We’ve extended our deadline for Israel 2020, a first-ever JDC National Jewish Young Professionals Trip to Israel. Israel 2020 is a special travel opportunity for a select group of Jewish young adults from across North America to gain unique insight into issues of social integration, employment and education for all of Israel’s citizens.

Space is limited! Subsidies available. Email globalservice at jdcny dot org for an application and more information.

Trip dates: 10/24 – 10/31/2010

NEW Application deadline: 9/7/2010

96 years + 1 day ago, the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) was created. The next day – September 1, 1914 – Ralph I. Goldman was born.

An activist and leader in Jewish affairs all his life, Ralph I. Goldman is the heart and soul of JDC. Both Ralph and the ‘Joint’ were born in 1914 – Ralph in Ukraine and the ‘Joint’ in New York City. Ralph has dedicated his life to the Jewish people, first by assisting David Ben Gurion during the founding of Israel, then serving as Executive Vice President of JDC during the 1970s and 1980s, where he established JDC’s critical role in Israel and brought vital assistance to Jews trapped behind the Iron Curtain. Ralph Goldman is a pivotal figure in global Jewish life and continues to inspire people all over the world. Ralph served as the Executive Vice-President of the JDC from 1976 – 1985 and from 1986 – 1988 and as Honorary Executive Vice President since 1988.

Wish Ralph a happy birthday here!

Want to be the next Ralph I. Goldman Fellow? Check out http://jdc.org/ralph

In honor of his 96th birthday, we’ve collected some of our favorite Ralph pictures from over the years…

Keep reading →

The primary purpose of our trip was to complete a service project at the Tel Aviv school.  Before we arrived, none of us really understood what this meant — all we knew is that we were going to be painting.  Some of us even asked, “how is painting a gym in a school going to have any impact?”  During our week at the school, we learned first hand that the work we did – the paint we applied – was far more than a color on the wall; it represented a connection between two Jewish cultures and helped breathe life and energy into a school already well on its way to success.

About The Tel Aviv School
Argentina has a Jewish population of over 200,000, the vast majority of which lives in Buenos Aires.  Over the last century, many Jewish day schools were opened to provide regular and Jewish education for children, just as we have in the US.  Following 2001 economic crisis in Argentina, however, the Tel Aviv school suffered greatly, almost to the point of closure.  The school had dwindling enrollment due to parents no longer being able to pay tuition, teachers had gone several months without pay due to growing debts of the school, and the building fell into a state of physical disrepair.  Windows didn’t open, floors hadn’t been repaired in decades, paint was chipping off the walls, and the building was cold.  Several other Jewish schools had a similar fate – many of them even closed as a result.  In 2005, the JDC became involved in the Tel Aviv school, providing strategic, financial, and staff assistance, and we had the opportunity to see the results of its involvement.

Today, the Tel Aviv school is thriving, energetic and growing, and serves 220 children from eight months to 12 years of age.  Whereas shortly after the crisis classes were empty and the school was reaching out to find new students, now the school is at capacity, and there is even a waiting list for admission.

Our Work at the School

On day 1, we were given a tour of the school.  We saw the youngest children in a day care room, we saw older children playing in one of several sand boxes built into the building, and we visited several classes of grade schoolers, including English, Art, and Music.  We ended our tour at the Gymnasium.  The gym is multi-purpose, and is used for all physical education, plus assemblies and other activies.  There are soccer goals built into the floor with metal frames, and remnants of painted lines roughly outlined the bounds of the field of play.  On the walls we could easily see the previous coats of paint, cracking and chipping, from previous decades of wear and tear.

Brought to the gym was also furniture – ranging from benches for music class to beds and rocking chairs for the nursery – that was wobbly, with legs falling off, and worn out and dirty from a visual standpoint.  The gym wasn’t a happy place, and these children deserve far more.

Yael, our amazing local trip coordatinator, and artist extraordinaire, had the entire project ready to go with supplies, and instructions for us. On day 1, we set up our painting supplies, taped cardboard to the floor, and began by putting a first coat of fresh paint on the walls.  It already started looking better!  In addition to simply painting the walls, we wanted to add life to the gym, so we starting brainstorming ideas for a mural.  We wanted to paint something that emits energy, is sports related, and would also foster a child’s imagination.

By day 2, we added a second coat, and started repairing and paiting the furniture.  In all, we fixed and painted 12 benches, a table, a rocking chair, and two beds.

After adding a third coat on day 3, we finalized the design for our mural, and after Yael sketched it on the wall, we began the elaborate task of painting all the colors and designs.  We also repainted the field outlines on the floor of the gym. For a group of 11 non-artists to paint a gym and full-wall mural in just a week (the mural part in 2 days!) we thought would be an impossible task.

