Elizabeth's+I+Face

​​toc

=Rationale-=  I feel that this project is important because it is a way of learning from other people's experiences. This project teaches me how to be a helpful citizen by me interviewing someone who made a chang e. I interviewed Alisa Harbater she is a family friend of ours. Alisa is a coordinator in Efrat which is her home town and mine as well. Alisa helps out in Efrat a lot because she helps olim chadashim come to Israel and feel at home. I think this job is very important because she helps make Israel a bigger place filled with more Jews. We all know that the bigger the better. Alisa helps the olim feel a part of Efrat, she makes sure that everyone is always happy and feel good about there diction of moving to Israel. She makes sure that they feel that this is the right place for them. Alisa has accomplished a lot in this job she has brought a ton of Jews to Efrat and made them feel at home. She has brought at least 20 families which make a huge difference. I feel that Alisa has changed these people's lives and made them better in an extreme way. The thing that I would like to show most in my project is what I learned from Alisa and what I am going to learn from her to make my self help people the most that I can.

I t hink that Alisa is an ideal Israeli because she is a person who is willing to always help, she is always willing to go out of her way for other people. I think that that is something that a lot of Israelis need to work on. I think Alisa can be a role model to all of us we have a lot to learn from her but the thing that we can learn the most is her generosity to other people

​ =Alisa Harbater's profile-= When I interviewed Alisa Harbater she told me about her childhood and her life now as a woman who Lives in Israel with a job and three kids. Alisa has a very interesting life story which shows her passion for life. When Alisa was telling me her story I saw that it was nice for her to remember it, because it is a part of her life now and she is grateful for it. Her story had so much strength and hope which made it amazing.

Alisa told me her aliyah story which happened when she was 13, in 1981, from Brooklyn, New York. She moved to Israel when she was supposed to go to high school in America. Alisa was just accepted to the high school she really wanted to go to, she had been waiting to go to for a really long time. When Alisa's parents told her that they were moving to Israel she was really mad and nervous but she didn’t have a choice. The move was very hard because she thought she had her life settled. Then her parents decided to move. The move was so sudden that Alisa was shocked and didn’t know how to react.

The move wasn’t only hard for her but also for the rest of her family. Alisa is the oldest in her family: she has five younger siblings. It was very hard for her mother because she had left her parents, her mom was the only child. "My mother is a very good woman she makes it am easy going way were ever she is" It was also hard for her dad because he worked in America and he had to travel a lot for work, which was also hard for her mom because she had to take care of her family alone. It was also harder at that time because there was no help from Nefesh B'Nefesh (which is an organization that helps new families come to Israel to live here) and there were no community's that helped the Americans. When I moved to Israel in 2002 there was no help either, which was also hard on my parents. For Alias's siblings it was easier, because they were smaller and when you are younger it is easier. Today all of her siblings are married to olim, including her. Alisa lived on Balfour Street in Rehavia in Jerusalem. Today her parents still live there after 29 years. Alisa thinks that "Living in America is easy", The reason Alisa thinks that is because you feel much safer in America politicly and security wise. It is much easier to feel safer there because they aren't fighting for thier country. Alisa thinks that "living in Israel is better, the quality of life is better, it needs more effort, but it is worth it. My whole family still lives in Israel thank god".

Alisa's job is the Efrat coordinator. Which is a job were you help olim that come to israel feel comfortable and at home. By helping them find homes and places to send thier kids to school. This job helps a lot of people make aliya because with Alisas help it is much easier for them to fit in. The reason she decided to work in Efrat is because: A. She lives in Efrat so that way her work is closer to her home. B. Alisa wanted to help the community she lives in. C. Alisa thinks that it is easier to help people settle were she lives because she knows the community better. So it is easier for her to help people. D. it is easy for Alisa to help people in her work because she loves it that way other people love it to. The reason Alisa picked this job because she was so grateful for her aliyah. To her parents and friends who helped her with support and information. They all helped her feel important and settled. "I was happy my family had the support and the help so I wanted to provide it to other people so they will also be comfortable". Alisa got her job in 2004. She started working in Keren Efrat which is an organization that helps people be more comfortable and welcome in Efrat. It helps make Efrat a better place.

