Spotlight on Collaboration: Featuring Gill Schramm

Since Yahel’s inception, we have developed and maintained a strong partnership with Friends by Nature (FBN) – the grassroots NGO that works in the fields of community empowerment and education in Ethiopian Israeli communities across Israel. This partnership has blossomed beautifully and created a platform for Yahel participants to work very closely and develop deep relationships with FBN volunteers.

Jenna, a current participant on the Yahel Social Change Program, spoke with Gil Schramm, an Israeli university student who volunteers regularly with Friends by Nature’s programs in Gedera. One of the programs in which Gil volunteers is the Mercaz Noar (Youth Center) in the Shapira neighborhood of Gedera. As part of their volunteer work, Yahel participants are counselors in the youth center and are paired with FBN and Israeli volunteers.

Last semester, Gil partnered with Lisa, a past Yahel Social Change Program participant, in the youth center activities. Below is Jenna’s interview with Gil regarding his exciting work with FBN, Lisa and Yahel:

Jenna: How did you come to know (and love) the program and the Yahel participants?

Gil: My first staff training for Friends by Nature was in Fall 2011. I didn’t know anyone before joining and when I got to Gedera I found a whole group of Americans my age! We all bonded over that weekend and I soon found out I would be leading and attending activities with most of them and I was really excited!

Jenna: What FBN activities are you involved with?

Gil: I help to lead the FBN community youth groups at the youth center. When I originally started in the Fall, I was a counselor for the ‘older teens.’ And now I am a ‘madrich’ (guide/counselor) to a group of teens that have taken FBN’s ‘youth training program’ and emerged as peer leaders in the community.

Jenna: Do you work closely with the Yahel volunteers?

Gil: Lisa, and Yahel participant, and I led the youth group together this past fall. She and the other Yahelnikim volunteer with the neighborhood children all the time. The kids are lucky to be around an English speaker weekly. They have a big opportunity to work on their English, which most Israelis don’t have outside of school.

Jenna: Lucky, huh? We’re lucky too! How do you think having the Yahel volunteers affects the community?

Gil: I think because the Yahel program is long term the kids really begin to trust the volunteers that are coming. They learned about who they are and recognize that they have one focus: their volunteer placements. The ‘Yahelnikim don’t have the added stress and distraction of other jobs or going to school like I do, so the people they are working with benefit greatly.

Jenna: Do you believe the kids enjoy having such a diverse group of leaders?

Gil: The kids could not ask enough questions about who Lisa was. They wanted to know where she came from and what America is like. They were so curious to know why someone from the United States would come to Gedera just to be with them.

Jenna: Lastly, if you could describe Lisa in one word, what would it be?

תושיה, Resourceful

Guest Post: A Passover Tale in 3 Parts / by Rabbi Levi Lauer

We are posting this piece with the permission of Rabbi Levi Lauer who teaches on the Yahel Social Change Program and is the Founding Executive Director of ATZUM. Thank you, Rabbi Lauer, for sharing this with us.

I.

Forty-seven years ago I had my first Seder Lail Pesah in Israel. Chaya and I were guests of my Hebrew University roommate’s large, immediate family at Moshav Barak. Their hospitality was inspirational, and generous to a fault. I barely survived a Moroccan meal of spiced intensity and quantity that was a serious challenge to my pale-faced, suburban, Midwest palate and kishkehs. They also sang and laughed endlessly, a joyous celebration of freedom in Zion far removed from the hostility mounted against small Jewish communities in the Atlas Mountains and in far larger North African, urban environments.

The Daninos worked tirelessly to make new lives, pharmacists become egg-farmers and small storekeepers. They struggled and succeeded in adjusting to Israel’s demands while dealing with the negative stereotypes Israel’s society maintained against their culture, their Maghreb dialect, their complexion. My roommate sought dates with more than a few coeds. “We don’t date Moroccans,” he was reminded.

That’s largely behind us today, though a few ugly remnants of such bigotry remain. My roommate, Y., is now head of a department at the Foreign Ministry. His siblings are well educated and well achieved in nearly every way we’d measure “success”.

They paid the customary Israeli dues for getting there. “Danino” was Hebraized, foolishness insisted upon for most Diaspora-ridden names that came to represent the country abroad. Y. was captured, tortured by the Egyptians and held for long months in captivity after the Yom Kippur War. But they had come home to Zion, and home was a powerful antidote for that discomfort and suffering.

II.

