Many years ago, Marcy Yellin, mother long time Amitzim camper and Voc Eder, Jacob Yellin, raised an interesting observation. I suspect her comment is no different from ones we hear from Ramah parents in all Ramah camps. The Yellin Family has LOVED Ramah and Tikvah. “Our only regret is that Tikvah is only two months and that we have to wait ten months for camp to start again. Why can’t it be ten months with only two months off?
We in Tikvah have been brainstorming ways to allow members of the community – campers, family members, staff members and numerous “friends of Tikvah” to be connected – both in person and virtually. I would like to introduce some of our “off season” projects. I plan to share details of each in future blog postings. I will strive to post entries an average of once a week.
For the past month or so, several Amitzim campers and counselors have been “piloting” a weekly “Shabbos is Coming” conference call where participants sing “Shabbos is Coming,” discuss the parsha, and shmooze. Voc Eders have been having a similar call with their advisors. How nice to share Shabbat all year round with camp friends!
Voc Ed and Post Voc Ed Staff, along with several Washington, DC – area Friends of Tikvah, had an idea – how about a reunion/Shabbaton in Washington! Stay tuned for details of our January 15-17th reunion – and wait until you hear about the “Tikvah Express,” magically transporting us to DC!
Speaking of reunions – did you know this is the 40th Anniversary of Tikvah? Our Tikvah Program was the first of the Ramah programs for campers with special needs and we are celebrating! Details of our July 11th in camp reunion – for former Tikvah campers and staff an families – will follow shortly. For now, send me anecdotes, stories and reflections (howardb@campramahne.org).
And a different type of Tikvah Reunion – Amitzim staff members and their dear friends from Teva Staff are planning a Shabbat get together in New York in early December. They just might be planning to connect with New York area campers…
Please stay tuned for news of the many ways staff, campers and families are staying connected all year round. I wish we COULD make Marcy Yellin’s suggestion of 12 month camping a reality. Short of that, let’s stay connected in person and virtually!
Original article published on the Jerusalem Post, Jerusalem Post Children’s Articles
Last month we brought you Shahar Peer. This month, the spotlight is on Dudi Sela, Israel’s leading male tennis champion.
Dudi Sela began playing tennis at age seven at the Israel Tennis Centre in Kiryat Shmoneh, which is in the north of Israel. He remembers spending time as a boy in bomb shelters when his town was bombed by Lebanon. Dudi also remembers watching hisbrother, Ofer, play in tennis tournaments. Tennis seems to run in the Sela family! Soon after the Sela parents immigrated to Israel from Romania, his father Michael, a bus driver, and brother Ofer, 13 years Dudi’s senior, began taking tennis lessons—and both became top players in their respective age groups. When Dudi was three years old, he picked up Ofer’s racket and fell in love with tennis. In fact, when Dudi was ten, he began commuting (by plane!) twice a week to Ramat Hasharon, the tennis capital of Israel. When Dudi was showing promise as a juniors player, the whole family relocated to the Tel Aviv area to be closer to the tennis center.
Dudi has three older siblings, Nir, Shirley and the aforementioned Ofer, who is one of his coaches. Sela loves soccer and supports teams of Kiryat Shmonna as well as Manchester United. His mother, Anca, is a nurse. He also loves hanging out with friends on the beaches of Tel Aviv.
Earlier in 2009, Dudi Sela put Israel on the tennis map during the Davis Cup’s quarterfinal men’s singles match which was played at Nokia Stadium in Tel Aviv. To the home crowd’s delight, Sela beat Russian tennis champion Mikhail Youzny to earn a place the semifinals. D’ash American correspondent, Howard Blas, had the opportunity to catch up with Israel’s tennis pride during the US Open. Here’s what he had to say:
Dudi, how many times have you played in the US Open? What is your current ATP ranking? My current ranking is 35. This is my 3rd US Open.
There are only a few tournaments played in Israel. Do you enjoy playing overseas? Yes, of course especially when I win! It is tough but I enjoy traveling and playing overseas. It would be better if a few more tournaments were in Israel, but unfortunately they are not.
You have had a very exciting 2009. You qualified for and then reached the 3rd round of the Australian Open. What was that like for you, getting in the main draw, defeating Schutter and Hanescu, then taking Tsonga to 4 sets? Regarding the Australian Open – It is a good feeling to win in a Grand Slam. When I was a kid, I always wanted to be in a Grand Slam (Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon and US Open are considered Grand Slam events – ed). In Australia, I went all the way through the qualifiers. It gave me confidence in the tournament and into the next few months.
