Jerusalem. This was an offer they just couldn’t refuse. It was an opportunity for them to finally fulfill their dream of making Aliya.

Undoubtedly the most difficult part of making Aliya for Natya was leaving her family. Although they did not encourage her and the family to make Aliya, they never discouraged it. They did not see any future for the Jews living in South Africa and fully realized that making Aliya was the best decision for their grandchildren.

Immediately upon arriving in Israel, she and her family moved to an absorption centre in Gilo, Jerusalem. It was hard to adjust to their new apartment as it was very small compared to their house in South Africa. It was also very difficult for her to master a new language.

After Natya’s arrival in Israel, she studied in an ulpan. She then found a position in a company specializing in medical supplies. She was responsible for doing the bookkeeping and general correspondence. After doing this for two years, she then started working for Yad Sarah. She did all the public relations and interacted with donors from all over the world. When she began in this position, there were only 6 other paid employees in one location, including its founder, former mayor of Jerusalem, Uri Lupoliansky. When she retired 25 years later, Yad Sarah had over 150 employees in more than100 locations and six thousand volunteers. When she speaks about Yad Sarah, she does so with so much pride and satisfaction.

After retiring from Yad Sarah, Natya became a regular volunteer. Given her knowledge of all the different services, she became a guide, primarily leading tours of foreigners visiting Israel with an interest in knowing more about Yad Sarah. She adds with a smile, that a significant number of the people who participate on these tours, become donors to Yad Sarah.

A typical tour includes a video about the organization, plus seeing first hand a selection of services. Natya explains that a typical tour can include a visit to the department for lending medical and rehabilitative equipment, the fitness center for people with special needs, the department for emergency alarm response system and the skill training and employment center. Natya speaks with much pride when she describes how impressed everyone is who sees the amazing services offered at Yad Sarah. It is not surprising that she has dedicated so much of her life to promoting Yad Sarah and trying to find new ways to get new donors to the organization.

Additionally, Natya volunteers at the library for the visually impaired in Jerusalem at the Association of Americans & Canadians in Israel. The library is operated by volunteers. It serves primarily homebound English speakers. The library has a large selection of mainly donated English language books on audio-tape, CD, journals, and large-print books: novels, non-fiction, Judaica, humor, self-help, and more.

The Library serves members from Naharia in the North to Eilat in the South, the Golan Heights, kibbutzim and Moshavim throughout Israel. As a volunteer, she interacts with members who have special requests based on their disability. She provides them with books and cassettes through the national free mail service for the blind. As a volunteer, Natya is also responsible for organizing, alphabetizing, cataloging and shelving books.

Natya explains that she felt a strong connection to the library for the visually impaired because of the fact that her husband is impaired visually. She saw first hand what a difference this library made in her husband's life and as a result she committed herself to volunteering to help improve the quality of life for individuals who no longer could read a book with normal size print. She explains that many of the people who borrow materials live very much alone. Having a book they can read gives them something to look forward to and occupies their time.

Regarding her message to teenagers, she says that it is never too early to volunteer. It changes your life as it gives you the opportunity to not only take but to also give. She says, this is what makes you a better person.

The first photo is taken of my grandmother in her office in 1993 with volunteers and sherut leumi girls. The second photo is of my grandmother showing the wife of the S.A..Ambassador work done by the elderly..She took her around Yad Sarah on a tour.

=Background research:=

**__ Yad Sarah __**** : ** In the 1970s a young Jerusalem high school teacher with a growing family needed to borrow a vaporizer from a neighbor for a sick child. Knowing that such appliances were hard to find, he bought a few, and then decided to lend them to others. After that people started giving him items they no longer needed. The equipment that people had given was a variety of the kind of things people need for only a short time: crutches, walkers, vaporizers and even a couple of wheelchairs.

Uri Lupolianski, who was the high school teacher, saw there was a real need for this kind of help. Around the time when Uri realized that there was a need for this place, his father retired and sold his shop. His father offered to use the money he had gotten from his shop to help him. And so, in 1976, Yad Sarah Organization was established. It was named after Uri's grandmother, his father's mother, Sarah, who had perished in the Holocaust. The word "yad," which literally means "hand", is also used to indicate a remembrance or a memorial.

There was a space that was offered near a local hospital. A stock of equipment was purchased, and Yad Sarah became a reality. There was no lack of volunteers to take turns handling the requests. In order to keep track of the inventory, a small deposit was asked for, and refunded when the item was returned.

The idea of this organization spread rapidly. Branches of Yad Sarah opened in other locations all around Israel, always operated by volunteers. There was hardly any Israeli who didn't know about the kind of help that was available from Yad Sarah. Today more than 380,000 Israelis use Yad Sarah each year.

Yad Sarah has been the recipient of several awards and certifications, including the President's Award for Volunteering in 1982 and the Kaplan Prize for Efficiency in 1990. In 1994, only 18 years after Yad Sarah was founded, Yad Sarah received the highest award given by the State of Israel: the Israel Prize, for "a significant contribution to the society and the State." In 2005, Yad Sarah was recognized as an advisory body to the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) of the United Nations. It was the first time ever that an Israeli-Jewish organization achieved such a status. If you enjoyed my background research about Yad Sarah then you should see these sites: handicapped.org - [] Or: discover israel [] 1.2.10



The man on the phone is Uri Lupolianski who is the founder of Yad Sarah.