I asked Alisa what couples she would rather work with, older or younger? She said she would rather younger, because she feels like she can give them a lot more. Alisa feels like she can give them more information because they are more interested, when the younger couples come they want to find out about the system. Alisa feels that with the younger couples need more work. Even though it is more work Alisa likes it better. She can see their success, satisfaction and happiness and that makes her very happy. With the older couples, Alisa finds it less interesting because they are not looking into a lot there but are just coming to Israel to rest and to be with their family. They aren’t interested in the learning the language or making friends as much as the younger couples, and that way it is less work. Alisa thinks that it is easiest for the kids to adjust because they don’t compare America and Israel. They understand the language faster and so it is easier for them come to a new place.

Alisa doesn’t only work in her office, in specific times. She also works socially outside of her job. She works on Shabbat, she meets a lot of families and talks to them about how they are doing and she talks to people in the supermarket on my block etc... Alisa's office is in the council in Efrat which has in it a computer, a desk and pictures of the olim and her family. She gets very excited when she sees all the immigrants coming to Israel off the plane. She feels the big smile on her face and their smiles too. There are a lot of welcome ceremonies for all of the olim in Efrat and all over Israel. They all feel really welcome- "the whole community gives a hand". Alisa feels that her job is not only done by her help but also by all Israel beacause a lot of people help welcome the olim. She says that she wouldn’t be able to do her job with out the whole community's help. "All the people that give a hand really make them feel happy and welcome".

Alisa says that her job is also difficult because people aren’t always happy in Israel. Sometimes it is really hard for them and they decide to go back to there hometown. When that happens Alisa feels like she didn’t do her job that she didn't give enough to make them love Israel. "It is really hard when people don’t have the successes that I wish that they would have". Alisa feels like you need to be prepared before you come to Israel because the olim don’t know what to expect. When the olim come to Israel and they don’t have successes that they dreamed of it is really hard for them, and eventually some decided to move back to there original homes.

Every year Alisa works with at least 20 families. She has been working for 5 years, so that means she has worked with at least 100 families. "I am still working with families that I helped a long time ago, I still have a relationship with almost all of the families".

I asked Alisa the question-when you work with families do the parents or kids have an easier time adjusting? She responded that it depends on the family. When the parents commute, it is hard on the wife and kids. "There are a lot of cases that people have that are hard also on the parents and also on the kids". It is really hard when the father commutes because they don’t live normally, there is no real routine and then it is hard on the family. It is a lot of hard work. Alisa feels that the families really have to think about the move before they decide. The aliyah is a very hard decision and if the family isn’t ready for it so it won't be a successfull move. Alisa says that most of the families that are prepared for the move are the ones who stay in Israel.

The reson that Alisas job is very important to her is because she feels like her job serves a batter society for her kids to live in and grow up in. Alisa likes to show her kids how she devotes her time and energy to her job, to help other people. Alisa likes to see her kids proud of her and her sucsess.

Alisa feels that her job helps israel a lot. When the olim come to Israel they make a commitment to Israeland that way there are a lot more Jews in Israel. Usally the olim also tell there friends the graetness of Israel and that way they bring more Jews to Israel. The aliya makes Israel a more popular place. that way it gets bigger and better. Alisa hopes that her job will lead to sucsess that way she will be able to help a lot of people. She hopes she will be able to make eveyone more comfortable, cannected and welcome that way all the Jews will live in Israel. Alisa also hopes that the olim will give back the help that they got to make Efrat a better place.

Alisa thinks that her job makes Israel a better place because many of the olim come to Israel with a profession which it helps Israel generate a lot of money, improves israels knowledge, intelligentce etc. That way the children grow up and learn to support the country and make Israel a better home and for all of the Jewish people.

I think that Alias's amazing and fun personality is the thing that makes her successful. Alisa is a very patient person and that makes it easy to work with her. She is also very calm and understanding which makes it easier to be with her. I think Alisa is great for her job and that she does a really good job at it. I really believe that Alisa helps our community. She adds a lot to Efrat, and we can all learn from her. Alisa loves Israel and she does a lot for it to be a better place. She feels like it is the place to be, that’s why she makes sure to help as much she can.

**Bibliography-**

[] [] [] __ [] __

=Background Reaserch- = = =

When I interviewed Alisa Harbater she told me the process of her move to Israel, and how it was hard for her. She loved to talk about the amazing experience she had, and described how her family felt with the move and how the adjustment was. When Alisa came to Israel she went to the army, where she worked as a soldier teacher.

