417071§92 111 11 ,4111 :1 11 1 1:0,
other Home
recalls. "She cooked for us, talked to
us, opened our hearts. And we taught
English in the old age home; tried to
stimulate the older people.
"I would also rollerblade from this
poor, ethnic neighborhood across
town to tutor kids in upscale north-
ern Tel Aviv," he says.
were about their parents' fears.
ROCHELLE FURSTENBERG
Paller's only disappointment was
"I would call my mom before she
Jewish Renaissance Media
called me. I wanted her to hear of a
that °tuna couldn't organize a satis-
factory business internship for him so
terrorist bombing from me, not from
Jerusalem
he'could volunteer in his field as well
the
TV,"
says
Melissa
Ellstein,
22,
srael wasn't exactly unfamiliar
One of the advantages of the
from
East
Lansing.
ground for Sharone Blue of
Otzma program was that there are
It made things intense," says
Atlanta. Her mother was born
so many different tracks offering
Jennie Allan, 24, of Ann Arbot "We
here and she had come often
different experiences. If participants
to visit her mother's family. But being were constantly deciding whether to
aren't happy in one particular track,
take
public
transportation
or
not."
part of the Otzma program this year
Epstein
and
Allan,
who
were
sup-
they know there are other aspects to
gave the enthusiastic 23-year-old a
the program that might turn them
ported
by
the
Jewish
Federation
of
new depth of involvement.
Metropolitan
Detroit,
which
subsi-
on
later.
"What could be more amazing
Atlanta's
Blue, who had taught for
dizes
five
to
seven
local
participants
than independent study at the
each year with about $2,000 apiece,
a year at the Davis Academy in
Israelite Seminar in Judaism," Blue
Atlanta and plans to return to teach-
came to understand the -Arab-Israeli
says in an interview here last month.
ing, worked with children from the
relationship firsthand. For a while,
"I actually lived in the Old City,
Bedouin community as well as
they
worked
in
Tarshiha,
a
well-estab-
didn't just tour it. Imagine waking
Russian teenagers in Carmiel.
lished
Arab
community
of
Moslems
up every morning for three weeks to
"Teaching the Bedouins was excep-
and
Christians
near
the
northern
bor-
the sight of the Western Wall and
tionally
rewarding," she says. They
der
town
of
Ma'alot.
the people praying..”
We
experienced
two
diametrically
would
come
by foot in the rain of the
Michael Telpner, another of this
opposed attitudes to Israel and Jews," winter. It was Ramadan and they
year's 82 Otzma participants, was
would have to come at night. But
says Epstein.
equally engaged. He worked in a
they were eager to learn. We'd give
"When we carne to Tarshiha we
drop-in center for at-risk teenagers in
them lessons, and the next day, they
saw
that
Arab
teenagers
had
wrapped
the resort town of Eilat, sister-city to
up
the
Israeli
flag
and
drawn
a
would know it perfectly."
his hometown of Toronto.
Palestinian
flag
upon
which
was
writ-
"I saw the underside of Eilat, not
just the tourist part," says the athleti- ten 'just Palestine.' It was quite
Lasting Effects
unnerving. They spoke of hating
cally built 24-year-old. "I played a
And how did Otzma. affect Jewish
Israel, and that most Jews were bad.
tough game of pingpong with the
But we made friends with one of
consciousness?
kids. They knew that if they won,
Telpner felt he lived the Jewish cal-
the Arab teenagers, got to know his
they really won. I took them to the
friends, and then they spoke differ-
endar in Israel and was struck by the
gym with me. They loved it Then I
fact that Israeli society is much more
ently," she recalls.
would teach them English and
religious than Israelis themselves even
Allan,
who
spent
one
night
at
an
math."
realize. "I loved the fact that all the
Arab
girl's
home,
went
to
Burger
Telpner, who had been very
stores sold dried fruit on Tu
Ranch,
a
fast-food
restaurant,
and
involved in Holocaust education at
B'Shevat," he says. "Completely secu-
walked around town "chilling out"
the University of Guelph, west of
lar kids lived the holidays because its
Toronto, helped rebuild a burnt-out with these youngsters from Tarshiha.
