Attached is a link to an article I wrote for The Jerusalem Post about Yitzchak Pugacz, a 90-year-old artist who lives in Jerusalem He was head of the painting department for the Bezalel Academy of Art and knew Golda Meir, Moshe Dayan and others as friends as well as builders of a new country.
Enjoy!
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1263147944408&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
One of the doctors in my community will be leaving Israel shortly to help survivors in Haiti. He is a member of a relief organization called Brit Olam . Professionals affiliated with this organization have helped people in Darfur, Indonesia after the 2004 Tsunami, East Congo and many other places ravaged by natural and manmade disasters If you would like to learn more about the organization or make a donation, check out their web site at http://www.britolam.org
All of us want to do something to help the survivors of the devastating earthquake in Haiti.
For Israelis wanting to make shekel-based donations to relief efforts in Haiti, below is a partial list of organizations that have already set up relief funds
For donation’s through Israel’s Foreign Ministry, call 02-6594222.
The Israeli ZAKA organization already has a rescue team in Haiti. You can visit the ZAKA website www.zaka.org.il Alternatively, you can send money directly to the ZAKA Haiti Fund account: Zaka-International Bank of Jerusalem Branch # 3018 Keren Hayesod, Jerusalem, IsraelAccount No: 300060134Swift Code: JERSILIT
Magen David Adom has also sent rescue teams to Haiti and have opened a bank account to collect money for the earthquake victims. Magen David Adom Trumot Lakaribim, Israel Discount Bank Branch # 151Yad Eliahu, Tel Aviv Account No: 17926 www.mdais.org
Please do what you can.
I recently finished Dan Senor and Saul Singer’s book, “Start-Up Nation: The Story of Israel’s Economic Miracle”. The book asks, and then answers, why and how a country has become such a high-tech giant despite its young age and continuous security threats. These two prolific writers recount stories of how the tenacity and chutzpah of the Israeli branches of American giants such as Intel, Microsoft and IBM Israel had a profound effect not only on their parent companies but also on the global economy. It’s exciting to learn about the achievements of companies that we drive by almost daily. Through the authors’ interviews, tech nerds have been transformed into nation builders and the IDF into a source of possibilities and not just a burden.
Though maybe not intended, this book is a boon for immigrant soldiers and their families. When we think of immigrants, we think of desperate people trying to escape economic hardship, likely persecution, or both. Israel has welcomed literally more tha a million immigrants like these, may of whom came with little more than the clothes on their back. But Israel has welcomed a different type of immigrant, one not as familiar to most countries in the world. There were and are Jews in France, North America, England, South Africa and Australia who have enjoyed elite educations, employment in top firms and homes in upper-middle class neighborhoods with access to the finest public schools and medical care. Yet for these dreamers, they didn’t really “make it” until they had succeeded as the newest link in the modern Jewish homeland. Although they had “everything”, they still wanted more.
Downsizing, learning a new language, building a new social network: that’s the easy part. Well maybe those are not easy steps but they’re still not the most difficult part of but the aliyah experience. Convincing the children that their futures have not been destroyed by the move; well, that’s more complicated but that is precisely what this book accomplishes. Many Western immigrant children are the products of parents educated by some of the world’s top acacdemic istitutions. Convincing children that a successful career does not necessarily hinge on Oxford, Yale or the Sorbonne is not easy.
For sure, I as an Israeli I’m reading this book with a more critical eye. I see, first hand, the challenges families face when one parent must traverse the ocean several times a year to recruit investors (since Rina and Jonah were pretty much all grown up by the time Andy ventured into the start-up world, there are no family references in that last statement). I see the challenges children face here if they do not excel in the maths or sciences. But despite the toll of high-tech on Israel’s social fabric, there is no doubt that today’s immigrant children, some of who are the products of parents educated in the most elite universities i the world, can learn that living here offers a thousand different ways to succeed in today’s world.
While parts of the army experience are still hellish for soldiers and their families, there’s no doubt that it is a breeding ground for creativity anda resourcefulness that you can’t learn in a classroom. I see how Jonah approaches problems now as opposed to just a few years ago. Today a problem is rarely “a problem” it’s more of just an unexpected annoyance that needs a quick work-around. As a tank commander, he’s developed the leadership skills in 18 months that most people don’t acquire until their 30s. And although Rina is only in the paperwork (although an ENORMOUS amount of paperwork) stage of her army career, she too is quickly learning to evaluate and navigate competing demands. Most people in other countries do not have to encounter situations like these until their mid or late twenties. And, because of the compulsory military service here, people develop a sense of responsibility that most people never experience. Despite the frustrations, demands and heartache of army service, I think, and the book emphasizes, there is immeasurable value in protecting the country’s future before embarking on your own. As the old adage goes, “there is no free ride.”
So while Start-Up Nation is an inspiring read no matter where you live, the message it is sending to young Israelis, particularly young immigrant Israelis is one I hope they hear again and again. This is not always the easiest place to live. The demands are tough but the possibilities are endless.
Shabbat shalom,
Onnie
The Other Israel 