Crisis Center for Religious Women

On February 1st, the Crisis Center for Religious Women (crisiscenter.org.il) is holding a fundraising in Gush Etzion. It's showing the movie "Eshet Cohen", followed by a discussion with Rav Yuval Sharlo, the film's creator Nava Heifetz, and Debbie Gross director of the Crisis Center for Religious Women.

Crisis Center for Religious Women is a grass roots non-profit organization, started 19 years ago because of a few cases of child sexual abuse in a religious community in Jerusalem. There was no existing service to help victims in a religious community.

Since January 1993, 70,000 different cases have come in to the center.

Most cases come from the religious community, but not all.

Women can get help of every kind at the Crisis Center for Religious Women. She can also stay anonymous if she wishes. She can call and get a listening ear. She can meet with volunteers. If needed, the Center volunteers will escort her to the hospital, to the police, to court. Volunteers will stay with her through anything they need.

Their office is located in Talpiot. Over the years, they have trained 700 women, and today there are 160 active volunteers (many from Gush Etzion). There are one or two training programs a year.

There are also workshops to prevent violence, workshops for preschoolers, school-aged children and teens. Crisis Center Director Debbie Gross said, "We teach little children that most people are nice, but not everyone is. That's why we have a mitzvah (commandment) to protect ourselves."

Schools can call the Crisis Center for help with an incident, G-d forbid, or for a workshop on abuse or family violence. They even teach teens how to choose a non-abusive mate, or tell if the boy a teen is dating might have a violent potential.

The Crisis Center gives courses for rabbis, so that just as a rav is prepared to give a psak (determination) after understanding the issues in depth. Top rabbis come to the Center to learn about these issues.

In Gush Etzion there will be a large course for Mikvah ladies and kallah teachers who can learn more about sexual abuse and prevention.

If someone has a serious suspicion that her friend is being abused, she can call the Hotline - (02) 6730002.

The Hotline worker will help her decide the best thing to do. The victim can also call with complete anonymity.

The Hotline receives 20% of its funding from the Ministry of Welfare. The rest, 80%, comes from the public. This money allows them to really help the victim with all the services she needs.

The Center's motto is "No one should have to cry alone."

To find out more about the Center, watch this video with Debbie Gross, Director of the Crisis Center:

http://www.voices-magazine.com/videoClip/232

Shalva Book Swap for the Mentally and Physically Challenged

There are so many worthwhile organizations that need our help in order to thrive and help as many people as they can. One of the biggest challenges to all organization heads is finding a way to support the cause.
Orit Samuels, Event and Social Media Manager of SHALVA, the Association for Mentally and Physically Challenged Children in Israel, came up with a terrific idea for Sunday, February 5th, in Alon Shvut - a BOOK SWAP.  Read the info below, and if you live nearby, please participate.

SNOW in Israel

Well, the dreams of every child here has just come true.
SNOW IN ISRAEL.
It's Friday afternoon, January 13, 2012.
First it rained. Then it hailed. And now it's snowing!!

It won't stick though, because the ground is too wet. But that won't dampen the enthusiasm of every kid and every "big kid" around. We've waited a long time for some snow, and we take what we can get. I know that everywhere in the world when there's stormy weather, folks shudder. We dance. B"H, thank you, G-d, for the rain, the snow and every drop of water you give us.
We pray that everyone drives slowly and carefully. And let's enjoy the snow.

What's Up, Efrat? # 6

Welcome to the newest edition of WHAT'S UP, EFRAT?

On Motzei Shabbat, January 14^th, 19^th of Tevet

BOOTCAMP!! Terrific work out instructors!!! The evening is a project of Keren Yeshua and Aseh Chayil School for the school’s needy population.

Questions? Contact the dynamic duo: Heather Cohnen or Dara Saker.   Cohnenh@aol.com or darasaker@michalwigs.com

On Monday evening, January 16^th, 21^st of Tevet, everyone is invited to the Efrat Book Club in the Library to discuss, "House of Mirth" by Edith Wharton.

On Tuesday morning, January 17^th,  22^nd of Tevet, and for seven more weeks, the Women's Bet Midrash will present two mini-courses in Bet Knesset Tiferet Avot:

 **  "Women as Servants of God: Women's Obligation in Daily Mitzvot", with Noa Jeselsohn, 8:30-9:40am.

** and "Parshat Shavua for your Shabbat Table", with Bracha Krohn, 9:50-11am. Call for details. 050-993-8125

 Also on Tuesday at 4 PM, in the Beit Bnei Rachel in the Kever Rachel Complex, Rabbi Efraim Sprecher will lead a very topical discussion, "Is the Current Exodus Failing Because of Attitudes against Women?" The Rachel's Children Reclamation Foundation will also host a supperette consisting of a healthy homemade buffet.

