Howard Blas's Posts

View the original article on Jewish News Syndicate
Dead Sea in Israel. Credit: samirsmier/Pixabay.

Ceasefires, airlines resuming flights to Israel, the start of the spring holidays, and Israelis in the north and south returning to their homes work to assure those involved in group travel that students can visit.

For decades, the eighth-grade trip to Israel has been a central component of the Jewish day-school experience. The capstone tour traditionally brings students to Israel for a week or more to interact meaningfully with the people and the land, which they have been learning about throughout their elementary and middle school years. The trip also serves to bond classmates and sets the tone for what educators and parents hope will be a lifetime of positive Jewish and Israel experiences. It also serves as a recruitment tool for students to stay in day school for the high school years: ninth through 12th grades.

Planning and executing the eighth-grade Israel trip has usually been straightforward with school administrators working with tour providers and tour educators to customize the itinerary, book rooms, arrange for a guide, driver and security guard, and work out costs. In recent years, the COVID-19 pandemic and skirmishes in Israel have proved challenging for Jewish schools wishing to provide a visit that is not only safe but provides access to museums and sightseeing spots on their itineraries.

This year, as the war in Israel starts its 17th month, Jewish day schools across the country are carefully weighing a number of factors as they assess whether or not such trips can go ahead as planned. Options include proceeding with tweaked itineraries, postponing until later in the year or next year, and considering non-Israel trip options, often to destinations in the United States.

According to Paul Bernstein, CEO of Prizmah: Center for Jewish Day Schools, consensus exists among schools as to the importance of the visits. “Jewish day schools in the Prizmah network across North America are deeply committed to their Israel trips. The opportunity to offer such a meaningful experience in middle school is an integral and important part of the educational journey of their students,” he tells JNS.

That said, differences in age groups are a factor, with the younger set ranging from 12 to 14, though Bernstein says that “leaders are again determined to go ahead with the trips if they possibly can.”

Still, administrators try hard to make such trips happen, even during difficult times.

Bernstein notes that last year, “schools did everything they could to maintain the trips. Many went ahead, and even in the face of acute situations like the Iranian missile attack last spring, they continued with the programs—carefully advised by the Israeli security professionals—to keep their faculty and students safe.”

Paul Bernstein, CEO of Prizmah: Center for Jewish Day Schools. Credit: Courtesy.

Some schools tried even harder than in the past to create opportunities for community members to get to Israel.

According to Bernstein, “we saw schools that previously did not have organized trips launch student and parent missions, increasing the number of Jewish day schools visiting Israel at such a crucial time, standing with the state, bearing witness in the crisis and volunteering across the country to support agriculture and other important causes.” 

‘A modified itinerary’

Decisions about moving forward with Israel trips this spring, summer and fall are even more complicated—and not just because of safety precautions. The sheer challenge of finding flights to and from the Jewish state since airlines other than El Al have limited or halted their routes is a pressing concern, as is keeping costs down at a time when tourism in Israel is more expensive than ever.

To help schools through the process, Prizmah has convened meet-ups for decision-makers at various levels as they undergo the process of determining if and how to proceed with their trips. Bernstein also tells JNS that “parents are being brought into the process in an active way.”

While some schools are planning to go ahead as planned, others spoke of alternative trips to places like New York and New England, as well as possible social-justice work in Oregon with the Tivnu organization that explores the Pacific Northwest. One even mentioned Panama.

Sara Weiss, dean of middle-school students at the Seattle Hebrew Academy, recalls being a participant in the school’s very first eighth-grade trip to Israel back in 1990. While she notes that a few trips have been postponed in past years, she says the school has worked hard to make them happen. “We have heard from so many of our alumni how impactful the eighth-grade trip was for them,” she tells JNS.

Weiss is hopeful that the trip will happen, “though likely with a modified itinerary.” She continues to monitor how colleagues at other Jewish day schools across the country are grappling with the issues, noting that plane tickets for the students have been purchased.

Students from the Shefa School of Manhattan on a trip to Israel. Credit: Courtesy.
Students from The Shefa School in Manhattan at prayer on a trip to Israel. Credit: Courtesy.

Chris Aguero, head of school of Ezra Academy in Woodbridge, Conn., says it seems “eerily familiar to where we were during the pandemic.”

He hoped that his nine eighth-graders would get to go to Israel this March, though at the same time acknowledged that he wishes the trip would take place even earlier, in the sixth or seventh grade. “As lovely as it is to be a culminating trip,” he says, “it would be more strategic to go then so they can come back inspired and with a greater appreciation of the Hebrew language.”