I thought of all this again this week, and I can still taste the spices from that Seder. Another Danino (not related, I think), Israel’s Chief of Police, first displayed appalling ignorance of the law (“No one filed a complaint so we didn’t detain anyone.”) and then a contemptible equanimity in response to a race riot perpetrated by soccer fans. Celebrating a victory at the stadium adjacent to Jerusalem’s largest mall, hundreds rushed the food court overwhelming the few security guards. Dancing on tables chanting “Death to the Arabs,” they brutally beat many of the mall’s Arab employees, surrounded Arab women and children and spat on them. The police arrived 46 minutes later, closed the mall, sent everyone home — and arrested no one.

Until “Haaretz” put it on the front page three days later, almost one knew about it. A free press has power. The Police Chief secured better legal advice. The police detained 16 thugs using more than ample evidence from the mall’s security cameras. Twelve were given minor fines and banned for three years from the stadium; four await trial. The police say there will be more arrests.

No victim of the violence has yet filed a formal complaint. What Israeli Arab/Palestinian thinks reporting at the police station will be a decent experience, and who wants to risk the wrath of the mob? After all, but for the resistance of the mall’s ownership and store owners, the rioters would have been armed with knives.

You’re asking, “What of the decent folks?” There are more than a few. The mayor invited the Arab workers to his office and decried the violence. The mall’s general manager, genuinely shaken by the nearly murderous hate, expressed his outrage. An interfaith organization brought the victims candies and protested the riot. Haaretz is still giving the aftermath coverage. The Prime Minister and Minister of Internal Security were silent — maybe they were busy preparing for Pesah, Festival of Our Freedom.

III.

My great aunt and uncle walked much of the way to Petah Tiqva from Russia in the 1920’s. They found that strength in part because they wanted to breathe freely where no pogrom would threaten, or at least be able to defend themselves when the mob came in the uniforms of surrounding Arab states, or of terrorist “irregulars”. Their son became a general, commanded Zahal’s Artillery Corps, was a candidate for Commander-In-Chief.

Imagine that in the country they loved, sweated for and defended to the best of their abilities of heart, hand and mind we’ve produced homegrown, racist hooligans. Our homes and schools and yeshivot (a significant number of the rioters wore white shirts and black kipot, tzitzit flying) have raised kids and their fathers eager to hate — in deed.

At Seder this year I’ll try to be mindful enough to remember all this: the debts of gratitude I owe Y. and his family for making Israel so inviting, so wondrously, generously giving, so proudly determined to root a nation in the fertile grounds of hard work and of cultural, religious and political diversity; the honor I owe my family’s earlier generations who risked all to allow me the privilege of becoming a citizen of a State that wrestles with God, that teaches it sons and daughters to defend that privilege; and finally, that it’s now on my watch that Israel’s dignity and name will be re-shaped. On that watch there will be prison for progromniks, and soul-searching, soul- searing commitment to build the religion and humanism that make race riots unthinkable, or at least dauntingly difficult — for the sake of my kids and their kids and everyone who has not tired of standing guard and making Israel worthy of our devotion.

Written by Rabbi Levi Lauer and his wife, Chaya.

The Jewish-Ethiopian Experience: A Personal Account / by Avi Dnku

Yahel Social Change Program expands to 9-months for as low as $1,000!

We’re SO excited to announce that we have expanded our Yahel Social Change Program for 2012. 

Our 2012 program, running September 23 2012-June 30 2013, can cost as low as $1,000 with flight, housing and program expenses included!

See below for more details & please share this link to help us spread our exciting news!

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Yahel Social Change Program expands to 9-months for as low as $1,000!

Interested in making a difference in Israel? The Yahel Social Change Program gives Jewish young adults an unparalleled opportunity to live, learn and volunteer alongside Israelis in a predominantly Ethiopian Israeli neighborhood.

Applications are rolling. First deadline is April 1, 2012 (*preference will be given to early applicants). Apply here!

Program Highlights

- Live as part of the local Ethiopian Israeli community and experience the community’s culture, tradition and way of life
- Cultivate deep relationships with your Israeli peers and community members
- Volunteer with an Israeli grassroots organization focused on social change and community empowerment
- Engage with Israeli social change initiatives through meetings with social entrepreneurs and policy makers
- Build a vibrant home-based community that lives, explores and works together
- Grow professionally by working side by side with Israeli community members in a position tailored to your talents and needs. Past placements include:

• teaching English in local schools
• mentoring at-risk youth
• creating community gardens
• interning at Israeli non profit organizations

You can participate on Yahel for as low as $1,000 (including flight, accommodations and all program expenses). Spots are limited so apply now!

Want to know more? Contact Rachel Zieleniec, program alumna and recruitment associate, at Rachel@yahelisrael.com or 202-630-6686.

