Focus on Ashkelon

2011-12-21T22:13:00.001+02:00

Wishing all our friends

a very Happy Hannukah !

! חג חנוכה שמח

Family Exchanges

2011-11-07T11:40:00.005+02:00

While Shani Yamin, our shinshinit* in Baltimore, is staying with the Abbott-Caplan family in Baltimore, her adoptive parents visited the Yamin family in Ashkelon.

Rebecca Abbott, the Abbot-Caplans daughter, visited Ashkelon as part of the Baltimore Diller delegation and all her friends here welcomed her parents with open arms.They toured the city, and had fun in Ashkelon.

* Shinshin - Abbreviated "Shnat Sherut" which means "year of service". ("shinshinit" is the female version).Two Ashkelon Shinshin teens, ROI DOR and SHANI YAMIN are in Baltimore for a year, doing volunteer work in the Baltimore community, before they start their compulsory army service back in Israel in 2012. Read more and see photos of ROI DOR and SHANI YAMIN HERE

Social Services Team visit Baltimore

2011-11-06T10:51:00.000+02:00

A Social work crisis intervention (first response) delegation from Ashkelon visited Baltimore on Sept 7th for a week in order to receive training and consultation on how to develop and implement on-going Bereavement support Groups for those who have lost loved ones in Ashkelon.

At the same time the Ashkelon crisis intervention staff provided training to the Baltimore professionals in crisis intervention.

The Ashkelon delegation received home hospitality which helped to strengthen the bonds between people and create life long friendships.

The week was full of "hard" learning and "hard playing including a visit to Washington and the famous sites in Baltimore. We also had a chance to do some shopping !!! and also a lot of good eating!!!!!!

We from Ashkelon had a wonderful experience and are looking forward to on-going connection with the JCS workers in Baltimore in order to share our experiences, get feedback and consultation while we begin to implement the Support Groups in Ashkelon, scheduled for Jan. 2012

Debbie Vaknin

Supervisor\Manager

Social Services, Ashkelon

Rockets in Ashkelon again...

2011-11-01T15:20:00.002+02:00

3rd day that the kids are home, the schools and kindergardens are closed since they are not protected. The kids are quite happy with the unexpected extra vacation they got and the parents feel safer that they are at home close to shelters and safe areas. It's hard to belive that this is our routine now - every few weeks rockets from Gaza that creat balagan in our lives. In a way it's like snow storms in other places that mess up life- schools are closed , people are asked to stay home if they can , and you don't know how long this will last , But here , out of the blue, literaly blue sunny sky , no wether forcast , rain of rockets starts! I hope that today is the end of this round of rockets, who knows till when ? I miss a good night sleep when you really sleep , not like the past night when your body sleeps but your mind is wild awake , waiting for a siren to interupt your sleep....

PHOTOS Grad rocket attack on Ashkelon

Life in Ashkelon this week - someone else's viewpoint

SHANA TOVA UMETUKA שנה טובה ומתוקה

2011-09-26T11:13:00.002+03:00

Rockets continue

2011-08-25T09:10:00.003+03:00

More rockets late last night and early wake-up at about 4:00 am this morning. It seems that calm is nowhere in sight. Thank goodness for the Iron Dome system that so far intercepted most of the rockets before they could hit the population.

See below a car that was standing between two houses on a kibbutz near Ashkelon, and received a direct hit from a grad rocket fired from Gaza last night.A baby in an adjacent house was hurt in this attack, but luckily the car itself was empty. Another miracle.

Car hit by grad rocket from Gaza yesterday - Zev Trachtman photo

Sunday morning

2011-08-21T08:49:00.002+03:00

Update: It is apparently Beersheva's turn with almost constant rockets all day today. see photos below
Since this morning's siren it has been quiet in Ashkelon.

7:15 am another siren wake up... I didn't hear it till Shay elbowed me, and I grabbed Gily , ran under the staircase . We heard nothing. I then saw on YNET that Iron Dome intercepted 3 rockets.
After the attack in Beer Sheva last night , and 2 direct hit with a man killed (he had a 9month pregnant wife) , inspite of Iron Dome system , you can't avoid the tought " what if ....' Gily , 9 and half , doesn't want to stay here , so we are going to Cinema City with friends for the day , it;s near Tel Aviv .
My 2 older ones contiuing thier routine : Shir studies hard for the university entering test , Ron doesn't study hard for a test in bible

Site of grad attack in Beersheva - Photo:Ohad Zwigenberg

Grad attack on school gym hall in Beersheva,
luckily it was empty at the time - Photo: Herzl Yosef

Oh well ...