By the end of our week, however, we were putting the finishing touches on everything as our time came to an end.  The schoolchildren and teachers were invited to inaugurate their new gym – and the paint was literally still drying as they entered.

The smiles on these kids’ faces when they saw what we had done was pricless. As they took in the sights of our creation, we had an overwhelming feeling of satisfaction, and knew without a doubt that indeed, our painting of the gym has had a massively positive impact on this school.  Our presence in the building each day brought smiles to everyone’s faces; as we walked down the halls, the kids would call to us by name.  They repeatedly asked us to take pictures with them, and then asked if we could be friends on Facebook (we were shocked that they even knew what Facebook was at such a young age!).

We had an official ribbon-cutting ceremony and were presented with gifts of colored pencils from the students.

Then the kids took us all off in different directions to play and hang out one last time.  Some of us just chatted in the hallway, others were taken to play futbol (soccer), and others played board games and hand games.  The kids loved asking us questions about our trip to Argentina, our lives in the States, and of course how many boyfriends/girlfriends we all have.  (They each claim to have 5 or more…)

The group on the whole was truly touched by our time with the kids, teachers, and JDC staff, and by our overall experience serving the Tel Aviv School.  At our final lunch together on Saturday, we took some time to discuss how we could bring back this energy and momentum to New York and DC to continue helping the school and the community that we met in Buenos Aires.  We are planning to put together events in NY and DC to display some of the photos and videos we’ve taken and to tell our friends and families about what we saw in Buenos Aires and the impact that our service trip had on the school.  We’re hoping that at least some of us can come back at some point in the future.  Greta, as a high school teacher, may even be able to return for a chunk of time next summer to work at the school again.  Either way, we’re all walking away with a sense that we have made a difference and with a dedication to continue helping the school in whatever way we can from afar.

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Sadly, along with this blog post, our trip comes to an end.  It was an action-packed and amazing week in Argentina, and each one of us has taken a bit of the culture back with us.  Through our work at the Tel Aviv School, Baby Help Center, and LeDor VaDor, we were fortunate to be able to give something back as well.  We wish our new friends all the best!

After concluding an intense week at the Tel Aviv school, the group looked forward to celebrating Shabbat together.  We officially began Shabbat by Nathaniel and Nicole leading us in a group activity.  Throughout the discussion we shared our own individual backgrounds on Judaism and expressed our own goals for after we leave Buenos Aires.

On Friday night we were pleased to celebrate Shabbat in Buenos Aires at a conservative (although we’d call it reform) synagogue called NCI-Emanuel.  The service was highly unique, and to some of us, it felt more like a broadway musical than a Synagogue service – it was filled with singing and dancing, and the temple even had a 5-piece band to provide the music.   We especially enjoyed the unique Buenos Aires tradition of embracing our families with love.  In fact, while we were in Buenos Aires, we felt like we were in a family.  Our experience at the Synagogue proves that Jewish individuals can feel at home anywhere in the world.

After the services, the hospitality of the Buenos Aires Jewish Community continued as we were invited to Shabbat dinner at the Moishe House.  The Moishe House was developed to promote Jewish activities within the young Jewish community in Buenos Aires.  One of our members, Jacob, went over to the Moishe House a few hours before dinner to use his cooking skills to help prepare the dinner.  Jake says, “when I got to the Moishe House, I was shown to the kitchen by Axel. Shortly thereafter, his guests started entering one by one, greeted him and me with a kiss on the cheek, and then in Spanish asked Axel, ‘who on earth is cooking in your kitchen?’”

Needless to say, the dinner was delicious, and we enjoyed getting to know our Argentine peers during and after dinner!

Nathaniel shares his recount of our Friday afternoon time with the children at Tel Aviv school…

After the grand opening of the mural in the gymnasium [see upcoming post], we were escorted back into the dining hall for a Kabbalat Shabbat service with the 3rd and 4th graders. We started with the blessings over the candles, wine, and challah, musically accompanied by the school’s music teacher on a keyboard. Next, the children sang songs in Hebrew and we tried to sing along. Then, Erika taught us all a few songs to sing together, “Hashkivenu” and “Rom’mu.”

Following that, we broke into 6 teams to translate Shabbat objects into Hebrew and English. Our group also broke into these teams to help the students along.

