OTZMA!
by Scott Rosen

Scott Rosen with host family - Bat Zion and Herzl Yona

As a participant of project OTZMA ( a 10-month volunteer program) I have had the opportunity to look through the actual eyes of many different Israeli’s and the everyday lives they live. Being a volunteer I have faced challenges that I would have never had the chance until this year, from living and working with new Ethiopian immigrants in an Absorption Center to teaching and building a strong partnership with the community of Beit Shean, Cleveland’s sister city. While spending three months of the year in the small town of Beit Shean, I was immerged in the communities daily life, from walking to teach at the high schools in the mornings to shopping at the market to enjoying the Shabbat with my host family, my home away from home.

As a volunteer I was able to choose from a hand-full of opportunities to get involved with the community. My main activities included teaching English in three local high schools, giving lessons at the after-school program Nitzan for children with learning disabilities, and spending some evenings doing activities and getting to know the Youth Movement, which brought kids together from the city, kibbutzim, and moshavim.

A few days a week I spent tutoring and teaching at three high schools preparing students for the bagrut, a test they take there senior year, like the SAT and ACT’s American senior students take. This experience enabled me to make bonds with some 11th and 12th graders, while helping them out and also learning myself more about Israeli society and culture. While working at Nitzan I saw the difficulties some kids face with learning, though their overwhelming warmness and affection was something I’ve never seen before. It seemed like everyday I was there I gained a new student, these kids were so excited to learn English I had to add more hours on to my schedule, how could I say no? Through working with the Youth Movement, Noir LeNoir, I was able to gain a better knowledge of the needs of the community. A few days after a terror attack in Afula around Channukah time, as a group we visited patients at the Afula hospital bringing them doughnuts and candles for support.

Scott Rosen volunteers at Nitzan Center

A major part of my connection and bond to this community is the relationship I’ve made with my host family. Here I was able to see and be apart of an Israeli family, from waking up in the morning and having breakfast, sitting around the table talking, drinking tea and eating fruit, to sitting around the dinner table hearing about there daily activities. They took me in as one of there sons, having me over anytime of the day or week, telling me to open the refrigerator on my own, and even giving me the key to there house. The Yona family to me are the symbol of what a family should be like, loving, caring, and respectful to each other.

The time spent in Beit Shean was well worth it, as much as I gave I received way more back. Weather it was struggling to talk to an elderly man in Hebrew seated on a parked bench or a kid riding his bike up next to me to just say, “hello, how are you,” the appreciation and reward we get from each other is unforgettable. . From being in Israel now for the fourth time and having seen and met many different communities, I can honestly say that Cleveland is so fortunate to have Beit Shean as a sister city. I have never met a nicer, warmer, or more welcoming community in my lifetime of travels, really, I’m so thankful for this unbreakable connection that I’ve made. I consider Beit Shean to be my home in Israel.

Nisan 5762 - March 2002