2011-08-20T14:11:00.004+03:00

Well , it didn't take long...1:20 pm as we were sitting down for Shabat lunch at my in -laws , the siren went on . Since they don't have a shelter nor safe room , we run to the corridor between the 2 bedrooms , heard the boom , and went back to the table . On the news they said Iron Dome intercepted a rocket above Ashkelon , 4 out of 4 , good odds !

Iron Dome at work Fri night - Photo Avi Rokach (ynet)

Article in Maariv- Link - How did it start, and then escalate
Article in Jerusalem Post: Over 45 rockets pound the southern region

Escalation in the south

2011-08-20T07:49:00.004+03:00

How many rockets have been fired from Gaza in the past couple of days ? We are losing count. And this time the range is broader - not only the areas immediately surrounding Gaza but all over the region, to Be'er Tuvia region, Lachish, Kiryat Malachi, Beer Sheva and Ashdod. They are not kassams but the larger Grad rockets, with a longer range. They are also more deadly and filled with sharp metal shards.

Ashkelon had a quiet night , but all around us rockets fell . You keep waiting to hear the siren that is yet to come ....
Ironic that the last Grad launched from Gaza at Ashdod hit some Palestinians, who were illegally staying in Israel ...when you fire a rocket on civilians, you never know who you will hit.

Crater left by rocket, fired today at Beer Tuvia. Photo by Yaniv Ohana (ynet)

Shabt shalom...

2011-08-19T17:50:00.002+03:00

I much rather write about all the great visits from Baltimroe we had in Ashkelon this past summer , we never had such a busy summer before , but the reality is diffrent ...

We had 3 sirens since last night , and thank God , for Iron Dome who was placed back in Ashkelon 3 weeks ago , and itercepted sucsefully 6 grads . Not that it is not scary to hear the sirens and the booms of the interception , but it's a great feeling to know we are protected . Asdod is less fortunate . 2 Grads hit the city earlier this morning and few people were hurt .

Last night the Municipality planned ia free beach conceert of Hadag Nahash that the teens were looking forward to . The concert was canceled shortly before it was suppose to start because of the esclamation in the south . A lot of teens came , not knowing it was cancled and there they were caught during the 1st siren and rockets . My son who was there with friends, called right after the siren , they saw the inerception ... a few minutes later he was home ... We had one more siren and the 3rd one woke us up 6:45 am...we got to sleep through the night . Gily put a matress next to our bed and slept on the floor, she wanted to be next to me .We are all praying for a quiet Shabat and go back to normal life , Shabat Shalom .

Ashkelon municipality leadership, in the control room, discussing the security situation

Our new Shinshinim in Baltimore

2011-08-18T21:08:00.001+03:00

Our new Shinshinim in Baltimore Shani Yamin and Roi Dor

L-R: Shani, Mayor Benny Vaknin, Roi, Deputy Mayor Shlomo Cohen

L-R: Roi, Sigal, Dr Alan Marcus, Shani

Mayor Benny Vaknin meets with the shinshinim, before they leave for Baltimore

Lessans Lead Lacrosse in Ashkelon

2011-08-15T10:32:00.005+03:00

We have a new sport in Ashkelon. Lacrosse!

On Sunday 14th August the Lessan family from Baltimore visited Ashkelon.

After touring the city and visiting the second hand store, we headed to Marcelo's Sports center.

Marcelo invited the judo kids and suprised everyone by introducing two professional lacrosse stars, Max and Jeff, of the American-Israeli team from Jerusalem who just won the Israeli national league - Tel Aviv vs Jerusalem. (link) Max and Jeff were accompanied by David Lasday who runs worldwide lacrosse clinics.

The Lessans brought lacrosse sticks and balls, and together with Jeff and Max, they taught the game to the local Ashkelon kids who were very excited to learn this strange new American sport!