RCRF Winter Lectures continue, including Atara Gur every Wednesday at 11 AM at the Kever Rachel Complex.

 On Sunday, January 22^nd , 27^th of Tevet, at 8 PM, in advance of school registration, Aseh Chayil invites parents to hear about its unique educational outlook and programming.

Also on all-day Sunday and Monday (until 10 PM), our friends at the Benjamin Library in Beit Shemesh's Meyeroff Matnas in Givat Sharett are holding a gargantuan, humongous, immense, positively elephantine Book Sale!!! All books, hardcover or paperback, are only NIS 5 each!

An unprecedented number of books in English and Hebrew! New books will be put out constantly throughout the day: Adult fiction and non-fiction, thrillers, romance, detective, science fiction, classics, and everything else for adults and teens. For more information or directions, call 991-8499On Tuesday January 24^th, 29^th of Tevet, at 4 PM, Rabbi Dr. Yosef Klausner will be speaking in the Kever Rachel Complex on "The Neviot / Women Prophets: Halacha and Hagadda. A light supperette will follow.

It's time to register your children for next year's preschool and elementary school. Please do so from January 25^th through February 17^th. Please go to the Moetza to register for preschool or Mechina. And register your children for elementary school at each individual school.

On January 25^th, Rosh Chodesh Shevat, Midreshet B’erot Bat Ayin Presents Grow and Let Grow - A full day of inspiration for Tu Beshvat, beginning with a musical Hallel, and including shiurim, creative workshops and life advice from 9:45 AM to 10 PM. Wow.

Life is like a tree. :-)

Information/registration:  Elana Benarroch 02-993-4945, info@berotbatayin.org, www.berotbatayin.org

LOOKING FORWARD A BIT:

On Motzei Shabbat, January 28^th, the 4^th of Shevat, Kehillat Zemer HaZayit presents a Shiur: Women as Instructors of Halacha by Dr. Tova Ganzel, Bar Ilan Tanach and Halacha Lecturer.Everyone is invited to visit Shiloh Gal, the former long-time Mayor of Gush Etzion, in his orchid greenhouse in Elazar. You can view these beautiful flowers and purchase orchids for your own home directly from Shiloh. For more information, call 02-9932666

As in previous years, Tuv Haaretz will be selling fruit packages for Tu Beshvat. Most dried fruit sold in Israel today is imported, from Turkey and other countries. Tuv Haaretz, a company started by evacuees from Gush Katif, has been selling dried fruit grown only in Israel, for the last three years.

These packages are perfect for your Tu Beshvat needs with 6 different types of fruit, YUM. To order a package, 993-2212.

Here's another delicious idea, this one from the Zayit Raanan synagogue – a cookbook fundraiser. Send your best recipes to zayitraanancookbook@gmail.com. These recipes will be collected, reviewed, tasted and then published in a fundraising cookbook.

That's about it for this month.

Wait…Have you purchased your tickets yet for this year's DAMES of the DANCE 5 – MIRACLES. It's going to be an incredibly GREAT SHOW, IY"H, dazzling, exciting, fun, inspirational with more than 100 women and teens on stage dancing the personal, natural and national miracles we have all experienced. There's jazz, hip hop, tap, 60s, stomp, Israel Dance, Mizrachi, modern and more.

And it's all to feed the needy. For more information or to buy tickets, visit: http://damesofthedance.voices-magazine.com

 

Watch this edition of WHAT'S UP, EFRAT?

http://www.voices-magazine.com/videoClip/231

Let's Explore Ashdod Port

I visited Ashdod Port today with a busload of friends from Efrat. The new Visitors' Center is a 21^st century base to learn more about the Ashdod Port – the only Sabbath observing port in the entire world.
The Ashdod port was built over the course of four years from 1961 to 1965 on a stretch of totally empty land. The city of Ashdod actually grew out of the port, as a place where immigrants could move and find work.

Our tour guide told us that Israel needed another port, because Eilat's port was too shallow, Ashkelon's shore had cliffs, Tel Aviv's shore is too densely populated, Haifa's port was too far north for many cargoes. Creating a port in Ashdod, where there was plenty of open space shortened the travel time for many industrial shipments and provided a deep water port, built on the open sea. In order to build the required breakwater, workers sunk 40,000 big "jack" shaped stones into the sea.