Aguero notes that the impact is clear: “You hear it in their graduation speeches, and you see it in their faces.”

In the end, parents were not all fully on board to send their kids, so a decision was made to go to Costa Rica in May, staying at a venue with kosher food and a place to keep Shabbat.

‘A meaningful alternative’

Rabbi Dov Lerea, head of Judaic studies at The Shefa School in Manhattan, is optimistic that his 43 eighth-graders will get to go to Israel. For Lerea and Shefa, the trip is part of a comprehensive plan throughout the grades to have students “engage with love and passion for the land and the State of Israel.”

He tells JNS that “the building of Jewish identity should include a sense of connectivity to the land of Israel and the dedication with which people returned to Israel to build a society.

Rabbi Dov Lerea
Rabbi Dov Lerea. Credit: Courtesy.

When Lerea was tasked with creating a trip at the K-8 school for children with language-based learning disabilities, he had four principles in mind: love of the land, chesed (“lovingkindness”) spirituality and history. But he knows that “it’s gotta be fun, too.”

He is proud of the parent body that he describes as “deeply Zionistic” and “very supportive of the trip,” noting that even last year, “everybody was in. I didn’t get a single email asking how was I going to go to Israel?”

Last year, Lerea brought his students to the south instead of going to the Golan Heights, where at the time rockets were being fired by Hezbollah from Lebanon toward Israel’s north. This year, they also plan to spend time hiking in the south. Lerea notes that he will only cancel the May trip if their vendor explicitly says, “Don’t come.”

He is so determined to go that “if 35 families say, “we can’t do it,” I will say, “I understand and take five or so to visit hostage families, etc., and represent Shefa with pride.”

Others stick to the central part of the country—namely, Tel Aviv, Jaffa, Jerusalem, the Dead Sea.

Tamar Cytryn, director of Judaic Studies at the Chicago Jewish Day School, reports that her school’s 21 eighth-graders are on track to go to in mid-May. “We’ve already put money into the airline tickets,” she says.

However, “if we have to cancel, we will likely pivot” and find a meaningful alternative, she tells JNS: “Israel is supposed to be the capstone; if it doesn’t happen, we will create a final project that ties together all of their learning on Israel.”

During a similarly uncertain time, the school created “Israel in Illinois,” where they spent a week participating in parallel activities—from a hike to a water park—that approximated their scheduled Israel visit.

‘A range of solutions’

Rabbi Marshall Lesack, head of school at Jack M. Barrack Hebrew Academy in Bryn Mawr, Pa., said he is committed to students having an immersive experience in Israel. He points to the school’s traditional two-week spring trip in the eighth grade and its three-month program in the 11th grade as part of the Alexander Muss High School in Israel.

Alexander Muss High School in Israel Program
Students on a field trip as part of the Alexander Muss High School in Israel Program. Credit: Jewish National Fund-USA.

Following the Hamas-led terrorist attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, Lesack flew days later to the Jewish state to help bring the school’s Muss students back to the United States, as did many other groups of Americans. The 11th grade did not go to Muss in the fall of 2024 as the war in Israel continued.

He points to issues such as security; financial realities for each family; financial realities for the school if they commit to the trip and then have to cancel; parental concerns; and a possibly altered experience if the trip deviates substantially from its standard curriculum.

Nevertheless, he says, the school remains “deeply committed” to travel programs, saying the trips are meant “to unify and bind the grade.”

Given the school’s relatively early trip timed for March, coupled with the ongoing uncertainty in the Middle East, Lesack and his leadership team informed parents and 70 eighth-grade students just before winter break that the trip would not take place. Instead, the class will travel to Boston in early May for “a mix of bonding, fun and Jewish experiences,” as they did the year before when the middle-school trip was similarly canceled.

Jaffa, Israel
Jaffa, Israel. Credit: binael/Pixabay.

Lesack reiterates his school’s commitment to Israel and the Israel experience: “On one level, the trip is a capstone experience for the middle-school students. It is also a stepping-stone for their 11th-grade semester. We are looking for even more immersive experiences in the 11th grade.”

That said, a Zoom meeting on March 2 with parents went over plans for this fall’s return to Muss.

Bernstein tells JNS that “it is likely that there will be a number of alternative trips, which schools are determined should be educationally and Jewishly impactful, such as in Europe. We expect to see a range of solutions taking account of what is practical, the preferences of each school community and practical considerations such as supporting families with the cost of whatever the school plans.”