Sara Lessans a pro and a local fan

Scott in practice

Larry and Sara

David Lasday, of "Global Game Changers" explains lacrosse
to the kids from the Ashkelon Sport Center

Jeff and Max - local lacrosse stars, sign autographs for the excited kids

The Lessans family - Scott , Gabby , Sara , Larry and Margot

,The Lessans Family with Jeff and Max -lacrosse stars
and David Lasday, who runs lacrosse clinics in Israel and the USA

A birthday celebration

2011-08-14T15:17:00.015+03:00

Report from Einav Koren - Our Overseas-volunteer Coordinator
On Friday 12th August 2011 a group of soldiers from Ashkelon decided to celebrate the birthday of their friend Or Abu in an original way – by carrying out a volunteer project! In honor of Or's birthday, they decided to finish the painting of the perimeter fence of the brand new Ashkelon Volunteer Center. Happy Birthday Or!

The Ashkelon Volunteer Center is a new venture, and will centralize and promote volunteer activity in the city among local residents and also for overseas visitors wanting to volunteer in the city, The Ashkelon Volunteer Center was recently renovated by the city with the help of contributions from the Blavatt and Greenebaum families, under the auspices of the Ashkelon-Baltimore Partnership.

The initiative of the young soldiers to paint the fence is exactly the kind of volunteer spirit and commitment that the new Ashkelon Volunteer Center represents and inspires.

Freedmans Bump into the Chief Rabbi

2011-08-09T12:14:00.001+03:00

31.7.11 Matt Freedman and his wife Laurel and their 4 kids came to spend a day in Ashkelon.

They started the day by visiting Mayor Benny Vaknin, where they bumped into one of the most important personages in Israel, Chief Rabbi Yona Metzger !

The Freedman kids joined the judo summer day camp and enjoyed working out with the Ashkelon kids. Matt and Laurel and the kids met the new shinshinim Shani & Roi, and Hadar, last year's shinshin joined them for a reunion at the Marina. After a visit to the Michael Lapidus Baltimore park and the Lynn Stacie Getz Playground, the rest of the day and evening was spent reconnecting with dear friends in Ashkelon.

Maccabi Kids in Ashkelon

2011-08-08T13:20:00.007+03:00

Over the last weekend in July, along with the 20 Diller Teen Fellows, we also hosted about 70 Maccabi kids aged 13-17 yrs old.The Baltimore Maccabi kids were in Israel to participate in the Maccabi Artsfest competitions along with teens from Jewish federations all over the world. Ashkelon families welcomed them into our homes for the weekend.

On Friday, two full busloads of Maccabi kids arrived at Ashkelon's Delilah beach where their Host families anxiously awaited them. Unfortunately Maccabi changed the arrival time and the full program of sports and beach games that we had prepared to welcome the Maccabi kids had to be cancelled at the last moment as their final arrival time in Ashkelon was very close to the start of Shabbat. The beach area that one minute was full of excited Maccabi kids and Ashkelon hosts, was clear the next minute as the Maccabi pairs were collected by their hosts and taken home for Friday night Shabbat dinner and a weekend of warm hospitality, Ashkelon style!

During the weekend, the kids relaxed with their host families at the beach or at the pool, some were taken on tiyulim or to movies, some went sailing - each family hosted their guest in their own special way.

On Saturday evening, after Shabbat, everyone met up for an interactive Havdalah event at Beit Vosk, and it was clear that close relationships between the Ashkelonis and their Baltimore guests had already been formed. Everyone was in high spirits and very happy. The event ended with everyone dancing and singing.

Early Sunday morning, after a fun-packed weekend, the hosts delivered their young guests to the collection area for the trip to Jerusalem and the continuation of their Maccabi activities.

Sigal "Hosting such a big group over the summer vacation when many people are away, and while the Dillers were also in town, was a real challenge. My staff Nicole and Einav outdid themselves coordinating the host families for this weekend. It was a real team effort, and I would also like to thank Marcelo Burdman, Liza Aharon and the Ashkelon sports center coaches, for arranging the welcome activities: the beach games, climbing wall, zumba and sports that unfortunately had to be cancelled at the last minute. "

Reactions from everyone involved in this super weekend were very enthusiastic, everyone enjoyed themselves, host families and Maccabi teens alike. The close relationships that were formed will last a lifetime. Facebook and emails are already being exchanged.

