Yonina's+I_Faces

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**__ Rationale: __**
I chose to write about a person who I think helps our Israeli society from a different angle. The person I chose to write about deals with the same topic of this project, the different faces of Israel. The person I chose represents the different faces of Israel and tries to change Israel's image in the eyes of the different countries and people. In her job, she needs to think of the important aspects of Israel that she wants to represent. Some of the aspects she chooses to represent are the more hidden faces of Israel. The way a country survives today, depends on the relationship it has with other countries, and that depends on the way it is viewed by the other countries. Most countries are not able to change the negative ideas they have about Israel. When most people who do not have any connection with Israel, think about Israel, they think of a non-developed country in a constant state of war. Those might be some of the faces of Israel, but these people aren’t aware of the other positive faces that Israel has. The person I chose to write about deals with these issues everyday. Thanks to her attempts, Israel will be viewed as a better place, and we will continue to be able to live here.

__**Profile**:__
Aliya as an ideal and Zionist ideas were a very important part of the way Zavi grew up. Aliya was always something that Zavi thought she would try to do one day. Zavi grew up in Los Angeles, California, where she attended a Jewish day school and high school. The schools Zavi attended were Zionistic, and some of the teachers that came to teach there came from Israel and taught the students about Israel. Zavi loved growing up in LA. “It was fun growing up near a beach”. Her parents and grandparents were active members of the community, and were always involved, and that gave Zavi a strong sense of the importance of being involved with one’s community. They were her example. Bnei Akiva influenced Zavi very much and taught her Zionistic ideas and ideals. As a teenager she visited Israel a few times and even spent a whole year there, strengthening her connection to Israel. After college, Zavi was forced to make a decision about where to live, and she chose to come live in Israel. A few months after arriving in Israel there was talk of a war. “It was very weird, because everyone knew the exact minute the war was going to start- there was a date; it was bizarre,” Zavi says. Right before the war Zavi had gone back to L.A. for her friend’s wedding. At that time Zavi was considering staying in L.A. and not even coming back to Israel, however she was convinced to return to Israel despite the war. Although the flights to Israel were cancelled, Zavi flew to New York, not knowing how she would continue from there to Israel. To Zavi's good luck, there was one last flight to Israel before the war, arranged by a wealthy person. They called it "operation torah shield" because the goal was to bring students to show their support and help wherever they could. This was the perfect chance for Zavi to get back to Israel. Back in Israel after getting close to giving up, Zavi had finally found a job-working in Israel's foreign ministry, in which she still continues working in today, though the job has been through a few changes.

Most people don’t know much about our country, but why is it important that they do know? Well, in order for our country to continue surviving, we have to have the support of other countries. We need people who support it financially, politically, and just regular people who will see that Israel isn’t as bad as they think it is. How will people be able to support us, if they know nothing about Israel? And if they do know some things, are those the things for which a country should be known? Zavi’s job is to try to get other people and countries interested in Israel. Lots of people, who don’t know much about Israel, only hear about it through the media. The things they hear on the news are mostly negative, and therefore these people think badly about Israel and have no interest in it at all. Part of Zavi’s job is to try to change that negative image other people and countries have of Israel. You are probably wondering how one person could make such a big change. This whole idea seems impossible. Well, this is a long term project that Zavi, as part of a team, has been working on for a long time. She is sure that in order to improve Israel’s image, people have to know about the country’s positive parts, too. There is a lot more to Israel than the world knows, and there’s more than even Israelis know. This project began with a lot of research about Israel. Through the research, Zavi tried to find out what interesting, good and true aspects contribute to Israel’s existence. For example, many world renowned technologies happen to have been developed by Israelis. Then Zavi had to decide which aspects were most important to be represented. Before trying to share Israel’s good aspects with the world, there was a need to start working on this from the inside. First, Zavi had to talk to all kinds of representatives of Israel and convince them that it was important for them to cooperate in order for this to work. Today, Zavi tries to make these aspects and faces of Israel known to the world by arranging visits for people from different countries to Israel and having them write about it in their local newspapers, and to spread it in their media. That way the people in the other countries have a chance to hear about the different and positive things that go on in Israel. I think this is a very important job that helps our society, because it helps our country be known as the better place it really is.

As someone who once doubted her own future in Israel, Zavi is now helping to ensure a better, stronger, and lasting image for Israel’s future.

Bnei Akiva first came into existence in the late 1920’s, following the First World War. That was the time of the third immigration to Israel. The Jews that immigrated to Israel were struggling financially while attempting to build their homeland. There was another concern as well: the Jews in Israel found a need to redefine the spiritual-cultural identity of the Jewish nation. While the secular labors were becoming more powerful, the "Hapo’el Hamizrachi" workers movement, part of the “Mizrachi” movement, was founded. Its goal was to organize and unify the few religious laborers who were, at that time, economically deprived and spiritually rejected, and to transform them into a force to be reckoned with. A lot of the youth at this time began joining secular social groups. This situation became a threat to the new  religious movement. At this time the idea of establishing a religious youth movement, with the purpose of strengthening the youth’s spirit and organizing them within a proud social framework, was brought up. After the establishment of this movement in Israel, organizations of religious youth began to form in other places in the world, and only later they adapted the name of Bnei Akiva. Bnei Akiva believes in and follows the ideas of Torah and labor. Bnei Akiva believes that Israel is the place where the Jews belong to, and therefore they encourage Aliya. They educate the Jews that are living out of Israel that the people in Israel need them and that they need to be in Israel as well. Today Bnei Akiva has branches all over the world and is recognized by the religious youth. If you are intrested to find out more about bnei akiva, visit the official bnei akiva web site: <[]>

Literary connection:

__ יכול להיות שזה נגמר/יהונתן גפן __ יכול להיות שזה נגמר? אומרים שהיה פה שמח לפני שנולדתי   , והכל היה פשוט נפלא עד שהגעתי שומר עברי על סוס לבן, בלילה שחור על שפת הכינרת טרומפלדור היה גיבור תל אביב הקטנה, חולות אדומים, ביאליק אחד שני עצים שיקמים, אנשים יפים מלאים חלומות ואנו באנו ארצה לבנות ולהיבנות   , כי לנו ארץ זאת...

