November 15 2010 / 8 Kislev 2010

U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) made a special visit to the Jewish Agency's Mevasseret Zion Absorption Center on November 9, 2010.

Senator Brown and his wife, Connie Schultz, a Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist, visited Israel November 6-11, 2010, with a group under the auspices of AIPAC. Other participants included Ohio residents and AIPAC leaders Tim Wuliger, Joe Kanfer, President of Purell Products and immediate past chair of the Board of Trustees of United Jewish Communities, along with their spouses. Also present were the Senator's Chief of Staff and other AIPAC personnel.

After being briefed on the Jewish Agency, the AIPAC group heard from Esther Semu, a young Ethiopian-Israeli woman, who shared her personal success story. The group then toured the Absorption Center, including a visit to ulpan (Hebrew language) class where the Senator learned a few words in Hebrew and a light-hearted visit in the kindergarten where the Senator sang and danced with the children. The kindergarten surprised him with a birthday celebration, including a cake and a homemade picture book, since the Senator's birthday was the following day.  

The Mevasseret Zion Absorption Center, located just outside Jerusalem, is the Jewish Agency's largest absorption center with over one thousand Ethiopian immigrants.