Welcome Sign at Delilah Beach

Ron Siegel and his daughter were hosted by Einat Tourjeman

Anat Peled - our Magic Moments 2011 Coordinator
and her family hosted FOUR Maccabi boys for the weekend

Anat Peled serving Friday night dinner
to 4 hungry Maccabi boys

Pnina Rimon and family with their 2 Maccabi guests

The Rimon family and their guests on a tour of the city
Picture taken on the clifftop promenade above the beach

Welcome screen at the Motzei Shabbat event

Our new shinshinim to Baltimore, Shani Yamin & Roi Dor
came to greet the Maccabi teens

Dancing round the hall

Nancy Boguslaw & Buddy Saposky in Ashkelon

2011-08-08T11:11:00.002+03:00

"PARK BALTIMORE"
At Michael Lapidus Park and Lyn Stacie Getz Playground in Ashkelon
with Nancy Boguslaw and Buddy Saposky and party
With the newly erected park shade cloths in the background

Shatzkin Family Volunteer in Ashkelon

2011-08-08T09:43:00.089+03:00

Report from Einav Koren, our new Overseas-volunteer Coordinator Wed 3.8.2011

The Shatzkins were on a family trip in Israel. Parents Richard and Jill and their children Sammy and Rachel wanted to spend a day volunteering in Ashkelon and connecting to the people and city of Ashkelon.

Their first job was painting the fence of the new Ashkelon Volunteer Center. Dafna Biton, head of Amen, and kids from the Youth Council (including Sigal's son Ron) joined the Shatzkins to get the job done.

Dressed in aprons and gloves, working hard in the baking hot sun, everyone had a good time chatting and getting the job done in true partnership!

After washing up, the family and the Youth Council teens took part in a sweet workshop held at the Volunteer Center- preparing specially designed parcels of sweets on skewers, to be delivered to patients at Barzilai Hospital. After they had packed up enough sweet parcels, we went to the hospital.

It was heartwarming to see Sammy and Rachel handing out their sweet parcels to the kids in the pediatric ward and to the new moms in the maternity ward.

This was my first group of volunteers, and my first opportunity as the new Ashkelon overseas-volunteer coordinator, to plan their day in Ashkelon and their volunteer activities from start to finish. It was another opportunity to see first hand how strong the Baltimore connection is to Ashkelon and to experience the warm connection first hand.

Einav Koren

Handing out sweet parcels at Barzilai hospital

Preparing the sweet skewers

Painting the perimeter fence of the Ashkelon Volunteer Center

Sammy & Rachel, hard at work

Youth Council members helped get the job done among them, Sigal's son Ron

Sammy shows us how it's done

Diller Teen Fellows

2011-07-30T15:43:00.002+03:00

Diller teen fellows, one of our partnership flagship projects - a year long leadership program for 11th graders! The Diller teens from Baltimore leave tonight after 3 intensely busy weeks in Israel. They have toured and volunteered, they have worked and played, and laughed and cried. This last week they spent in Ashkelon, home-hosted by their Ashkelon Diller partners, working in the Ashkelon community.

climbing the snake path up to Masada at dawn

Welcome dinner

Volunteering at Bet Canada new immigrant absorption center

Fun time at the pool and the beach

Volunteering at Bet Canada new immigrant absorption center

Volunteering at the Teen Center

Completed seating area built by the Diller teens

Final Circle at the Retreat

Pre-Maccabi Group Visit to Ashkelon

2011-07-26T10:05:00.003+03:00

On July 19th we hosted the pre-Maccabi group - these are teens who are participating in the Maccabi games and will be in Ashkelon for the weekend of 29th-31st.

Twenty Maccabi teens from Baltimore came two weeks earlier to travel in Israel and together with their counselors, spent an afternoon in Ashkelon.

Einav Koren, our new overseas coordinator, organized a special volunteer activity for them. First they visited the Ashkelon teen Center and met Dafna Biton and the Youth Council teens, and then together the Baltimore Maccabi teens and the Ashkelon teens ran a fun arts and crafts project at Halperin Senior Center. The seniors decorated useful tin containers, for their rooms, with the help of the teens.

We are looking forward to seeing all the Maccabi teens again this weekend.

TEENS visit Ashkelon !

2011-07-16T17:27:00.008+03:00

We are having a busy summer as we welcome many teen visitors from Baltimore to Ashkelon.

After we said goodbye to the BEIT RJ teens, a group of over 30 BZD teens arrived in Ashkelon. Days filled with fun, beach, social events and various volunteering activities. The teens were home hosted by Dafna Biton and the Ashkelon Youth Council.

