Yad LaKashish

Israel is largely a country of immigrants. In the 1990's alone over 1 million immigrants came to Israel from the Soviet Union and Ethiopia. Many of the younger immigrants learned the language fairly easily, found jobs, and integrated into Israeli society. On the other hand, those who were older when they immigrated, despite perhaps

The first of many cookies...

...and candies...

holding very high level jobs or positions in their old homes, had a very hard time adapting, learning the language, and getting new jobs, leaving a large vulnerable elderly population in Israel. Yad LaKashish (A helping hand to the Elderly) is a program that was started in 1962. It employs about 300 elderly individuals (most of the current workers there are Soviet and Ethiopian immigrants who came in the 1990's; 90% are over age 70) to make beautiful handmade goods which are then sold in a lovely gift shop on the site of the studios. Former surgeons and engineers (who would never be able to find jobs in their fields in Israel) as well as many others are retrained to use their skills (precision work, technical skills, etc) as artists. They are paid a stipend, given a bus pass and dental care, and given a snack and hot lunch every day.

...and toys...

We had a wonderful tour of this amazing place this morning (along with another multi-generational family from Colorado, that just happens to be renting an apartment at 24 Abraham Lincoln - our neighbors!). We walked through the paper workshop (they make their own gorgeous paper from recycled materials and turn it into notebooks, cards, etc), the pottery shop, the metal shop, the and the embroidery shop. This was such a great experience on so many levels. First of all, it showed our kids (and us) a model for giving disadvantaged people an opportunity contribute to their own support (most of the people also

...and smiles.

receive social security) and to have self-respect through valuable work. Second, it clearly made the workers there SO happy to "show off" their art to us and to see the kids (especially Sylvia). Every single studio we walked through, someone gave Sylvia a cookie, piece of chocolate, piece of candy, slice of cake! They loved her and as she caught on to the potential
pay off, she warmed up to them :) One Ethiopian women gave her a blessing in simple Hebrew to grow up to be pretty like Mom and wise like Dad. In one studio, one of the men was celebrating his 85th birthday. He didn't speak Hebrew or English, but the grandmother from the other family touring with us spoke with him in Yiddish and translated for us.  After the tour, we went on a shopping spree in their gift shop! Unlike buying the Ben Yehuda Street souvenirs (many of which are "made in China"), it felt great to buy the amazing things handmade right there on site, the proceeds of which go right back into supporting the program (20% of their funding comes from the gift shop and the rest from donations). We had been thinking Jonah might get a tallit for his bar mitzvah while we were here in Israel, and he found the perfect one there! It was a new design that they had just started making and the one he got was the first one they had completed. What a meaningful tallit! We also had been looking for a gift for the synagogue from Ella's bat mitzvah class (a "bein gavra l'gavra" - which is the cover that you put over the Torah between readings). We found a gorgeous wall hanging that was perfect and they offered to remove the wall hanging loops for us in the studio. Sylvia picked out an adorable knit doll and a mezuzah for her room, and we found several other things. We left our purchases (except dolly) there to come back and pick up later after they had removed the wall hanging loops, and went on with our adventures. Unlike many of the sites in Jerusalem which touch the visitor either intellectually or spiritually, Yad LaKashish touched our hearts. It was a wonderful way to spend a morning.

Checking on her "zuzza"

A cool synagogue we saw near the shuk

We walked from there to a restaurant near the shuk that had been recommended to us (Rachmo). We stopped along the way at the place where we will be staying when we come back to Jerusalem in August and met Abe's cousin Rafi's cousin Dina (did you follow that?) who manages it. And we stopped at a used book store off Agrippas and browsed both Hebrew and English books in their selection. Rachmo was great - a classic middle eastern meat restaurant on a small street off Machane Yehuda. Jonah chose the roast beef platter - which then came with rice, potatoes, Israeli salad, pita, etc. It looked so good that Abe and Ella chose it too. I got the stuffed zucchini. Along with hummus and a couple of other sides, we all left very satisfied!

Sylvia's "date" - a stranger who sat down across
from her and she tried to make friends with 

Abe was jealous of my friendly
 relationship with the boureka man :)

After lunch we discovered that Sunday is the best (least crowded) day to shop at the shuk! We could fully appreciate each thing without bumping into anyone. We got fruits and veggies as well as bourekas and a babka for dinner, then took our time walking back along Jaffa Street to Yad LaKashish to pick up ou things. Sylvia was so excited to pick up her mezuzza and kept saying "my zuzza! Thank you! My favorite!" (although it's possible she had confused mezzuza with a kazoo, as the first thing she wanted to do when she got it was blow into it). When we got back to YL, we met a family traveling from Minnesota for their daughter's bat mitzvah. We ended up chatting with them for quite a while before heading home. As it was quite late in the afternoon, Sylvia fell asleep in the stroller clutching both her dolly and her zuzza. Super cute. Rather than risk waking a sleeping toddler by carrying her up the stairs at home, we decided to go sit on the patio at the YMCA and have a drink (Abe's turkish coffee came highly recommended with a plate of baklava, so ok, we got that too). Sitting on the patio at the YMCa with the fountain gurgling in the background, and a cool breeze coming in with slightly cooler temperatures expected for the next few days, sipping lemonade with fresh mint in it -- heaven.

In front of the YMCA