February 19, 2005
From Israel to South Bend
Young Israeli is a connection for the Jewish community.
By MAY LEE JOHNSON
Tribune Staff Writer
SOUTH BEND - For students in Mickey Gitzin's third-level Hebrew class, Israel has seemed a little closer to South Bend since he started teaching.
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| Gitzin CREDIT: Shayna Breslin |
Gitzin is working for the Jewish Agency of Israel and will be here for about a year. He is sponsored by the Jewish Federation of St. Joseph County, which provides an apartment for the volunteer to live in while he's here.
Gitzin, 23, says this is his third visit to the United States, and he will be working with the Jewish community teaching Hebrew to kids and adults, educating them about the culture of Israel. He tells them that there's much more to his country than what the media portrays.
"One of my greatest hopes is to be able to show the good things about Israel," Gitzin said. "I get so upset when the media shows one side of the fighting and suicide bombing. It seems the Israelis are shown negatively, and really, we are only trying to protect ourselves and our families."
Gitzin had finished his time working for Israeli military intelligence and wanted to do something different, so he volunteered for this program.
To Gitzin, the United States and Israel are similar in many ways.
"I would say that 80 percent of the television shows are the same," he said. "The language barrier wasn't that difficult because I have been learning English since I was in the fourth grade."
But he sees some differences.
"We are very knowledgeable about our country and we are exposed to different countries, but it seems Americans don't travel a lot; they go straight from school to college," he said.
People commonly perceive Israel to be much larger than it really is: The country is slightly smaller than New Jersey. Gitzin is from Rishon Le-Zion, a coastal town in Israel.
His parents left the Soviet Union in 1978 because of discrimination. He was born in Israel.
"He is a great asset to our community and he brings a lot of knowledge," said Shoshana Feferman, South Bend Hebrew School principal.
Gitzin has a more personal reason for coming to South Bend.
"I want to be the real connection for Jewish people here," Gitzin said. "The reason it is so important for the students and adults to know me, I am what connects them with Israel. I live there, grew up there, and yes, we even listen to rap music in Israel."Gitzin sports a reggae-style yarmulke as he teaches children Hebrew on Wednesdays at Temple Beth-el, where students attending public school learn to read and write Hebrew.
According to 11-year-old Michael Schrager of Schmucker Middle School, knowing Gitzin is like knowing Israel.
"When you walk in class, you can tell he's from Israel because he has an accent," he said. "But the coolest thing is that he plays Israeli music for us."
Another classmate agrees.
"He's different than just having a regular teacher," said 12-year-old Rachael Powers of Discovery Middle School. "He is young and has more knowledge because he was born in Israel."
In addition to working with young people, Gitzin works with adults as well.
"Tonight I will be taking a group of adults from here to Chicago to listen to a singer from Israel," he said one day last week. "I just want to keep them connected."
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