Tamara's+I_Faces

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=Rationale= I decided to write about my grandfather Nachmen Kupietzky. My grandfather is a big part of my life. As a little girl, he used to read us stories and as we got older he took us on hikes around Jerusalem. He makes every holiday special. On Hannukah he organizes a dreidel game, on Purim he always gets dressed up in original costumes, on Pesach he runs the Kupietzky seder and sometimes takes us all away to a Hotel. On Simchat Torah he organizes a special family minyan so that everyone can get an aliyah to the Torah. He is always busy and that is why he is so full of life. Making aliya was a great and brave milestone in my grandfather's life. His father had studied with Rav Kook but my grandfather actually fulfilled the family dream by coming to live in Israel. He left a thriving catering business in Manhattan, New York and had to struggle to make a living in a business that was not developed in Israel. In addition to making a living in catering and in the catering rental business, my grandfather has learned to be a tour guide and he volunteers on the board of Alyn Hospital. All of his children, grandchildren and great grandchildren live in Israel. I think my grandfather is an Israeli success story in both his professional and private life.

= Profile =

It is 7:00 on a Wednesday morning and my Saba,Nachman Kupietzky, is getting ready to give another tour of Har Habayit. He prepares his notes and waits patiently for his group to arrive at the Kotel. He loves showing people the place where the temple stood and he says he gets excited every time he takes a group up to the Dome of the Rock. But my Saba wasn't always a tour guide. He started his professional life at a very different place. Nachman Kupietzky was born in August 1938 the second of four children. He grew up in New York City and attended The Crown Heights Yeshivah, a Jewish elementary school. He went to Yitzchak Elchanan High School and Yeshivah University for college. He majored in Hebrew and math. His first visit to Israel was in 1957. He was particularly impressed with the Israeli Kibbutz and the idea that a group of people work together, share everything and seem to have very few worries in life. He was also impressed with being able to tour places in Israel that are mentioned in the bible. When Nachman was 22 he got married and had three boys. He always knew that he would enter the family catering business. His father and mother catered in the Young Israel of Forest Hill and Nachman and his older brother Jonah both took over the business. After a while, they looked to expand their business and managed to become the caterers in the then new synagogue in Lincoln Square in Manhattan. Although his life in America was very successful, he and his wife were not happy with life in New York City. There was a lot of crime and people did not feel safe to walk around at night. He and his wife wanted a more secure life for their family and decided to do something about it. In fact, Nachman wasn’t really motivated by Zionism. At the time, he debated whether to move to Toronto, Canada or to Israel. In Toronto, he could have started the first kosher catering business, and made a great deal of money. At the end Nachman made aliya and settled down in Savyon. They chose Savyon because it was similar to life in an American suburb. He thought his family would adjust better to the move that way and so it was. They liked the community and lived in a rented house. After moving three times in Savyon they moved to Jerusalem. Although they were happy on a personal level, making Aliyah in the 70's was also very different from making Aliyah today. It took months to get a phone and a few months after Nachman came on Aliyah, the Yom Kippur war broke out. Even though he was not in the army, the experience of war was very frightening. However, despite the war, Nachman and his family adjusted fairly quickly to their new life in Israel.

Nachman continued the catering business in Israel. His first job was the banquet manager at the Pan American Hotel in Bat Yam. At the time, there were no frozen products available and catering was very basic and backward. One day, the hotel burnt down and one of the few things that survived the fire was a black telephone that melted but was still intact. Nachman still has it. It reminds him of the difficult times he had during the early years of his aliyah. As he worked as a banquet manager in several hotels, Nachman realized that there was no place in Israel that rented out tables, chairs, serving dishes, plates and centerpieces. People who wanted to have a party or a simcha at home, or in a park for example, had no place to find all this equipment. So Nachman and his wife opened the first party rental place in Israel. Pretty soon they had a lot of competition but his merchandise was the most elegant and he was the first. He decided to sell the business a few years ago because he and his wife were tired of running it. Not one of his kids wanted to take it over.

While his wife worked in the rental business, Nachman continued to work as a caterer, as a catering consultant, or as a banquet manager in several hotels. He worked for many years as the banquet manager in the Holy Land Hotel. This hotel was a very popular place to get married and Nachman organized the weddings of a whole generation of young people. Eventually, Nachman retired and decided to pursue his love of history. He was always interested in Jewish history and traveled all over Europe with Prof. Yom Tov Assis. Prof. Assis gave historical tours of ancient Jewish communities in Greece, Italy, Spain and Portugal. He studied to be a tour guide for two years. Now he conducts tours of the Temple Mount because he feels it is terrible that Jews are not allowed freedom of movement on the holiest site in Israel. While there are some people who disagree with visiting the Mount, these tours ensure a Jewish presence on the mountain despite the Mosque. Nachman also conducts tours of the Palmach and Begin museums because these places present history in a modern way that appeals to young and old people. They use tour guides and multimedia presentations that make the history come alive. He really enjoys seeing people get excited about these museums. In addition to his tour guide work, Nachman volunteers at Alyn hospital because one of his neighbors and friends when he first moved to Jerusalem was very active in fundraising for Alyn. He enjoys thinking of fun evenings to raise money and also loves to organize the food. Alyn has dinners, game nights and bicycle rides all over the country. Nachman helps organize the food for these events and raises a great deal of money.