The program really kicked into high gear with a dance party to finish off the afternoon, in which the students and teachers taught us some line dances and the children once again showed us how much joy and energy they have at the Tel Aviv School. Unfortunately for all of us, this would be the very last activity that we would have with the schoolchildren. Even trying to depart proved to be a challenge, as we were, as was often the case, bombarded with hugs and kisses from groups of schoolchildren to the point that we could barely move towards the bus to return to the hotel in order to prepare for our own formal Shabbat evening.

This is a particularly special post, and is comprised of activities and interactions over several days on our trip. We focus primarily on the Baby Help center in this post, but since we had the opportunity to actually visit the homes of 3 families during our week who receive services from Baby Help, we are also documenting those experiences specifically.

About Baby Help
Housed within the confines of LaDor VaDor is the Baby Help center, a JDC-supported facility that supports the emotional, nutritional, and social needs of children through 5 years of age who are severely disadvantaged at home. The facility is amazing – the staff provide nurturing care to children who otherwise would not have the opportunity for a safe and healthy upbringing.

Although brief, our visit to Baby Help was incredible. We brought with us various baby clothes, bottles, and supplies that the facility needs. But perhaps more importantly for the children, we brought new faces to brighten up their day. We spent time playing with kids of various ages, ranging from toddlers through 5 year olds. This was a lot of fun for everyone.

Behind each smiling face, however, is a sad story about a difficult home life. We made visits to the homes of three of these children, along with Viviana, the JDC’s Director of Welfare Programs in Argentina. She runs Baby Help, among other programs.

To protect the dignity and anonymity of these families, we have changed their names and are excluding their pictures. We truly wish we could share their smiling and crying faces with you, but we cannot risk exposing the fact that they are so poor and receiving Baby Help assistance to other members of their communities; doing so could damage the amazing progress these social programs have afforded these families by assisting them in providing the safe and fulfilling upbringing these children deserve.

Here are their stories…

Jacob, Freya, Angie, and Rachel visited the home Samuel, a 3-year old from Baby Help.
This morning we went to visit the home of Margarita and her son Samuel. Margarita went through a truly difficult time in her life starting a little over 3 years ago. She and the father of her son met while working 4 years ago. They had a son named Samuel when Margarita was in her early twenties. When Samuel was 7 months, Margarita noticed several bruises on his head and on his leg while bathing him. She asked her husband to accompany her to the hospital and he neglected to do so; her mother went with her instead. When they got there, the hospital asked if Samuel had been hit or neglected in any fashion and she did not believe so. It turned out that he had a fracture in his skull and a bruised or broken femur bone. He spent a week in intensive care and approximately another 5 weeks in the hospital. When Margarita confronted Samuel’s father, he eventually admitted to her that Samuel had fallen out of the bed onto the floor. When Margarita told this information to social workers at the hospital, she further confessed that she had been the victim of physical violence herself 3 times. At this point the father moved out, and it was just Margarita, Samuel, and her mother in a small 1 bedroom apartment. Margarita eventually was forced to leave her job as even after a 6 month un-paid leave of absence, she could not make work regularly due to continued visits to court to settle things with the father and other matters. She first turned to AMIA for help and eventually was introduced to the Baby Help center. This was the first smile we had witnessed while she told us her story. She said Samuel truly enjoyed his time there, especially the interaction with the other youngsters and the staff. Margarita had concerns regarding both Samuel’s physical and mental development due to the his early trauma. She said the skills and exposure he received at Baby Help truly helped with these issues. She is now working again in the evenings and working diligently to get scholarships for Samuel, who, now at the age of 4, will be “graduating” from Baby Help. Yet another challenge in her life will be to find funding for school. She is extremely optimistic and positive, loves her son dearly and wishes to provide him with the best economic environment, family, and let him achieve his dreams. It was truly special to spend time with a mother and son who were directly impacted the Baby Help center.

David, Greta, and Nathaniel visited the home of Matthew, a 3-year old from Baby Help.
This afternoon, we visited the home of Matthew, one of the children in Baby Help. He lives with his parents, and his mother spoke to us about her family’s struggle. Upon entering the apartment, she informed us that her husband was in the back room with the lights out and the shades drawn, because, as she told us, he cannot deal with natural light. She told us that he was dealing with with a mental disorder and could not work. She also told us that she had lost her job as an administrator and relied on Baby Help to provide basic needs for her children. Upon touring the apartment, we noticed that the toilet was leaking and the bathtub with black with mold. The kitchen cabinets were broken and the outside porch was used as storage, with items placed in plastic bags, because there is no where else to put anything. There was an overall sense of helplessness and fear of teetering on the edge. At any moment the situation can take a turn for the worse and the family will have nothing. The grandfather had given the family the apartment and asked them to pay whatever they can, otherwise they would have nowhere else to live.
This situation highlighted the importance of Baby Help, AMIA and the overall Jewish community in meeting the needs of its most at risk populations. After seeing Matthew in baby help and then in his home, it is clear that without Baby Help he would have no access to the emotional and intellectual support he is given there. Matthew’s mom described his teachers as second moms and said how grateful she is for Baby Help. When she talked about her dreams for her future it was that her children would be able to continue to grow and prosper and her husband’s illness would get better. With the support of the community, and Jewish organizations, her children can continue to be served and her dreams for the future can come true.