You had a great year playing for Israel in the Davis Cup. You beat the Swedes, then you had an amazing win against the Russians. Was the match against Johannson TRULY the biggest win of your career? No. The win against Russia in the next round of the Davis Cup was my best win. It was the best feeling winning in the Davis Cup, and it was very special to beat the Russians.
You were reportedly confident that you could beat the Russians in the Davis Cup and you DID In Israel! How did you know it was possible? Can you describe what that was like? I knew we would win because we played at home, and because all of our players were in good shape. I had just come from the 4th round at Wimbledon. We had luck and we knew there would be big surprises!.
What’s your greatest challenge as an athlete? To stay in the top 50 for the next 10 years! What’s your greatest challenge as an Israeli athlete? I don’t know about challenges so much, but the most special moment for me as an Israeli athlete was playing in the Davis Cup this year. It was very special. The ceremony, hearing the national anthem, these made me very emotional. It was special playing for my country and giving 100% each match. I loved it!.
When competing overseas, do you find a lot of Israeli/Jews come to support you? Yes, especially in New York and Australia where there are lots of Jews and Israelis. I feel people behind me and they push me!.
How does Israel’s prowess on the tennis court affect public opinion about Israel, in your opinion? I don’t think the way we play tennis affects it. People think what they want to think.
Can you tell our readers about your army service? I was in a sports unit. I mostly did community service any time I was in Israel. For example, if I was in Israel for a few weeks at a time, I did community service in different places around the country.
Do you feel special being an Israeli athlete? If so, how? Yes! I love to play for my country and to represent my country. All Israeli tennis players feel this and do whatever we can to represent Israel well.
If you had a message for all of your fans out there, Israeli, Jewish or otherwise, what would it be? Good question. That I love them. That I will try my best to be who I am Dudi Sela.
Favorite food? Schnitzel with mashed potatoes like my father!.
Do you have any hobbies? Other than soccer!? The beach in Tel Aviv, sheshbesh (backgammon) on the beach, soccer and hanging out with my friends!.
Favorite Color? Blue.
Favorite City? Melbourne, Australia.
In a relationship? Yes, I have a girlfriend.
What would you do if you were NOT a pro tennis player? That is a good question….maybe be a veterinarian.
Original Article Published on The Jerusalem Post, Jerusalem Post Children’s Articles
Ari Zivitovsky is a little like an ancient explorer. The scientist rabbi travels the world looking for different kosher animals. Zivitovsky has come head to head with grasshoppers, guinea fowl, buffalo even giraffes!
Zivitovsky and his childhood friend, Rabbi Ari Greenspan, are both Americans who came to live in Israel. They are both rabbis and doctors. Lots of information has been lost about which animals are kosher, so these guys are on a mission to find the secrets of weird and crazy kosher animals! A friend came to the two Ari‛s and asked them if a kosher pheasant could be prepared. Neither of them was sure, since the Torah tells us about the 24 birds that are not kosher, but since those times, many more species of birds have been discovered! The rabbi doctors did lots of research and Rabbi Yosef Kafich taught them that pheasant is kosher, and in his Yemenite family, they have been eating kosher pheasant for centuries!
Zivitovsky and Greenspan have travelled the word together in search of exotic kosher animals. They went to Turkey in search of the Talmudic Shiboota fish, to Cyprus, in search of a special grasshopper that is considered kosher, and recently they were called to an animal park in Israel to research giraffes. Giraffes are considered kosher. The reason we don’t eat them is because giraffes are so strong that they could kill a lion with one kick. It would be very hard for a shochet to try and hold them down!
Since 2002, Zivitovsky and Greenspan have been holding special dinner parties, where people can come try all sorts of newfound kosher animal dishes, including pigeon, sparrow, water buffalo, fallow deer, red deer, Muscovy duck, partridge and pheasant. And for dessert? Grasshoppers! The two Ari’s have certainly shown us that there is more to keeping kosher than eating lots of chicken!