In conclusion, my grandfather, is a very impressive and unique person. He is interested in many things and always willing to try something new, especially if it is a new restaurant! I admire him for every thing he did and still does today. Despite his age, he still is very active and contributes a lot to society. He really lives life.

=** Background **=

Alyn hospital was founded in 1932 as a voluntary organization by Dr. Henry Keller, an American orthopedist who dedicated his life to volunteer work with physically challenged children in Jerusalem. During the 1940s and 1950s the polio epidemic began to spread in Israel. As a result the Ministry of Health provided Alyn Hospital with an old monastery belonging to the St. Simon Orthodox Church to be used as a hospital. Alyn Hospital provided medical, educational help and supervision to about 200 children suffering from polio.

Thanks to the "matching funds" donated by Malcolm and Dorothy Woldenberg, Alyn was able to move to Kiryat Yovel in Jerusalem in 1971. The new location enabled Alyn to develop a rehabilitation center. The new hospital has a beautiful view of the Jerusalem forest and the village of Ein Kerem.

Over the years, Alyn Hospital has become the leader in the field of pediatric and adolescent rehabilitation not only in the Middle East but throughout the world. Alyn Hospital has developed expertise in such fields as the treatment of trauma and head injuries from terrorist attacks, road and domestic accidents, neuro-muscular diseases, cerebral palsy, spina bifida, congenital deformities, general pediatric orthopedics, patients needing intermediate ventilation, special feeding management, cancer and burns. In addition, the Rehabilitation Unit regularly renews its medical equipment and treatment areas. It also has a large therapeutic pool for hydrotherapy treatments and baby swimming groups. In the last few years ALYN has included the Center for Enhanced Function that provides educational, developmental and behavioral solutions for a lot of children. They also have a Safe Transportation Project for children with special needs. ALYN has recently opened "MASLUL" a new Sports and Leisure Center, housing a gym – the first of its kind in Jerusalem. Now children can exercise with workout equipment under the professional guidance of specially trained youth instructors.

In conclusion, Alyn Hospital has developed from a polio treatment center to a world leader in the field of pediatric rehabilitation. Every day the hospital provides both hope and innovative treatment for many children and their families.

= Literary connection = I have chosen an excerpt from the novel A Pigeon and a Boy by Meir Shalev. In this excerpt, the main character and narrator of part of the book, is an Israeli tour guide named Yair who loves his country. Though he lives in Tel Aviv, he searches for a place his soul can call home. His mother had always told him what to look for in a home and in this chapter he hears her voice telling him. He finds a house that is falling apart in the middle of nowhere, but he likes the landscape and the trees around the house. When he goes inside, he feels the house breathe and answer and the air feels fresh. The author is trying to tell us that there is more to a house than its physical appearance. He is also trying to say that even though a house may be beautiful it may not be comfortable to live and feel happy in. In the excerpt, the most moving words are when the narrator, Yair describes the house using all his senses. He walks in the house and sees its peeling walls. He talks to it and listens for a response. He smells the air and feels happy. He hears the sounds of birds and animals at night and falls asleep. This description creates a feeling of peacefulness and calm that is similar to the feeling one has coming back to Israel after being away.

I feel this piece connects in many ways to the story of my grandfather. The love Jews feel to the land of Israel is described very clearly in the novel. Yair drives his van all over the country and is familiar with every place. He knows about the birds of Israel, trees and other elements of nature. Similarly, like Yair, my grandfather is a tour guide who loves and feels a strong connection to Israel.

In conclusion, Yair is looking for a home. my grandfather had made aliya after feeling that he too is looking for a place his soul can call home. I find my grandfather's search and emotional connection to Israel very similar to Yair's search.

= Creative Connection = The creative part of the project shows a block figure reflected in a one way mirror. When he looks in the mirror he sees himself reflected alone. However, when he looks through the window from the other side he sees a crowd of block figures that include his own reflection. These blocks represent how an individual becomes part of a nation. The drawing shows how the single Jew who lives in the "Gola" (Diaspora) can be surrounded by Jews, yet still feels alone and scared. Once the individual makes Aliyah he feels surrounded by people, lives in confidence and feels safe. Most of all, he feels accepted. Many of the Jews who live in the "Gola" feel isolated, however, by becoming one with Israeli society they feel in place. Every Jew who becomes a citizen of Israel and joins society contributes in this way to the whole. In other words, every person in Israel is a piece of the puzzle which forms the Jewish nation.

=REFLECTION= To be honest, when I first heard about the project I didn’t expect to gain anything from it. However, now I feel there was a gap in my knowledge of my grandfather. I didn't realize how little I knew of him as a person, or what a special human being he is and what an interesting life he has. I feel a little badly for never appreciating everything my grandfather does, and for not realizing that because of him I have all I have. I have also taken for granted having all my family here with me in Israel. Thanks to this project I am so thankful to live in Israel. I realize how crucial it is to live here and how blessed I am. Now I understand and admire my parents for making aliya. Finally, technically, the experience of having an on-line project made the project more fun and amusing to do. I also learned how to rewrite and make corrections as well as follow instructions. Although the different parts of the project took a long time to think about and to write, I really feel that I learned a lot from it.

=BIBLIOGRAPHY=

Meir Shalev, __A Pigeon and a Boy__, trans. By Evan Fallenberg, New York, 2007. Chapter 6, pp. 103-105. [] []