Soon the DILLER teens arrive, and the huge delegation of MACCABI teens.

At the Ashkelon Teen center

Volunteering with Seniors

At the Lyn Stacie Getz Playground

Michael Lapidus Baltimore Park

Teachers Delegation in Ashkelon

2011-07-09T19:40:00.004+03:00

A delegation of educators from Baltimore visited us this week.

They had never been to Israel before and made up for it by travelling all over Israel.

Mayor Benny Vaknin, Sigal Ariely & Marcelo Burdman welcomed the educators.

Dr Alan Marcus gave the delegation an overview of Ashkelon and explained the security situation in the region.

Ashkelon Mayor Benny Vaknin addresses the Baltimore educators

Educators from Ashkelon at the Ashkelon Municipality

A visit to the Michael Lapidus Baltimore Park and Lyn Stacie Getz Playground

Introducing Einav Koren

2011-07-07T13:32:00.003+03:00

This week our new Overseas-volunteer Coordinator, Einav Koren joined our Ashkelon team.

Einav has lived all her life in Ashkelon, has wide experience running volunteer programs and speaks excellent English. She is looking forward to working with volunteers in Ashkelon, and her office will be in the new Volunteer Center in Shimshon neighborhood.

Sigal & Einav

Outside the Ashkelon Municipality building

At work with Avner Maimon, Education dept, Ashkelon Municipality

Nicole with Einav

Einat hard at work with Rachel, Head of Nesher Youth Center

Ceremony with Russel Family at Nesher

2011-06-30T13:45:00.000+03:00

On Thursday 30th June, the NESHER Youth Center held a dedication ceremony, as the Center reopened after a renovation funded by the Russel family of Baltimore, in honor of their beloved mother Adele "Alli" Russel.

The Nesher Center was established by the ENP in 2007 for Youth of Ethiopian extraction, under the auspices of the non-profit organization Dror. The Center is located in Shimshon neighborhood, is active 5 days a week and offers inter-generational and youth enrichment programs.

Steve Russel of Baltimore first visited the Nesher Center during the Ashkelon-Baltimore Partnership Family Mission in December 2010. Steve was impressed by the Nesher program but also saw the need to renovate and improve the building. Steve, his brother Robert, and the whole Russel family decided to fund the renovation. The renovation was carried out in cooperation with the Municipality of Ashkelon.

The dedication ceremony opened with a performance by the Or Addis Havatzelet choir, and was conducted in Hebrew by Shalva Mamu- a participant in Nesher programs, and in English by Sigal Ariely.

Mr Benny Vaknin, Mayor of Ashkelon welcomed and thanked the Russel family and the guests,, and presented the Russel family with certificates and ancient medal replicas. Benny Vaknin also thanked Marc Terril and Bruce Sholk for the Baltimore Jewish Federation's continued efforts to assist the Ethiopian community and the city of Ashkelon.

At the end of the ceremony the Russel family uncovered the plaque in honor of their mother, at the entrance to the Center, and experienced some traditional Ethiopian food, dance and music.

"Or Addis Havatzelet" Choir performing at the Dedication Ceremony

The Russel family of Baltimore

Baltimore Diller 2008 Alumni back in Ashkelon

2011-06-12T09:38:00.011+03:00

We have just said goodbye to a delegation of nine Diller Alumni, who visited Ashkelon from 26th May until 9th June, with their coordinator Elise Henry.. The Baltimore teens were warmly welcomed and hosted in the homes of their Ashkelon Diller partners from 2008. The Ashkelon teens are now all in the army serving their compulsory military service, but somehow managed to get some time off from the IDF to spend quality time with their friends from Baltimore. After all the skype, facebook and emails, a face-to-face meeting was appreciated. You can't hug via facebook!

Ashkelon's AMEN coordinator Dafna Biton put together a schedule that was jam-packed with activities. Among other volunteer activities, the teens packed Shabbat food parcels for the underprivileged at Matan BeSeter ("give Charity secretly"), worked in the secondhand clothing store for teens, volunteered with the kids at Beit Canada absorption center for Ethiopian new immigrants, at Halperin Center for the Elderly, at kindergartens for special needs kids and with "Knafayim shel Crembo" (Wings of Crembo) youth group for disabled kids.