He says Prizmah’s Reshet (meaning “network” in Hebrew) communities serve as “a space for colleagues to seek information and support from one another. What we know is that to the extent that Israel trips are disrupted this year by insurmountable challenges, day schools continue to demonstrate their strong support for Israel and will resume visits as early as they possibly can.”

Shefa School of Manhattan
Students from The Shefa School in Manhattan on a trip to Israel. Credit: Courtesy.

Betsalel Steinhart, director of education for Ramah Israel Institute, whose organization organizes trips for many Jewish day schools, spent last November visiting academic institutions in the United States. After returning to Israel, he confirmed that most were “in a holding pattern,” telling JNS: “My sense is that schools want to come, but it is hard to know how many will.”

He thinks that such positive signs as the ceasefires, airlines starting to resume flights to Israel, the start of the spring holidays, and Israelis in the north and south returning to their homes will help assure people that they can come to Israel, though he tells JNS that he understands why many remain “on the fence.”

As dates for the planned trips approach, Steinhart reports that “schools are starting to come back—many with hesitations and all with the desire to add volunteering to their already packed programs.”

He acknowledges that the decisions are complex and singular to each establishment, noting that “these programs are always built around trust, and they trust us to make the right decisions for them.”

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View the original article on The Jerusalem Post
WADI REIR. Typical vegetarian dish of the Negev’s Bedouin. (photo credit: Courtesy the establishments)

The mouthwatering photos of dishes are an intrinsic part of Savory Flavors, along with old photos of Jewish communities.

The only detail not clarified in the title of Ron Diller’s new book, Savory Flavors: A Culinary Journey through the Middle East, North Africa, East Africa, South Asia, Balkans, and Caucasus Regions, is that all 67 of the ethnic restaurants it showcases are located in Israel.

Savory Flavors is part coffee-table book and part guidebook. The colorful sacks of spices and grains featured on the cover of the comprehensive and informative Savory Flavors hint at what is to come in the 19-chapter, 263-page book with 258 photos. It features fascinating conversations with the owners or chefs of the restaurants, along with essays about the history of the original regions and ethnicities of the dishes. It is not a book of recipes.The mouthwatering photos of dishes are an intrinsic part of Savory Flavors, along with old photos of Jewish communities. Maps are also provided to help find recommended off-the-beaten-track establishments, such as in Rahat, Ramle, Kfar Kama, Nazareth, and Peki’in. 

A labor of love for delicious and diverse food

The project, which took Diller two years to complete, is clearly a labor of love and the result of his life-long connection to unique food establishments.His grandparents, immigrants from Poland and Austria, opened Diller’s Strictly Kosher Restaurant in San Francisco, California, during the Great Depression. It became the largest and most popular kosher restaurant in the Fillmore District, with people driving over an hour from San Jose to sample its authentic Austro-Hungarian Jewish cuisine. The restaurant functioned for 35 years. 

 SHIMON THE SOUP KING, Tel Aviv. Yemenite cuisine: Beef soup with hawj. (credit: Courtesy the establishments)
SHIMON THE SOUP KING, Tel Aviv. Yemenite cuisine: Beef soup with hawj. (credit: Courtesy the establishments)

While a student at San Francisco State University, Diller wrote a never-published guide to small, ethnic, family-owned restaurants in San Francisco. The manuscript, titled A Cab Driver’s Guide to Gourmet Dining, featured what Diller described as “some 50 affordably priced, ethnic food, off-grid, hole-in-the-wall restaurants, including Chinese, Peruvian, Nicaraguan, and Salvadoran cuisines.”

In 1993, however, Diller set aside work on his book and moved to Israel. Subsequently, he wrote From Darkness to Light, a 2021 book featuring the testimonies of six Holocaust survivors who rebuilt their lives in Israel. He also founded Investor, a publication he describes as “the first English-language international venture capital tech magazine.”

Savory Flavors represents a return to Diller’s passion for out-of-the-ordinary restaurants. In the 24 months he spent researching it, he visited and dined at each of the 67 affordably priced venues and engaged the owners and chefs in conversations about their former lives in their motherlands, their immigration and absorption into Israel, and their ongoing connection to traditional family recipes.  

The photos and captions accompanying each historical essay provide readers with a feeling of being in each place at that particular moment in history. There are even pictures of the Yemenite Quarter in Tel Aviv (est. 1906) from Israel’s National Photo Archives. One photo, on page 250 of Savory Flavors, is captioned: “Shlomo, working at his trade (as shoemaker) since 1932, outside his niche at the roadside entrance to Carmel Market Tel Aviv, circa 1975.” There are also pictures of “recently arrived children from Yemen in the Rosh Ha’ayin camp near Petah Tikva, circa 1949” and photos of Yemenite manuscripts and documents from 1580 and 1645 (page 258).  