Dana, Erika, Freya, Greg, Naomi, and Nicole visited the home of Fiona, a 5-year old who previously received services from Baby Help, but now attends a Jewish Day school and still receives services from Baby Help and Child Help (a similar JDC-run program for older children).

On Thursday afternoon several of us went to another Jewish school with Viviana, the JDC social worker who runs the Baby Help center (and many other amazing programs). At the school, we met the mother of a girl we’ll call Fiona, who was ready to be picked up from school for the day. We were energetically greeted by Fiona, her two sisters, and her mother. We drove them home in our bus and had an emotionally charged home visit with the entire family.

The family is very poor and for the last several years has been receiving services from the Baby Help center. The mother is training to be a piano teach, and the father sells flowers. They have four children, ages 12, 9, 7, and 5.

The love and joy coming from every member of this family was truly amazing. Each child was extremely warm to us and loved our visit. They are very, very happy children. The parents have done a truly amazing job raising the family even with their extremely difficult economic situation.

Unfortunately, two of the children had very serious illnesses when they were young. Their oldest child was diagnosed with leukemia at age 2, and happily was cured after two years of treatment. Their youngest child had some type serious issue at birth that caused partial paralysis of her right arm. The treatment for this, while available at public hospitals, had to be treated privately, since the delay in going through the public health system would have caused the issue to become irreparably worse. The cost of the treatment at the private facility was 1500 pesos per month — a rate higher than the family’s income. A private donor provided the family a scholarship to let them receive the treatment.

A couple of anecdotes were particularly moving. The mother told us, “My daughter had never been to a pajama party. Once she was invited for the first time, we had to buy hear a sleeping bag. This was very hard for us financially, but we did it.”

When we asked the father what he worries about most, his answer was simple: “Our monthly accounts. But, I’m confident that they will improve. In 5 years it will be much better.” He also has aspirations to some day move his family into a new house of their own.

Their apartment is incredibly small, cold, and out of date — but they have made it their home and it has character. They have a small living room with a TV, their refrigerator, a table, and one lamp. The walls have drawings from the children, a calendar, and a clock. The kitchen is tiny, and the bathroom is so small that there is no separate shower area – there is simply a drain in the floor near the sink and toilet and a shower spout comes off the wall. Their bedroom is also very cramped. The parents sleep on a double bed in the middle, and it is flanked by two bunk beds for the four kids. With about two aisles of 2 feet each on either side, there isn’t room for more than one of the six people who sleep here to move around at the same time. They have a porch on which the kids play with balls and a skateboard. The roof of their apartment is a thin sheet of hard plastic – there is no insulation. When we exited the apartment through a common hallway, the smell of heating gas was pervasive.

The love of this family is strong, as is its dignity. The parents were adamant that they would never allow any other child or parent at the school to see where they live, for fear of being ostracized. Viviana confirms that this would happen. The JDC’s work with families like this allows them to receive critical services while maintaining their dignity and living their lives without feeling ashamed. During our visit, the family included us and shared with us mate (a traditional tea that is shared amongst friends).

Freya shares her thoughts on our visit to the Successo Alfajor Factory

On Thursday morning we made a particularly delicious visit to the Successo alfajor factory, the only Kosher alfajor producer in Argentina. Alfajores are an Argentine snack that reminded most of us of something like a moon pie or a Mallomar. It’s composed of 2 thin cookies sandwiching layers of dulce de leche, and then covered in chocolate. They’re hugely popular here and are really delicious.

The reason we visited the Successo factory in particular is that Claudio, the owner of the company, was a recipient of funding from the Ariel Job Center, a JDC organization that provides all sorts of career services to the community. The aid that the center provides isn’t always in the form of money; they also help people with their CV/resumes and prepare them for job interviews. In Claudio’s case, he once worked for Havanna, debatably the most popular brand of alfajores in Buenos Aires. During the economic crisis, Claudio lost his job along with many others. Being a modern Orthodox man, Claudio felt that there was a market for Kosher alfajores and was able to secure funding from the Ariel Job Center to open his own factory, using a recipe based on the ever-popular Havanna recipe but with Kosher ingredients. He started small with local distribution, but now the factory produces 12 million alfajores every month, and they are sold in grocery stores in Buenos Aires and are also exported elsewhere. Claudio’s business achievement is amazing and while he is now financially stable with his company, the seed money he received from JDC is what jump started his success, and he is clearly thankful for that opportunity and gift.