On our very interesting family tour, we saw how the port authority created breakwaters, wharf and facilities for modern vessels. The first ship that entered Ashdod's port was on November 21, 1965 – the Swedish ship "Wingland", which carried 11,600 tons of sugar.

After the Six Day War, Israel expanded in many ways, included in its port industry. The giant ship, Queen Elizabeth II, docked in Ashdod. It was a tremendous honor for the port. Israel's President Shimon Peres was the Minister of Transportation then, and attended the ceremony.

As ships became larger and more modernized, the Ashdod port has changed as well. The Eitan Terminal, named after the late IDF Chief of Staff Rafael Eitan, who headed the Ashdod expansion project, enabled the port to take in mammoth ships that are like small cities. The larger the ship the deeper the water it needs at the wharf. Our guide showed us the darker blue water of Eitan Terminal, and explained the darker the water, the deeper it is. It measures 15.5 meters deep.

Our guide said that the new ships were so gigantic, they can carry 4000 cars on each. About 2000 ships with varied cargo enter Ashdod Port each year, he said.

Our guide told us that when America introduced the Metal Container to the shipping business, things changed forever. Today a million containers enter the Ashdod port aboard ships every year. Mountains of red, yellow, blue, and green containers were piled up al around.

We drove around the massive port. Twenty-five thousand cars are just sun bathing waiting for 2012 to begin so they can be sold as 2012 cars. A sea of Volkswagons sat parked at the port, plus aisles and aisles of buses, trucks and tractors. A train track ran through the port. In fact, we saw a new train that had just been off-loaded from a ship. We saw giant cranes that carry ashore the containers. They looked like they popped straight out of an erector's set.

We also caught a glimpse of some beautiful cruise ships docked there. Our guide said that 450,000 tourists came to Israel on ship in the last three years.

All kinds of cargo goes through Ashdod port, including agricultural exports, citrus fruit, timber, metals, bulk cargo and more.

Harbors need still water in order to load and unload their goods. Therefore ships do not run their engines when they come into the breakwater. Tugboats go out to sea to navigate the ship and push/pull/move it into the correct direction to its quay. And then they guide the ship back again after about what is usually a two-day stay at the port.

Terror at the Port

Six years ago, terror hit the port. Two Arab terrorists killed ten people. Today a traffic circle has been planted with ten trees in memory of those killed by Arab terrorists.
A Great Family Experience

The trip was exciting and fascinating. There were even family activities that everyone enjoyed. Families are invited to come to the port in groups (rent a bus), but children must be over age 9. No babies. No strollers.
Thank you to Judy Rosenstark who initiated the idea, to the Matnas Efrat for organizing the bus and welcoming the travelers with yummy holiday souvganiyot (donuts), and to our hosts at the port. Well done.

Biblical Fiction Author Ben-Tzion Spitz of Destiny's Call

I just completed an amazing new book by a local Gush Etzion author, Ben-Tzion Spitz. 

Destiny’s Call: Book One - Genesis is Ben-Tzion's first work of Biblical Fiction. It is 187 pages long and published by Valiant Publishing.
Ben-Tzion Spitz began writing Biblical Fiction as a reaction to the losing battle that the Bible today is waging against TV, movies and the internet. Inspired by success of JRR Tolkien’s rich, exciting and detailed realm of The Lord of the Rings, Ben-Tzion looked at Jewish history and wanted to bring it to life for today’s readers. Although lacking elves and hobbits, Ben-Tzion wrote, “We have a history, a tradition, a story of Man himself. From the beginning of time. From the Foundation of History. The story of Adam...Noah…the Flood..Abraham, Isaac and Jacob…the Twelve Tribes…the Exodus…Moses and the Commandments. And much more.” 
Basing his work on extensive biblical commentary, along with research in archaeology and geography, Ben-Tzion masterfully weaves his stories into a fantasy world that he hopes will interest the modern reader enough to send him to the original Sources to discover what is “based upon the text and what is fictional…What else does the Bible say? What other mysteries, adventures and revelations are hidden with in its pages?”
Ben-Tzion’s first novel, Destiny’s Call gives a new dimension of life and drama to the stories and personalities of the book of Genesis (Bereishit). Complete with Tolkein -like maps and timelines, Destiny’s Call grabs readers on page 1 with Lemech the blind blacksmith and doesn’t loosen its grasp until the sly Pharoah takes the scene.
In between Ben-Tzion fascinates us with tales of the iron rule of Nimrod the masochistic megalomaniac;  the private debates of Aner, Eshkol and Mamre; the personal post-blessing crisis between Isaac and Rebecca; the last moments of Rachel’s life and more. I could not put Destiny’s Call down. In this book of gems, the thrilling story of Joseph’s trial before Pharoah is the jewel in the volume’s crown. 
Ben-Tzion will soon be publishing novels based on the other four books of the Chumash.