Diller makes delightful discoveries in each ethnic group. On page 91, to introduce the 12-page chapter on Georgian (Caucasian Region) cuisine, he provides a photo of 12 kippah-wearing boys and a bearded hat-wearing rabbi captioned: “Immigrant students from Georgia during a Hebrew lesson at the Chabad yeshiva school in Lod, circa 1971.” The chapter concludes with an essay by Eli Goldstein of Ashkelon Academic College titled “Historic Profile of Georgia’s Jewish History.”

Diller worked hard to track down color and black-and-white photos from the establishments, archives, and collectors. These are meticulously footnoted and credited throughout the book. In addition to photos, each chapter includes a box describing several favorite dishes, as well as the venue’s address, phone number, year of establishment, opening hours, and kosher status, and a map of the neighborhood. Diller indicates the kosher status of each restaurant by using three categories for kosher: “Yes,” “No,” and “Yes (no certificate).” 

 LITTLE INDIA, Beersheba. Indian cuisine: Bhindi Masala.  (credit: Courtesy the establishments)
LITTLE INDIA, Beersheba. Indian cuisine: Bhindi Masala. (credit: Courtesy the establishments)

The write-up for Little India, a kosher-certified vegetarian restaurant in Beersheba, established by Hanoch Stanker in 2006, features various types of samosa or pakora, and main courses, such as Malay kofta (dumplings), palak paneer (ground spinach), chana masala (chickpeas), and anda curry (curry potatoes) – accompanied by various roti (Indian breads) and ending with a dessert banufi (milk jam cake) or gulab jamun (milk powder ball). 

Famed for its delicious food, Shimon the Soup King is located in the Yemenite quarter at 28 Yehya Kapah St. in Tel Aviv. It was established in 1973 by Shimon Sa’ada and is now run by his daughter Yonit. Savory Flavors features photographs of its various soups and breads that will catch your eye and whet your appetite.

Another example of a legendary fare Savory Flavors listing is Oren Sasson’s Istabach Kurdish restaurant (est. 2014) at 1 Hashikma St. in Jerusalem’s Mahaneh Yehuda market, illustrated with colorful pictures of Kurdish shamburak with flavorful fillings of meat and spices.  

The clearly curious Diller has already set his sights on other projects, notably exploring the lives of Jews belonging to the 12 Lost Tribes of Israel.

His particular fascination is with the Bnei Menashe tribe, residing in India’s northeastern states Mizoram and Manipur, near the border of Myanmar. 

Diller notes that there are many more remote places in the world where Jews have maintained hidden connections to Judaism. We look forward to further volumes with his fascinating stories about their history and food. 

The reviewer is a freelance writer and contributor to The Jerusalem Post. He lives in New Haven, Connecticut. The book is available at Emek Refaim Books in Jerusalem.

  • SAVORY FLAVORS: A CULINARY JOURNEY THROUGH THE MIDDLE EAST, NORTH AFRICA,  EAST AFRICA, SOUTH ASIA, BALKANS, AND CAUCASUS REGIONS
  • By Ronald J. Diller and seven other authors
  • Kindle Paperback
  • 276 pages; $ 23.50
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“My mission is to try to understand what happened to you on Oct. 7… in the blink of an eye, it switched your reality from joy to horror. I dedicate this film to you. The true forces of resilience.”

By HOWARD BLAS DECEMBER 30, 2024 14:47 Updated: DECEMBER 30, 2024 17:41

You can view the original article here at The Jerusalem Post

 HILLEL KORNWASSER walks through the memorial at the Supernova site.  (photo credit: Courtesy Kornwasser family)
HILLEL KORNWASSER walks through the memorial at the Supernova site.(photo credit: Courtesy Kornwasser family)

When 14-year-old Hillel Kornwasser of Teaneck, New Jersey, went to Israel with his father for the bar mitzvah of a close family friend last February, he could not have anticipated the profound impact of the trip, which included meeting with survivors of the Supernova music festival and with soldiers returning from Gaza.

Kornwasser was so moved and inspired by the experience, that he spent the next 10 months making his first film, Forces of Resilience (in partnership with NCSY), which was set to premiere at Teaneck’s Congregation Rinat Israel on December 22.