Original Article Published on The Jerusalem Post, Jerusalem Post Children’s Articles
The US was awash with tennis champions during the US Open and the many lead-up competitions that preceded it. Dash American correspondent Howard Blas had the opportunity to catch up with two of Israel’s leading tennis players, Shahar Peer and Dudi Sela during the competition.
Tennis is one of the world’s leading international sports. Players and fans from all around the world converge upon Roland Garros (French Open), Wimbledon (Wimbledon), Melbourne Park (Australian Open) and Flushing Meadows (US Open) to see the world’s best tough it out game after game, set after set, in impossible heat, in order to bring home the trophy, the crown of the tennis world.
Though they haven’t won a grand slam tournament yet, Israeli tennis stars Shahar Peer and Dudi Sela are on the rise, and have captured the hearts of Israeli and Jewish tennis fans across the globe. Earlier in 2009, Shahar Pe’er made headlines around the world when she was denied a visa for Dubai in order to compete in the Dubai Tennis Championships, only because she was Israeli. Also earlier in the year, Dudi Sela put Israel squarely on the tennis map during the Davis Cup quarter final men’s singles match, which was played at the Nokia Stadium in Tel Aviv. To the home crowd’s delight, Sela knocked over Russian tennis giant Mikhail Youzhny to get to the semifinals. D’ash American correspondent, Howard Blas, had the opportunity to catch up with Israel’s tennis stars during the Pilot Pen, a US open warm-up. This month we are featuring Shahar Peer and next month we will be featuring Dudi Sela.
Shahar Peer is one of the highest ranked women’s tennis players in Israel’s history. She and Anna Smashnova, another Israeli tennis champion, have each reached 15th in the world. The 22 year old Peer was born in Jerusalem and when she is not playing tennis around the world, lives in Maccabim. She enjoys reading and romance movies! She has an older brother Shlomi, who is 29 and an older sister, Shani, who is 26. Her mother, Aliza, is a retired sports teacher and her father, Dovik, is CEO of a software company. She comes from an athletic family. Her father was an award winning swimmer and her mother was a champion sprinter. Dâ€ash reporter Howard Blas briefly met Peer at the Pilot Pen, a tennis tournament in New Haven, Connecticut, which serves as a warm up to the U.S. Open.
How many times have you played in the US Open? What is your current ATP ranking? This is my fifth time playing in the U.S. Open (first time was 2005). I am currently ranked 64th in the world.
Do you enjoy playing overseas? never play in Israel. There are no tournaments in Israel! (The only time I play in Israel is in the nationals). So I am always playing tennis overseas it is my life, my job, my career. I enjoy traveling. It is part of what I do.
What’s your greatest challenge as an athlete? It is not so hard being an athlete. I enjoy what I do. I guess the greatest challenge is playing well.
What’s your greatest challenge as an Israeli athlete? It is not so challenging being an Israeli athlete. I am proud of Israel and I enjoy representing Israel.
When competing overseas, do you find a lot of Israelis/Jews come to support you? Yes, especially places like New York at the U.S. Open and Melbourne at the Australian Open. Israelis and Jews come out to cheer and show support.
How does Israel’s prowess on the Tennis court affect public opinion about Israel, in your opinion? I am not sure what people think about Israel or about Israeli tennis. I hope it is positive. I hope they are happy watching Israelis playing the sport.
Can you tell our readers about your army service? Was it a tough decision to do it since you are a professional athlete? Or was it important simply because you are Israeli? Going in to the army is natural. Everyone does it for their country. I am happy I did it. I did what I had to do for my country.
You’ve had a couple of interesting, somewhat high profile incidents in the past few years. First, what was it like teaming up with Indian Sania Mirza for doubles and what was your reaction to playing with a Muslim player? We were friends before we played together and we are still good friends. We don’t involve any politics on the court.
How do you feel now looking back on the Dubai incident in February?How did it feel to have the support of Venus Williams and other players? Note: Peer was prevented from playing at the Dubai Tennis Championships in the United Arab Emirates since she was denied visa. Many players condemned this action and some sponsors pulled out. The tournament organizers were also forced to pay major fines for this action. Israeli tennis player Andy Ram was given a visa for the same tournament the following week. It was not a happy thing. I was not happy about it. I was happy that other players came out and supported me. I was especially proud of Andy Roddick.
If you had a message for all of your fans out there, Israeli, Jewish or otherwise, what would it be? Work hard and enjoy what you are doing.