I have two weeks left in Israel / by Max Rosen

I have two weeks left in Israel. This would seem like the time one would naturally begin to partake in the process known as ‘reflection.’ But there is something about this that does not sit right with me. When we ‘reflect,’ we are essentially ‘looking back.’ We look back at the things we did, the people we met, the lessons we learned. But here is where my problem resonates, if we are always looking back, how can we effectively move forward?

I know that my philosophy may seem ridiculous, because it is essential that we look back on and recount our experiences in order to give those experiences meaning. But my issue resonates in the idea that too often, the lessons we learned simply stop there, and those experiences and relationships become nothing more than nostalgia. What I’m saying is, we need to fight this urge to let the past simply become the past, and not part of our future. We need to carry the lessons of our experience forward, utilizing them in every practical way possible. Our experiences in Gedera were nothing short of eye opening and insightful, but they will mean nothing if they only remain fanciful stories we tell our kids one day.

Thoughts on: Racism in Israel / by Lisa Frenkiel

Last night, a few of the current Yahelnikim and Yahel alumni joined some of our friends from Gedera at a protest in the city of Kiryat Malachi. The protest was in reaction to a news segment aired in Israel that showed members of the Kiryat Malachi community coming together to sign housing agreements that barred any renting of apartments to Israelis of Ethiopian descent. If this wasn’t bad enough, some Israeli students went undercover to try to rent an
apartment in this area, and the man renting them assured them there would be “no roaches” there – he was referring to Ethiopian Israelis. One resident came on camera saying that the “only good Ethiopian was one in the grave.” I watched this segment with the Yahelnikim and one of our friends from the neighborhood who is of Ethiopian descent. I tried not to cry, and failed. He walked away for a few minutes, and we all had our own reactions. He said he knew this type of racism existed, but to see it and hear it was jarring, although he wasn’t sure why. For me, I know why I was emotional. I was embarrassed. Mortified, really. Mortified for every Jewish person who believes that all Jews are one people and we have a responsibility to protect one another. We have failed one another and, I believe, our ancestors and our generation have the responsibility to fix this.

Jews have been discriminated against for thousands of years. My grandmother and grandfather were in labor camps and survived the Shoah. They saw their families murdered for being Jewish. Never should Jews be spewing this kind of hatred against anyone- especially our own brothers and sisters. Israel is the home for all Jews- there should be no conditions. This has been a lesson for me in how to channel my own anger into something positive and productive to make a difference. To do my part to ensure that this is the last generation of any immigrants to feel unwelcome in their home, in all of our home, Israel.

The first step was to participate in the protests here in Israel. What will come next, I am still figuring that out but I am thankful to Yahel and all of its supporters, my fellow Yahelnikim and my friends in Gedera, for being on this journey with me to create and spark social change, and for allowing me to be on theirs.

T-Shirts say "The value of a man is not the same as the value of an apartment"

"I'm a woman, I'm Jewish, I'm Ethiopian... deal with it!"

"Our blood is good only for wars?"

"You should love your neighbor as yourself, even if he doesn't look like you"

"This is the time to fight for our future"

Soaking it all in / by Lisa Frenkiel

When I was walking to the grocery store this morning, I heard Or (a three year old girl) call my name as she got a running start to jump in my arms. She said with a smile “Hello, Lisa, Good morning!!”

Or is the same little girl who didn’t speak a word of English four months ago.

As I think about how my time here is winding down, I am acutely aware of each of these moments. I want to hold them inside and remember the sound of Or’s voice and the feel of her kiss on my cheek, remember each “What’s up” from Ebay (a 16 year old boy who I work with in a weekly youth group), or the time I sing Beyonce songs with Orit and Alemnat (two 14 year old girls in the neighborhood).

I want to soak it all in.

The thought of leaving brings up emotions I never thought I would feel after such a short amount of time, but it makes sense. It makes sense because from day one, the people in the Shapira neighborhood have welcomed me with open arms and warm smiles.

The Yahel Social Change Program is a five-month immersive service learning experience that is very unique in nature, because we actually live among the community in which we work. That means that we spend time and build relationships with Ethiopian Israelis who are our age because they are our neighbors, and our friends. We go to the same grocery store, have the same community activities and celebrate holidays together with the kids we teach in the local schools. We can’t walk to a restaurant without running into our host families, or friends from the Gar’in. As we walk through the neighborhood, our names are called by kids running from 300 feet away, asking us to come play with them outside.

The Yahel volunteers become a part of the community, and in return, the community becomes a part of us, a part of Yahel.

Learning about and creating social change has to start somewhere. Yahel is where it started for me. In one month I will leave this community with not only deeper relationships, but with a deeper appreciation for and a deeper commitment to social change, for the rest of my life.