=Literary conection=

**__ Poem about Israel: __** Israel, dear as life to thee, from that majestic hill. With words from Torah’s melody, music, then and still.
 * The Rhyme: **

It casts its meanings for our soul, and only we can tell what thing there is that possesses us and brings its magic spell.

Beloved country to muse upon from ancient days of old. And those who gave their lives to thee, brave and ever bold.

We possess this ancient land. Its breath we hold so dear. We are the very soul of it. It is what we revere.

And when we wander far from it, we see it in our dreams. And mark the place where scholars stood, holy and serene.

That holy place, that G-dly face. It is both yours and mine. Where the honor of our people stand for now and the rest of time

This poem describes the love of the author for the land of Israel. He describes the relationship between the Jewish people and their land as well as the fact that the country is the setting for most of our history. He describes the holiness of the land and our connection to it.

I think that the author's main point is that the Land of Israel is a very special place for the Jewish people since It was given to us by G-d and it is the place where our forefathers and teachers lived. In addition we should honor the land and be proud to live here.

I don't feel that this poem says much about the fun of being Israeli since it is quite a serious poem. It shows that to be Israeli means to have a strong connection to the Land of Israel and to have a feeling of belonging which stays with us wherever we are. It shows that we are a people with a rich history that goes back to the days of Abraham who lived in this land and had a special relationship with G-d.

I believe this poem shows one side of Israel. It shows the religious connection between every Jew, the Torah and the Land of Israel. As an Israeli teenager, I would also like to mention how our religious life here is not just about the past, but also about living every day in a Jewish country where the food is kosher, the houses have mezuzot on the doorposts and almost everything shuts down for Shabbat. I would also like to show Israel as a modern country which is home to millions of Jews. I would like to show how we live day to day including the fun that we have when we hike through the country or visit the beach. Finally, I would also like to show more about how much our soldiers have sacrificed so that we can live safely in the State of Israel.

In comparison to the rest of the poem I liked the third stanza most, because it compares the ancient history of Israel with the modern country that we have. I thought this was very special because I feel very fortunate to be part of a people with so much history and at the same time part of a modern country. I think this part of the poem is very important for my generation because unless we understand the richness of our history and our connection to the land, we will not have the strength to defend it against those who want to destroy us In conclusion, I chose to include this poem in my I-face project because it examines what it means to be a Jew living in Israel today.

=Creative connection=  The banner for Israel will look like the following: There will be a globe of the world with a Magen David in the center. The globe represents Jews from all around the world, with the Magen David connecting them to Israel. In each triangle of the Magen David, there will be a picture of different Israelis. From ultra religious to the most secular. The Magen David will have different colors such as yellow, the light of Torah, green, showing the growth and blue which is known for being G-od's glory. This is related to the project because of all the different faces of Israel. We see how each face of Israel is brought here and is connected to the world, is connected to Israel and is connected to each other. We see how even though each triangle is different from one another, each kind of different Israeli, they all connect to Israel, through Israel. They become one. Together, all the different people make up what we know as Israel.
 * A new banner for Israel:**

=Reflection:=

When I began my I-Faces Project, I must be honest that I was not sure what to expect. All of a sudden, I found myself sitting with my grandmother, Natya, asking her many questions about growing up in South Africa and then living in Israel. I realized for the first time, that I really didn’t know my grandmother and that there was so much about her life that I didn’t know about. Thanks to my I-Faces Project I got to know my grandmother in a special way, and I have it all taped. In Judaism the word “zachor”, remember, has much importance. By remembering, you can connect with the past which helps you understand and appreciate the present. My family chain became so much clearer to me. I now see my family connection between Israel, South Africa and Lithuania. I realize how much of a sacrifice others made so my parents, siblings and I could live in Israel. This was the first time I have done an on-line project. At first it was very difficult as I felt self -conscious about having the world be able to see what was very personal for me. However, I got over this quickly and even started hoping that people would look at my wiki, since there is an important lesson for everyone there. This project has really improved my writing skills. In the beginning, I rewrote every sentence several times and kept on reviewing it to make changes. I now find that I feel more confident and don’t have the need to keep on changing everything. Spelling was a big challenge, however, the spell checker is an amazing invention which helped make corrections as well as see the correct way of spelling so many words. In the end, I very much enjoyed this project. I feel that not only did it teach me so much about my grandmother, Natya, it also caused me to think about Israel, the importance of volunteering and giving, and about myself.

=Bibliography:=

= = Druck, Michael. "Poems on Israel" 2006. 28.1.10- []

Katz, Natya, a volunteer, personal interview. Jerusalem, Sunday, December 18th'

[] "Yad Sarah-18.1.10-

[]-18.1.10- "Yad Sarah" as taken from Wikipedia