Now she believes that their initial
Israeli culture."
Holocaust center in Eilat.
Paller felt he received a better
behavior was simply teenage antics
"I feel connected here," Telpner
understanding
of his Jewish identity
taking
a
political
form.
"I
felt
that
says. "Even though I don't plan to
‘`The
Jewish
religion
isn't as strange
their
main
concern
was
not
the
make aliyah, I can now say that
intifada,
but
equal
rights
and
equal
and
scary
anymore."
Israel is another home to me."
For many, it has reinforced the
job possibilities," she says.
resolve to marry Jewish, have a Jewish
home. They see themselves continu-
Security Worries
Connecting in Tel Aviv
ing to study Judaism, living in tan-
The most difficult aspect of the
dem with America and Israel.
Los Angeles-based Arie Paller, a gradu-
year was the security situation, the
Paller and Telpner, for example, both
ate
from
the
University
of
Southern
Palestinian intifack (uprising) that
California
in
business,
received
expo-
see
their futures in business somehow
exploded after the Otzma partici-
tied
up with Israel. "This is the epicen-
sure
to
Israel
in
a
most
unexpected
pants had been in Israel a month.
ter
of
high tech," Paller notes.
way.
During
the
second
stage
of
the
Eight of the 82 went home, five
Allan,
who studied biology and psy-
program
when
Otzma
participants
vol-
returned later.
chology as an undergraduate, now plans
unteer in the sister cities of their
But the participants said they
to go to the Jewish Theological Seminary
towns, he lived in an old age home in
were less worried about physical
the HaTikveh area, the lower econom-
for a master's in Jewish Education.
danger to themselves than they
Blue spoke for other participants to
ic section of southern Tel Aviv.
sum up Otzma's lasting impact: "We
"Sol, a 90-year old woman from
Rochelle Furstenberg is a freelance
became part of life here. L7
S pain lived next door to us," he
writer based in Jerusalem.
This year's Otzma participants braved
the intifada to build new connections.
I
.
7/6
2001
16
capacities, from teaching English to
working with local officials on long-
term planning.
"This is community service ... in
schools, old-age homes, community
centers, depending on the participants'
Hebrew and skills and the communi-
ties' needs," Beker says. Art therapy,
horse-riding therapy for Down's syn-
drome children, working as a mayor's
assistant, tutoring English, teaching
drama, assisting a family with an adult
son confined by multiple sclerosis to a
wheelchair — individuals can cus-
tomize their efforts in this track.
"Participants visit the communities
before they move," Bandler says.
"Then they ... negotiate their own
arrangements." While Otzma moni-
tors the volunteers and looks after
their interests, "we're dealing with
adults and we treat them that way."
Track No. 3 is an elective. "We say
to outside organizations, 'Give us your
best program — for three weeks,'"
Bandler explains. Electives include an
abbreviated version of the Evnot pro-
gram's usual three months of neigh-.
borhood renewal; a stint with Sarel —
Volunteers for Israel, filling in at hos-
pitals or army bases; or -- depending
on participants' skills — working in a
high-technology business.
Other electives, adds Beker, include
a stay at the Pardess Institute, studying
Jewish texts; volunteering at Israeli
offices of the American Jewish Joint
Distribution Committee, the Anti-
Defamation League of B'nai B'rith and
the Society for the Preservation of
Nature in Israel; or assisting in Israeli
Arab schools like the one in Ma'alot
Tarshiha. Vetted by security personnel
afterithe outbreak of the recent intifa-
da, this latter program went on suc-
cessfully, Beker says.
Track No. 4 winds up the 10-month
Otzma program with seven weeks
working either on a kibbutz or in a
youth village with children and teens
including orphans, members of trou-
bled families and immigrants.
"There also are seminars throughout.
the year, including a four-day program
on Israeli politics, a dialogue session
with Israeli peers, touring and time