My Ongoing Transformation / by Jenna Neulander

A year ago, I never saw myself here doing what I am doing today. I pretty much “fell into” this program. As I sat in the living room of my parents house I felt like I was on the verge of becoming a complete failure. I had just graduated from college with no steady job waiting or Ivy League graduate programs begging me to apply. I was a 22 year old girl with a Bachelors degree and more then a few grandiose plans. I had my heart set on going to India. Another plan, which in the end did not work out. So, two weeks before arriving in Ben Gurion Airport, I followed the suggestion of a man I never met and applied to Yahel- Israel Service Learning. I had no idea what I was getting myself into and I would soon find out that the way I had been defining failure for myself was wrong. In fact, many of my definitions and self assured habits were about to be turned upside down.

When I first arrived here I couldn’t help but feel like the same failure who sat on my parents couch weeks before. I was frustrated and disappointed in myself when I sat alone for hours at the local school waiting for teachers to remember to send me students to tutor. Or when working on a program building session with five other opinionated and strong minded volunteers we would end for the day with no resolution. And there was one consistent thought I could not get out of my head, can we possibly be so high and mighty that we come into people’s lives for such a short amount of time and actually believe we can make a difference?

I read an article that was passed around the participants and staff of Yahel. Reading this helped to make sense of the feelings I was experiencing. The article made me feel like I wasn’t alone, and more importantly what I have chosen to devote a year of my life to was important. I realized success and failure have nothing to do with this program or this year. I’m not here to pitch an idea or sell a product. I had said it over and over to myself “I’m here to grow” but, just recently I realized I haven’t been open to the biggest part of me that needs growth – that side of me that demands tangible change.
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Proud to be a Yahelnik / by Justin Lichtenstaedter

We have been in Gedera for almost four months now, working in different areas and on different projects. We have become acclimated with our everyday schedules and have a greater understanding of our new home. This week, however, marked a new chapter for us as we embarked on our very own project here in Gedera. After months of observations and meetings with community members and the like, we decided that contributing to the already existing community garden would be most beneficial. Our idea was to set up weekly activities in the garden that would provide the youth with structured activities and also encourage integration.

We decided that there would be no better way to kickoff our weekly event then throwing a Hanukah party in the garden on the first night of Hanukah. We had two arts and crafts projects, a seedling seminar, fresh pita cooking, Hannukah sing-a-long, homemade menorah for candle lighting, and Sufganyot (Hanukah Doughnuts). Everything was set up for a great evening; the only thing left to worry about was the turnout.

Garden party: Justin lighting the menorah for the first night of Hannukah

We had spent so much time preparing this event and coincidentally another Masa program, Eco Israel, just so happened to be joining us on that day to see what Yahel was all about. We spent the morning talking to them and showing them around our neighborhood; Eating Ethiopian food and sharing laughs. We tried to make them feel as comfortable as possible but lingering in the back of all of our minds, we knew we had to have a successful afternoon.
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Building Gardens, Creating Friendships / by Jesse Wallsh

In the last 10 months I have had the good fortune of doing community gardening work in several different contexts. I have worked in community gardens in a predominantly Ethiopian Israeli immigrant neighborhood, another one that is open to everybody in the town of Gedera, and one at an Ethiopian new-immigrant absorption center in Beer Sheva.

Each of the gardens are beautiful in their own way. In addition to producing food, the gardens serve as places for talking, laughing and learning. In the buildings in the Shapira neighborhood, the immigrants came from different regions of Ethiopia at different times, and some speak different languages from one another. The majority of the adults speak Amharic as their mother language, but some only know Tigrinya (a language spoken in northeastern Ethiopia). In addition, about 5% of the neighborhood is made up of non-Ethiopian Israelis from the former USSR, Morocco, Yemen and other places. Most of the Ethiopian immigrants in the neighborhood lived in villages in the mountains of northern Ethiopia, lacking running water and electricity. Some villages were only Jewish, while others were comprised Christians and/or Muslims as well. However, the people lived separately based on their religions. The villagers grew their own food, made their own clothing and homes, and the lifestyle moved at a slow pace.

Now in Gedera (and towns and cities all over Israel), the Ethiopian Israelis are living in buildings in an industrialized, fast moving country. The community gardens under the buildings provide adults an opportunity to grow their own food as well as flowers and plants for aesthetic purposes. In addition, they provide adults with opportunities to work together with their neighbors (Ethiopian and non-Ethiopian) and form relationships and teach their kids about gardening, connecting them with their heritage. The gardens also serve as a source of empowerment. Many adults in the neighborhood are unemployed or work low income jobs and the community garden provides them with the opportunity to work and bring food to their families.
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