Alisa worked with students who made aliyah from Ethiopia without their parents. There were a lot of kids with stories about how they came to Israel and their experience. The kids that Alisa worked with were allowed to call their parents once a month. The call was only allowed to be for three minutes only. These kids didn’t even know what was going on with their family. They didn’t know how they were and where they are standing in life. These kids lived without anyone, so the people that were like family to them was people like Alisa who worked with them to teach them Hebrew.

Alisa remembers how the kids would call and tell their parents how much they miss them and how much they love them. She remembered one story about a kid who didn’t talk to his parents since he was a baby. He called them and talked to them for the first time as an older kid. He was only allowed to call for three minutes and all he did was cry. He was so excited he couldn’t even speak. The only thing that he could say was "aniea woodsh alo" which means I love you in Ethiopian. The sorties that the kids told Alisa were about the long walks that they had on their way to Israel, how they left in the middle of the night and walked for days just to leave Ethiopia. When Alisa heard these stories she learned to appreciate her aliyah and to appreciate her parents. Alisa was glad that she had her family to go with her. Alisa felt that compare to their story her aliya was easy.  When Alisa was in the army she worked with kids from the organization of operation Solomon. These Jewish Ethiopian kids were brought to Israel by the Israeli army in the year 1991 in the 24 of May. 14,000 kids came to Israel in 30 plains in 34 hours, All of these plains belonged to the Jewish army.

In the year 1985 the Ethiopians started moving to other countries and to different places in Ethiopia. The reasons they moved were because the conditions in Ethiopia which were not good they couldn’t even live there. The economic terms were really bad and that led to a famine which led to hunger. There were times in the famine that the Ethiopians weren’t allowed to move to Israel (mostly the Jews). The governments of Ethiopia were the ones who didn’t let them move in the year 1985. When Alisa was in the army she worked with kids from the organization of operation Solomon. These Jewish Ethiopian kids were brought to Israel by the Israeli army in the year 1991 in the 24 of May. 14,000 kids came to Israel in 30 plains in 34 hours, All of these plains belonged to the Jewish army.

Before Operation Solomon occurred there was a different organization called Operation Moses. The Moses organization brought Jews to Israel and they left behind 15,000 Jews sadly. The operation Moses didn’t bring all of the Jews to Israel because it was supposed to be a secret mission, and when People started finding out about it they had to stop it. The operation Solomon was the one who continued it, they tried to bring up all of the families they left behind.

The Ethiopians past wasn't good but today they are living in a better future. There still are Ethiopians in Ethiopia starving but they have also continued with life and found their best talents. They are known as amazing athletes. I am happy that there doing better now and that they have a better future, I look up to them that they were able to leave there past and start a new future in a better way.



= = =Bibliography-=

[] [] [] __ [] __ []

= Literary Connection- =

שירת התקווה
מילים: נפתלי הרץ אימבר //כֹּל עוֹד בַּלֵּבָב פְּנִימָה נֶפֶשׁ יְהוּדִי הוֹמִיָּה, וּלְפַאֲתֵי מִזְרָח, קָדִימָה, עַיִן לְצִיּוֹן צוֹפִיָּה, עוֹד לֹא אָבְדָה תִּקְוָתֵנוּ, הַתִּקְוָה בַּת שְׁנוֹת אַלְפַּיִם, לִהְיוֹת עַם חָפְשִׁי בְּאַרְצֵנוּ, אֶרֶץ צִיּוֹן וִירוּשָׁלַיִם. // **//The Tikvah song://** //** Written by: Naftali Hertz Imbar As long as my heart is in side me A soul of a Jew is thrilled, As long as the Jewish law is facing the east, I will continue going forward, There is a eye watching us from all the other nations that we are staying in our beliefs, Our hope has not fallen yet, Our hope will continue for more then a thousand years, To be a free nation in our country, In a land of Zionism in Jerusalem in the country of Israel. **//

<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">I chose the song Hatikva because it is one of my favorite songs. Every time I sing it I feel a special connection that I can't explain, it makes me think about a lot of things that have to do with the Israeli nation. It gives me a lot of feeling and thoughts in my head. I like to look beyond the song and its basic meaning- I like to add meaning of my own.