The Heichal HaTorah freshman recalls that he was in synagogue on Oct. 7 when he went out for a few minutes with a friend and began to hear what was unfolding on that day in Israel. He learned of the terrorist attacks not far from where his brother was learning in yeshiva.Top ArticlesRead More

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Despite the seriousness of the events in Israel, Kornwasser reports feeling that “the next day for us was like a regular day – with 15 or 20 guys playing basketball. We didn’t understand what was happening in Israel. We were completely oblivious.”

Even on the February trip, which was scheduled to include “inspiring and mission stuff,” Kornwasser admits that he was “living the life of a teen” and “wasn’t so connected at the time.” As the week-long trip unfolded, Kornwasser had many experiences that profoundly impacted him.

 Hillel Kornwasser is seen interviewing Daniel Sharabi, survivor of the October 7 massacre. (credit: Courtesy Kornwasser family)
Hillel Kornwasser is seen interviewing Daniel Sharabi, survivor of the October 7 massacre. (credit: Courtesy Kornwasser family)

“When we took a bus down south, we saw tanks on the side of the road. We made a barbecue for soldiers who, two hours before, were in Gaza and had lost five guys in their unit. I took in everything, including the fact that the soldiers could fall down and get back up and be b’simcha [happy].”

Kornwasser visited the Supernova site, met wounded soldiers at Ichilov Hospital (he recounted the story of a soldier with “100 needles in his leg”), and heard what he describes as “stories of people who experienced the worst day and found a way to recover and get joy.” He adds, “The whole point is their resilience – even after losing family and friends.”

These intense experiences got Kornwasser thinking. “I walked out of Ichilov Hospital and started to think – ‘I need to do something to show my friends what is happening in Israel!’” When he returned home and was “back to basketball and friends,” Kornwasser continued to wonder, “How can I inspire my friends and other people?”

The making of Forces of Resilience

He started with a five-minute video which got 5,000 views online. He knew he was on to something. “This is something I can do to make a difference!”

Kornwasser decided to make a movie to “help kids understand the magnitude of what happened.” He interviewed seven guests “to highlight resilience in different ways.”

THE 31-minute film begins with Kornwasser sitting at his desk upon his return home from the week-long trip to Israel. He is writing a letter that reads, “Dear courageous soldiers and dear brothers and sisters trapped in Gaza…” He says that he is “flooded with thoughts and emotions” and notes that this is not like his past trips to Israel.

He clarifies, “My mission is to try to understand what happened to you on October 7… in the blink of an eye, it switched your reality from joy to horror. I dedicate this film to you. The true forces of resilience.”

Kornwasser explains that the goal is “for people to understand that if they [the soldiers] can fall down and find a way to be resilient and get back up, then so can we.”

The earnest and deeply spiritual Kornwasser introduces each guest, shares why they were chosen to be in the film, and offers some framing and context. For example, Kornwasser asks, “How did it happen? How did we recover from the biggest massacre of the Jewish people since the Holocaust?”

Guests include Shabbos Kestenbaum, the activist Harvard graduate student fighting antisemitism; Jen Airley, mother of fallen soldier Binyamin; singer Eitan Katz; Supernova festival survivors Daniel Sharabi and Amit Musaei; and Frisch School freshman Charlie Breda.

In introducing Airley, who joined him at the New Jersey movie premiere, he offers, “Her bitachon [faith] could have been broken [when her son, Binyamin, was killed in northern Gaza]. Instead, it became stronger.”

When he presents Breda, who helped raise $25,000 to provide tzitzit (ritual fringes) to Israeli soldiers “for spiritual protection,” Kornwasser says, “I want to take a minute to speak specifically to the teenage audience.”

As the film draws to a close, Kornwasser is back at his desk with his pen and pad.

“Dear courageous soldiers and brave brothers and sisters trapped in Gaza. Ten months have passed since my last letter to you. My mission to understand what makes you and our nation resilient has continued. Through meeting amazing individuals, I have learned about the force of survival, the force of positivity and bitachon, the force of song, the force of voice, and the force of pride.

“We can each find our own force and use it to make the Jewish nation strong and united. These forces come together in the most amazing way to produce a force of resilience.”

In the film’s credits, Kornwasser refers to his parents Laizer and Jessica as “the best mom and dad.”

“My parents have been absolutely amazing throughout the process – the trip, recording in Israel, late-night feedback… they have been the best!”

Both are very proud of their son’s passion and his product. His mother says, “Hillel has been extremely devoted to this project since his visit to Israel last year. He feels passionately about sharing messages of resilience that stem from October 7 with his peers and the Jewish community.

“We are very proud of his commitment and perseverance in bringing this film to fruition. We are also proud of his sensitivity in speaking to those who went through difficult experiences and his focus on letting their voices be heard.”

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