Dear Friends,
As the winter mellows and the first buds appear; it means the spring holiday season is upon us: beginning with Purim, and on to Passover, Holocaust Day, Memorial Day and Independence Day. However, what often appears routine to us as veteran Israelis is often entirely new and compelling for our students. The Ibim staff, counselors and teachers are compiling curricula and cultural programs to prepare the students for the upcoming celebrations and commemorations. With every new Hebrew word, every first taste of local cuisine, and every new step in our folk dancing sessions, we delight in seeing the students feel more and more at home and a part of our nation. |
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In addition to a schedule of intensive studies, we were busy this past month helping the Kedma students settle in, organizing a Jerusalem seminar for some of the students and a multi-cultural celebration for the entire village.
I hope you enjoy our updates and we will be in touch next month. Hope you had a happy Purim.
Best Regards,
Soni Singer, Director
Building Blocks of Identity
The Western Wall, Yad Vashem, David's Citadel…. It may appear so quotidian appearing on a tour itinerary. But for the new immigrant students who are seeing the sites of the golden city for the first time, the experience is anything but commonplace. Atid and Kedma students (from Latin America and Ethiopia, respectively) participating in a seminar in Jerusalem, not only had a hands-on Jewish learning experience, but were by all accounts, "deeply moved" by the sites and the chance to take a "walk through history." | |
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Acting as an Avant Garde
What may be a journey to a distant past for most of us, can be like re-visiting early childhood for many of the new Ethiopian immigrant students at Ibim. Havat Nama'a in the northern Negev, not far from Ibim, offers an opportunity for visitors to experience some of the daily routines of the nomadic herder, or Bedouin. The site is mentioned twice in Genesis as the home of Abraham and Isaac. While learning about the history and geography of the region, visitors bake pitas on a taboon over a fire, ride donkeys, care for and milk young goats and prepare cheese from fresh milk.
Ibim's newest Kedma (Progress in Personal Preparation) participants gathered at Havat Nama'a to celebrate the official opening of their program. Kedma is an intense ten-month program offering young Ethiopians the opportunity to close the gaps between them and their Israeli counterparts. As a select group, many of these students must, in a short period of time, make the immense psychological and academic leaps from the mores of a society similar to the one portrayed at Havat Nama'a, to a world of computers and liberal values. They are meant to be an avant garde, serving as examples to their families and community. Making these leaps symbolically in the same day, the students, who spent the morning hiking the rocky streambed and caring for goats, partied into the night with a disco featuring Ethiopian music, reggae and pop favorites.
Distinctive Deeds
Four of Ibim's own were honored in February at a Jewish Agency ceremony for those receiving certificates of distinction for assisting in the absorption of new immigrants (Yakirei Klita). Director of the Southern Region Lea Golan presented the certificates to these dedicated individuals. Alon Milner, a Sapir College student who resides at Ibim helps the Ethiopian students with their academic work, in addition to offering free guitar lessons. Hila Bisserman and Ivri Tamari have both put off their mandatory army service for a year to volunteer with immigrants of their age at Ibim. The fourth is the director of Ibim's ulpan Rivka Hadjes, a veteran immigrant from Argentina who puts in many hours above and beyond her regular work schedule to assist and host new immigrants from Latin America. |
A Mixed Feast
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 A palatable array of Ethiopian, Latin American, Central Asian and Eastern European delights shared plates with Israeli falafel and humus at Ibim's culinary culture evening. Students dressed up in traditional costumes and danced traditional and modern dances together.
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