Tuesday 10-06 - Emotions

We got up early and waiting for our pick up to todays activities. It goes like this:

A few months ago: The new representative for the UIA (United Israel Appeal) had been invited over to our house for shabbat dinner. In conversation we mentioned we were planning on heading over to Israel but without a group tour. He offered to set up some sort of activity for us while we were there, to get to know Israel better. We accepted and have been arranging via email since then to set up a day. At first we didn't know what we would be taken to. A few days ago he emailed me with the final itinerary that said we were going to an absorption centre for Ethiopian immigrants.

For those not in the know. Somehow there some this group of black Ethiopian Jews. They lived in their villages with a way of life similar to other Ethiopians. They cooked over fire and slept in family huts and didn't really know electricity at all. Except into their daily lives they had incorporated their version of a strict Jewish lifestyle. Im not sure of the history of how they came to be there. In 1985 Israel started their first operation to bring them all to Israel. Now of many thousands, there are only 300 or so left in Ethiopia to bring across.

I really wasn´t sure what to expect. We were picked up by a taxi that was prearanged and waited for us through our visit. A lady named Nitzan came to meet us and took us a teaching centre. We talked to us about the program and showed us a video and then answered out questions.

Of course she tried to highlight the positives and all the good work the program was doing. But I couldn't help but see all the similarities between many of the issues they now face and some issues faced by Indigenous Australians and immigrant/refugee groups in Australia. They have higher rates of HIV, TB and diabetes than the general population. They are still in the first and now some second generations of immigration. There are still cultural and linguistic barriers between them and equal standing with the rest of Israeli society.

Plus apparently the changes to the female-male interactions here have led to high rates of marriage trouble and high rates of domestic abuse. But maybe Im just focusing on the negatives. Perhaps too much training in medicine to seek out social issues affecting health and welfare. There were good points too.

Australia could learn a lot from them though. The absorption centre is for helping them make the transition from fires and huts to the western Israeli lifestyle. They have a guide show them how to shop, how to clean, how to clean water off the floor and use taps and stoves and fridges. They get a fridge full of food. Plus to help with buying their own apartment, they get 90% of a mortgage as a free gift from the government.

For the first few months all their living is taken care of, so they can concentrate of studying. For most its not just learning hebrew, its becoming literate. They all get Hebrew schooling, 5 hours, 5 times a week. There are other incentives and schemes put in place as well, to assist their adjustment to living in Israel.

We then went to see a kindergarden in the community. It was filled with adorable little Ethiopian kids. Some had only been here a few months. They were making -10 commandment tablet- collages. Very very cute.





Then we went to see the medical centre there. On the way we stopped to talk to with older kids. They were about 15 and shy. We asked some questions and Nitzan translated for us. After our visit we walked to the taxi. She suggested doing an internship or something there. The idea might grow on me, maybe for my option next year.

Next we wanted to go to Yad Vashem, the 4 and a half acre holocaust memorial. It was in west Jerusalem, near to the absorption centre,so our taxi chauffer took us there.

The main museum took us about 2 hours to get through. To really see everything there would take 4 hours. There was just so much. It wasn´t an easy experience, as one would expect. Each giant room looked at a different period or theme. Each one was gut wrenching. Expect for the room about the Righteous among the nations, which is what they call any non-Jew who helped a Jew during the holocaust. That section was really touching and teary. All these people put themselves at risk for a child or a family they didn't even know. It made me think about what type of person I would be in that situation. Id like to think I would hide away someone in need. Everyone likes to think that though. The real sink-or-swim test would be if you actually had to do it. Who knows.

As a Jew at a Jewish school, Ive had a thorough holocaust education, better than most people my age. Every year we were shown the same pictures and stories on yom hashoah (day of holocaust remembrance). This exhibition brings you right back to the first time you saw the pictures of striped uniforms. The first time you saw the footage of bulldozers turning mounds of sand laced with skeletal bodies.

We were both silent as we got to the end of the museum. We stepped out into the sun to the view overlooking Jerusalem and tasted the much needed fresh air. The cafeteria was our next stop, having both missed brekkie. Then to the many other memorials that dotted Mt Hertzl.





The children's memorial (for the 1.5 million lost) was impressive. One candle in a large dark room surrounded by mirrors. The entire room was covered by tiny lights reflecting each other. There was a cattle cart memorial and a few others. We were tired and hot by then, so we found a bus stop and took the no 20 back to Jaffa gate. Im glad that I got to see Yad Vashem while I was here, even though it wasn´t a happy experience.