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Israel & Zionism Education

An Encounter with the Elderly in Israel

♦ by Amy Wasser
Entering into our ninth year of Israel trip programming, the Hillel School of Tampa will once again visit Lifeline for the Old, Yad LaKashish. Together with our traveling partners from B’nai Shalom Day School of Greensboro, North Carolina, each year we bring our students to this unique institution in the heart of Jerusalem. Founded many years ago by a woman named Miriam Mendilow, Lifeline opens its doors to elderly citizens who would otherwise have nowhere to go.

The beauty of this organization is that they not only welcome them, but they teach them a new trade to make the seniors feel useful and creative. Inside the stone walls of this enclave you will find former teachers, bus drivers, doctors, and lawyers painting, doing ceramics, binding old books, making talitot, sewing, and numerous other crafts. Not only do they learn these new skills, but they do them amazingly well. My home, as well as those of many others I know, is filled with beautiful items sold in the Yad LaKashish gift shop.

By bringing our students here we allow them to see that Israel, like any other country, must take responsibility for its elderly. We want the children to see Israel from more than just a tourist perspective, to understand that ordinary people live here and must be cared for. In addition to our visit, a group of the students stay and help the seniors with their tasks. Although we are never as talented as they, it is a wonderful multi-generational activity. When we are fortunate to have a student who speaks Russian or Yiddish, there is great excitement when they can converse with someone who came from Eastern Europe. Usually we get by with Hebrew and the conversations are just as rich.

The people who work at Yad LaKashish always welcome our groups warmly, and this will remain an important part of our trip. ♦

Amy Wasser is Head of School at Hillel School of Tampa, Florida. She can be reached at wasser@hillelschool.com.

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Madeline Rothbard
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