<span style="background: #ebeff9; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">The author of this song is Naftali Herz Imbar he wrote this song to show the right way to the Israeli future that the Jews disserve. I think that the reason that Naftali doesn’t explain a lot about the song is because he wanted us to try to find the meaning to this song alone. That way everyone will understand it and love it in their own special way. Naftali must have really believed in the Jewish nation because you can tell that he wants the nation so continue and grow by his words, he believes in the nation as if it is a strong body of people. He is talks about the Jewish land and how important it is that we have it. His words have a lot of power and meaning. Naftali expects the nation to continue forever and ever to be the nation that everyone looks up to. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"> The reason that I chose this song is because I feel very connected to it. I think that it shows a lot about the Israeli belief as something very strong and powerful. It is something that is very important to the Jewish people which they make sure to take care of. I feel like I am lucky to have the opportunity of living in Israel as an Israeli citizen. I think that in this song there are a lot of nice morals, if you look at this song and really try to understand it you can learn a lot of lessons. The main lesson is not giving up, always keep believing. I feel a lot of pride to our nation from this song, looking back at our history and seeing how much we fought for this country. It makes me feel lucky to be living some where people have been waiting to build throughout all of our history. This song has a lot of special elements that teach us a lot. It teaches us that we have to keep believing because if we don’t believe in our self's who will believe in us? If I could write this song over again I think that I would highlight our history in a notice able way. Our history is something that is connected to us, and it should be something that is attached to us and that we are proud of. Except for that I think this song is perfect, it shows so much about our country and what we want our future to be like and should be like.

When I sing the song Hatikva I feel my heart beating and my eyes tearing I feel a connection to the words coming out of my mouth. This song has a lot of power and strength because of its meaning behind it. I feel as if I am standing in front of god asking him for his help by making our country a safe home for all Jews. Making this place a home we can stay in forever, a place we can establish things the way we want and not be controlled by other nations. A place we can be who we want to be and raise our kids the right way. When I sing this song I always cry it doesn’t matter where I am or why we are singing it. When I sing this song it makes me think about the Holocaust and how Jews were abused and tortured by the Nazis. It makes me feel so lucky that we have our country and so grateful to the people that fought for our land.

<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">My favorite part of the song: <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 117%;">**//<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">עוֹד לֹא אָבְדָה תִּקְוָתֵנוּ הַתִּקְוָה בַּת שְׁנוֹת אַלְפַּיִם, לִהְיוֹת עַם חָפְשִׁי בְּאַרְצֵנוּ, אֶרֶץ צִיּוֹן וִירוּשָׁלַיִם. //**

My favorite sentences are: <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%; text-align: left;">**// עוֹד לֹא אָבְדָה תִּקְוָתֵוּ. לִהְיוֹת עַם חָפְשִׁי בְּאַרְצֵנוּ. //**

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 102%;">I feel that in these sentences out of the whole song there is the most strength. This is the high-light of the song, it shows the meaning. It shows the strength that the Jewish people have as a nation. The song is showing that we will not lose our hope and that we will continue believing for a long time. We will continue being a free nation in our country. In these sentences I can't control my tears I feel like this is really a song that connects to me. When I sing these sentences my strength for the Jewish nation is something I can't even describe. It is something I feel every time I sing it and it is an amazing feeling that I never get sick of.

=Creative Connection=

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">When I think of Israel I think of our nation which is made of a lot of different people with a lot of different believes which makes it very special. Our country is filled with a lot of things that are hard to put together like the fact that Israel is filled with Arabs but we make it work, even though it is not easy and there are always a lot of conflicts. We make things better by making peace. I feel that Israel is a country that accepts everyone and I think everyone feels comfortable living here once you try it and put the effort in to it. I think Israel is an amazing place because it is very different then all the other nations we believe in different things and we live a different life style. In Israel there are a lot of conflicts between right wing and left people, I feel that because of these arguments we became are one big nation with a lot of different opinions that help us grow stronger.