כאן, איפה שאתה רואה את הדשא היו פעם רק יתושים וביצות אמרו שפעם היה כאן חלום נהדר אבל כשבאתי לראות לא מצאתי שום דבר

יכול להיות שזה נגמר? .

אומרים שהיה פה שמח לפני שנולדתי והכל היה פשוט נפלא עד שהגעתי פלמ"ח, פינג'אן, קפה שחור וכוכבים אנגלים, מחתרת וילקוט הכזבים שפם ובלורית, כאפיה על צוואר, ירון זהבי אלתרמן, תמר, בחורות יפות, מכנסיים קצרים היה להם בשביל מה לקום בבוקר    כי לנו ארץ זאת... יכול להיות שזה נגמר?

Could it be that it’s over? They say it was happy here before I was born, That everything was just great before I arrived. A Hebrew guard on a white horse on a black night. On the edge of the Sea of Galilee, Trompeldor was a hero Little Tel Aviv, red sands, one Bialik Two acacia trees, beautiful people full of dreams And we came to the country to build and be built. For this land is ours… Here where you see the grass There were once only mosquitoes and swamps. They say there once was a wonderful dream here But when I came here, I didn’t find a thing. Could it be that it’s over? They say it was happy here before I was born That everything was just great before I arrived. Palmach, Finjan, black coffee and stars British,  underground organizations and a pack of lies Moustaches and forelocks, a kaffiya around a neck, yaron zehavi. Alterman, pretty young ladies, and shorts. They had what to get up for in the morning For this land is ours… Could it be that it’s over?
 * Translation**__:__

This is a song written by Yehonatan Gefen, an Israeli song writer and journalist. In the song, Gefen writes about the things that define Israel through his eyes, based on the past. He writes about the heroes, and their heroic acts. About the reality back then, and makes the past sound as if it were a lot better than today. While the writer paints a sad picture of Israel today and sends a message of despair, he feels it once was a live and vibrant country. Gefen’s despair may be the result of forgetting to see how Israel is today. Had he looked at Israel today, he would have seen how things have indeed changed, but maybe not for the worse, like he sees it. Instead of creating a new and vibrant image of Israel today, Geffen remains stuck with an image of Israel which he only heard about, and never even experienced himself. “Could it be that it’s over?” he asks the question at the end. Could it be that they had what to live for, and we don’t? That their purpose was more important than ours? Could it be? I think that every generation has its difficulties, goals, purposes, and dreams. It’s never over. There will always be another dream, another ambition, and another thing to be improved. Could it be that it’s over? I think not.

__** Creative connection: **__
For the creative part of this project, I chose to draw a picture. In the picture you can see an old man holding a young child's hand. When I thought about what I think the most important face of Israel is, it was hard for me to decide which one I would like to represent in my project. After thinking about it longer and harder, it came to me, that one of the most important faces of Israel is its history.

Usually, by just mentioning the word history, people roll their eyes with a sigh, and indicate boredom. This would happen due to the feeling that history happened once, a long time ago, and isn’t important or relevant to us today. History is far from us. I used to think that too, until I realized that history is one of the most important aspects of Israel. The history of the Jewish nation and of the country and land of Israel are what keep us together, and keep us going. Israel's history is what brought us back to our country after many years of exile and allowed us to reclaim our land.

The old man in the picture represents the history, while the young child represents the current generation and the future. The old man is holding the young child's hand, in order to show us that the history is connected to the present and future. The old man, who I pictured as the child's grandfather, has been through a lot, including the holocaust. Though the child tries to contain his grandfather’s pain and understanding of the past, he doesn’t dwell in the past, and he contains a new light of hope, that of a new generation. Despite the grandfather’s past, he remains connected to his grandchild. In that mater, we see how the past is connected to the present and the future, as well.

Israel is a country that has learned to renew itself, after much destruction. Though we might not feel a connection with the history itself, the history allows us to feel connected to our country, Israel. History is something that happened yesterday, but thanks to it, we are able to live today, and plan our future of tomorrow.

__**Reflection**__:
Throughout this project I had an opportunity to explore the country I live in and discover it in a different light. I learned to see the important and positive aspects of Israel, in addition to the less positive qualities that exist. I learned that in order to love the country you live in you must learn to appreciate it first. Many Jews, who lived in many different countries at many different times, had a dream to come live in Israel one day. Some weren’t able to fulfill that dream. I feel lucky to have been born in this country and to live here today. Jews who lived years ago never would have dreamt that their next generations would be living in Israel, the way they are today. This caused me to recognize the appreciation I have for Israel, which most definitely leads me to increase my love for this country. I think that Israel is the only country in the world where the Jews truly belong. Only in Israel, can a Jew be free to express himself and live the life he should. Besides Israel being a homeland to the Jewish nation, it is also my home. While thinking of the different faces of Israel, I came to the realization that everyone of us, whether being a citizen of Israel, or even just a Jew, represents a face of Israel. To represent a face of Israel is a big responsibility. By every action we do, we contribute to Israel’s image and to the way others view it, for better or for worse. Through my project I learned why Israel’s image is so fragile and important. Every one of us is different, but if we all unite together, and each one of us contributes his part, we will create a strong and posative country. Israel.

<[]>. World Bnei Akiva, January, 29, 2010.

Zavi, apfelbaum. Civil servant. January, 11, 2010.