Seeing the actual factory was a highlight of the trip for many of us. We felt as though we had stepped into Willa Wonka’s factory, with chocolate frosting whirring through giant vats and the scent of sugar wafting through the air. We got to see the entire process of alfajor production, from the mixing of the dough to the shaping and baking of the cookies and then the chocolate coating. Much of the process was automated, but he had about a dozen employees that we saw spreading frosting and sorting cookies. I wish we could post a smell to the blog, but suffice it to say that some of us were taking bites of the air. Literally. Our tour ended with a tasting, of course, and most of us bought a few boxes to bring home. Personally, I thought Claudio’s alfajores were better than Havanna’s.

Claudio is looking to expand and is in a situation where he probably can soon. We saw the new oven he recently purchased, which will help him achieve that goal. We all agreed that it was really amazing seeing the work of JDC in action, getting to put a face to a story and feeling firsthand the effect that JDC’s service has had on an individual. I think we all walked away feeling the impact of JDC and knowing that the type of work we’re doing is really changing lives here.

We (Dana and Rachel) arrived in Buenos Aires two days ahead of the group to take in the sights, markets, neighborhoods and restaurants. We took full advantage of all the culinary delights (steak and Malbec) that Buenos Aires has to offer.

After two days in Buenos Aires with the group and without a proper steak we all decided a second dinner was in order. Following an overcooked meal at a tango club, we brought the group to La Brigada, where we had the world’s best cuts of steak just days earlier. Our private room allowed us to be as loud (and stereotypically American) as we could be. After ordering three bottles of red deliciousness and an entire cow’s worth of meat we awaited our meal – hoping that our group would enjoy the cuisine as much as we did.

Soon multiple cuts of meat arrived on thick wooden trays and the waiters cut the tender beef with spoons (yes, it was that tender) to divide the portions. Nicole even tried her first bite of steak. All agreed that the meat and wine were superb. And all soon slipped into heavy food comas. It was the best second dinner any of us had ever had.

We figured out the reasonable tab – under $25 per person for an indulgent dinner. A line of taxis waited for us outside the restaurant for our trip across town back to our hotel.

Stay tuned for our second second dinner update when we bring the group to La Cabrera on Friday.

On Wednesday evening we had our much anticipated (and much feared) Tango class at “Total Tango.” Somehow, we had the expectation of enjoying food and drink during the class, in some sort of interactive dinner theater venue. When we walked into the dance studio, filled with open floor space, no food or drink, mirrors, and about 20 other people, we all got a bit nervous. But the instructor quickly quelled our fears and got us up and dancing in no time. It was interesting that this was our first time encountering another large group of overseas tourists (mainly British, Irish, French, and Australian).

First the instructor covered the basic Tango step: the box step. He then taught us “ocho” – a variant on the step; and then, added the embrace and started having us try it all out. In Tango, men choose their partners, and as long as they do so with confidence, women must accept. So, each of us (four) guys danced with probably 10 or 15 different partners during the class. The class was enjoyable, but we were starving by the end of the session.

Part 2 of our Tango night was upstairs, and involved a cabaret-style dinner with a Tango show. The food was unfortunately not great (and overcooked steak while in Argentina is a no-no), and the show was a bit hokey. Although we felt a bit bad about it, we left in the middle, and drove to San Telmo to have our second dinner. See our next post on La Brigada.

Wednesday morning we visited the AMIA building and memorial for the July 18th, 1994 bombing which killed 85 people and injured more than 300 others. AMIA is an organization that promotes the individual, family, and institutional growth of Jewish life in Argentina. Its new building is directly behind the bombed building, with a memorial in place to remember those killed. The bombing of AMIA represented the second major terrorist attack against Jews in Argentina, the first being a bombing of the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires in 1992.

Jacob and Greta prepared a ceremony to pay tribute to those harmed by the terrorist act, the responsible party for which has still not been formally identified to this day.

The sculpture standing in the previous space of the bombed AMIA building creates 7 separate symbols, depending on the angle from which it is viewed:
1) as a fragmented figure of destruction
2) of a Chanukia
3) the Star of David
4) of a Rainbow
5) of a Menorah
6) of a colored Star of David
7) as the symbol of AMIA

We also visited the site of the embassy bombing.