In my creative assignment I decided to make a collage. In this collage I wanted to put in a lot of pictures of things that define Israel to me. Israel to me is a wonderful place filled with a lot of power and strength. In the collage you will see a lot of different faces these faces are faces of people who live in Israel and are connected to the Israeli nation. I put in words that define Israel for me like father, fights, holocaust et’c... When I look at the collage I feel proud that I live in Israel and I am extremely happy for it. I feel like this is the life for me and this is where I am supposed to be. The main pictures that I see when I look at the collage are the soldiers. I feel that they’re the ones protecting us and I have full belief in them. When I look at soldiers I feel that I am under them thanking them for doing their duty the best that they can to protect our country.

When you look at the collage you see a lot of different pictures. I feel that every picture, every word says something else. But to see all of that you have to really look in to it and if you don’t you won’t see it. I feel that Israel is something that you have to look at for a long time to see how special it is, to live in it and feel it.

In my collage I put in things that are most outstanding to me in Israel. I feel that Israel isn't just a country but somthing much more complicated and beautiful. I feel that Israel isn't only in the head of what will happen it the future but also what there was in the past. The Holocaust is one of the things that I think of a lot, i think about how i owe my life to those people because how grateful I am. I am amazed by what our country is it is so special. I feel proud to be here every second of my life.

=Reflection-= <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">When I first heard about this project I wasn’t sure what I would get from it. But as I continued I saw that I am learning a lot. I felt like my perspective of life was changing, I felt the importance of me living in Israel and how it affects me. I noticed how Israel is such a big part of my life and how it is so important that I live here. From each part of the project I learned something else.

In this project Alisa taught me that life is filled with surprises and you never know when they’re going to come at you. Even thought things change around you need to make it work. You have to make yourself feel comfortable with what you are doing. When I look at Alias's life I see that it wasn’t easy, moving to Israel leaving everything behind, starting a new life et'c… I feel that I can learn from her that you have to just live your life. Even though things are hard and they don’t go the way you want you have to deal with it. I also learned from Alisa that you have to give you time to others… you need to see who needs help around you and be there for them. When you help people you have to do it with all of your heart and at the same time you have to enjoy it.

When you help someone they count on you and they feel that you are there for them. I hope to learn to help people with a smile on my face all of the time and just be happy to help people not because I have to but because I want to. I learned from operation Solomon that I have to be appreciative to my parents, who brought me to Israel the easy way. I see how important Israel is to the Jews, the Jews are willing to travel day and night to get to Israel to be in the holy land. It shows how Israel isn’t just a country but there is something behind it that makes it special. This subject connects to my literary connection, in my literary connection I spoke about Israel and how special it is to me. How when I sing the Hatikva song I can’t not be proud of our nation. Are nation is made of something so special it is made out of our beliefs.

A peace from my literary connection that show what I feel about Israel- I think that it shows a lot about the Israeli belief as something very strong and powerful. I know I am lucky to have the opportunity of living in Israel as an Israeli citizen. I think that in this song there are a lot of nice morals, if you look at this song and really try to understand it you can learn a lot of lessons. The main lesson is not giving up, always keep believing. I feel a lot of pride to our nation from this song, looking back at our history and seeing how much we fought for this country and we didn’t give up. It makes me feel lucky to be living some where people have been waiting to build throughout all of our history. This song has a lot of special elements that teach us a lot. It teaches us that we have to keep believing because if we don’t believe in our self's who will believe in us? From my creative connection I learned to look at Israel in a wider eye. Not to only look at what is going on in my bubble that I live in but to look at Israel as something beyond. I made a collage which I put in it a lot of pictures that define Israel to me.

All of these pictures are pictures from the news paper so they are all things that are happening now in Israel. When I look at my collage from up top I see one beautiful country that together with all of the problems at the end it looks perfect. A part of my creative connection- In my collage I put in things that are most outstanding to me in Israel. i feel that Israel isn't just a country but something much more complicated and beautiful. I feel that Israel isn't only in the head of what will happen it the future but also what there was in the past. The Holocaust is one of the things that I think of a lot, I think about how I owe my life to those people because how grateful I am. I am amazed by what our country is it is so special. I feel proud to be here every second of my life.

I really learned a lot from this project it gave me a whole different look of life. I feel very appreciative of the fact that I live in Israel as an Israeli citizen it makes me very proud. It makes me not only look at Israel as a country but it makes me look beyond that. I feel very grateful that I live in Israel with my amazing family. I wasn’t born in Israel but hopefully my children will be born here as a countinueation of my family here in Israel.