Meet the author and explore the epic world of Biblical Fiction in this Voices video clip:
http://www.voices-magazine.com/videoClip/226

Minister Israel Katz Inaugurates Efrat Traffic Circle

Chanukah is often an occasion for a chanukat habayit (the inauguration of a new home), but the future-city of Efrat used the holiday to inaugurate a new traffic circle at the Efrat Junction, Route 3157. "Once the existence of a well was the sign of a town," said Efrat's Chief Rabbi HaRav Shlomo Riskin, "Today it is a proper road."

The new circle, located at Efrat's southern entrance, was built to prevent traffic accidents, which have caused several fatalities at that spot.

The traffic circle, Efrat's fifth, was only one of the many projects undertaken thanks to Minister of Transportation and Road Safety Knesset Member Israel Katz. According to Efrat's Mayor Oded Revivi, the Transportation Ministry has spent 16 million shekels in Efrat – fixing the crosswalks, building stroller and wheel chair accessible crossings, creating a bus bay outside one of the schools, installing speed bumps and traffic circles, culminating in its newest, most expensive and most vital circle – one that Revivi and Katz hope will save lives at what was a treacherous intersection.

Mayor Revivi told participants in the ceremony that when Minister Katz came to Efrat two years ago, Oded showed him the one tractor that had been sent to work on the town's first traffic circle. "The excitement over the one tractor in Efrat was as great as if we had a construction permit to build a skyscraper, and yet all we got was a permit to build our first traffic circle."

Oded told the Minister, "See what one tractor does to Efrat's residents. If we only received building permits, what a party we would make."

Outgoing Gush Etzion Mayor Shaul Goldstein has been working to improve the traffic situation at this junction for many years, Revivi noted. But even after monies were budgeted, the traffic circle did not move forward because it needed additional land for a properly built circle. Although the court ruled that jointly-used roads could appropriate private lands, if needed, the road remained frozen until the Moetza offered to move the traffic circle onto Efrat land.

Since the monies were no longer available, Minister Katz had to work very hard to rescue the project's budget.

The project was saved and a large gathering, including residents of Efrat, Gush Etzion Rosh Ha'Ayin, and even the Muchtar of the village Jurat al-Shama'a were present at the ceremony. The Muchtar's villagers have also been involved in traffic accident's at Efrat's Southern Entrance.

Ironically the ceremony was held right after a traffic accident had occurred at Efrat's northern exit, which needs a drastic transportation and road safety solution. "Once every two days, we have an accident there," Revivi noted.

[BTW, during the ceremony Oded Revivi revealed that Efrat was given yet another Chanukah prize. Just today the Ministry of Housing delivered to Efrat the booklets about housing on Givat HaDagan. He thanked the Prime Minister for making it happen.]

Efrat's Chief Rabbi HaRav Shlomo Riskin reiterated that it is a tremendous mitzvah to make roads and traffic circles in the State of Israel, so that we can live safely. The construction of this critical road led Rabbi Riskin to recite the blessing, "Blessed are You, God, our Lord, king of the universe, who establishes the boundary of the widow" (which is usually pronounced upon seeing the houses of Israel in their glory).

He also recited, "Blessed…who commanded us to guard our souls."

Minster Israel Katz explained the importance of the circle. "In Judea and Shomron, traffic control and infrastructure are for safety and in order to save lives. We all know that a hole in the road and a missing light here means a loss of security.|

The Ministry of Transportation's comprehensive plans throughout Yesha began two years ago. Much has been accomplished, and there is much more to go.

He concluded by explaining the connection between Jews everywhere with Gush Etzion.

He said, "I am not a religious Jew that keeps all the mitzvoth, but from my chinuch (education), I know what most Israelis know. We have a Biblical right to this area. There should be no reason to stop building or for Jews to stop living here. And it is every person's right to travel safely."

Minister Katz announced a special project that the Ministry of Transportation has undertaken, Netivei Yisrael (the lanes of Israel) which will correct "injustices of the past", including the isolation of the Negev and the Galil. "These areas need to be connected, just as the communities of Gush Etzion do. I hope one day a train will connect to Yehuda and Shomron."

Katz ended, "We will do everything we can to strengthen us, because your living here strengthens us."


Watch the video:
http://www.voices-magazine.com/index.php?page=inside_page&id=229