The Baltimore teens connected with all their good friends in Ashkelon; enjoyed shwarma, felafel, humous and cous-cous; swam in the Mediterranean sea; volunteered in different programs all over the city; painted a colourful mural; took part in various social activities; and of course visited Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, the Dead Sea and even the Kinneret. One highlight was a visit to the army base, in the baking hot desert, where Noy is doing her military service.

Most of all, this trip was about connection. Connection between Diller friends in Baltimore and Ashkelon. Connection with old friends and new friends. Re-connection with the city and people of Ashkelon, and with Israel, and with the Diller ideals of leadership, and volunteerism in the community.
We hope to see you all again soon! Lehitraot !

YOM ATZMAUT SAMEACH

2011-05-10T14:21:00.002+03:00

HAPPY 63RD BIRTHDAY,

ISRAEL !

Remembrance Day for Fallen Soldiers and Victims of Terrorism

2011-05-09T16:04:00.004+03:00

Yom HaZikaron. Two two-minute sirens. One siren at 8:00 last night and one at 11:00 this morning. Every car stops, its occupants empty out and stand at attention, heads bowed, as if frozen in place. Every pedestrian stops in their tracks. The whole country comes to a standstill and observes two minutes silence as together we remember our fallen soldiers and victims of terrorism.

There are solemn ceremonies at every school, every community center and every institution. We remember. The whole evening and day there is no TV or radio except for news and stories of remembrance and grieving. Together we remember.

And then, in the evening we dry our tears and switch gears, and we celebrate - we celebrate our independence, we celebrate our Israel, our home.

Viewpoint -
See Israeli Frontline article Of silence, soldiers and switching gears - by Michelle Cohen

See: "I miss you always " -by Karnit Goldwasser

Ynet: "According to the Defense Ministry's commemoration unit, Israel's fallen number 22,867 soldiers and terror victims. The past year has seen 183 Israelis killed in the line of duty or in terror attacks. Israel's bereaved families now include 2,543 orphans, 4,999 widows and 10,819 bereaved parents."

Magic Moments group soon to leave for Baltimore

2011-04-30T13:43:00.004+03:00

On Wednesday, "Magic Moments", a Melitz project, held a general rehearsal in front of parents and guests. This delegation of teens from three Ashkelon schools will be leaving in less than a week. Their coordinator is teacher Anat Peled from Mekif Daled, a "Gesher Hai" school.

They will conduct "Soldiers Memorial Day" ceremonies in three synagogues in Baltimore.

Soldiers Memorial Day in Israel (Yom HaZikaron) is the day before Independance Day (Yom Haatzmaut). Yom Hazikron is the day on which Israel honors its fallen servicemen and women. It's the day we remember the cost of peace, and acknowledge the ultimate sacrifice paid by our fallen soldiers and their families. This is a very small country and so there is almost no-one in Israel who does not have a connection to someone who gave their life for our country. This sad day of remembrance ends with Erev Yom HAatzmaut when we celebrate our independance.

Chag Sameach!

2011-04-14T20:01:00.008+03:00

Ashkelon Teens pack food parcels for Passover

2011-04-14T11:53:00.004+03:00

Every year before Pesach, teens collect basic food items from manufacturers, from supermarkets and from Ashkelon residents, and pack "kosher for Pesach" food parcels, to be distributed to needy families. This year they were joined by soldiers and volunteers, and the Teen Center is a hive of activity as everyone works to pack as many parcels as possible before the chag. I came to see the action , it was like a production line. Teens packing , loading mini vans and distributing them acording to social sevice's lists .

Monday

2011-04-11T14:41:00.000+03:00

Pleased to report that it's quiet and peaceful in Ashkelon today. Keep your fingers crossed that it lasts!

Today - another rocket

2011-04-10T11:46:00.001+03:00

How crazy!! Nicole and I are sitting in the office, 4th floor, from where we have an excellent view southward when suddenly we heard what sounded like a jet plane and then a distant boom. Looking out the window we saw the smoke plume of another successful rocket interception.
There was no siren warning.
Never a dull moment.

April 9th - Saturday

2011-04-09T18:50:00.007+03:00

We had a quiet Shabbat morning but in the afternoon , just before 5 pm and again at 6 .pm there were 2 sirens . Rockets were heading to our city from Gaza and Iron Dome intercepted some of them, not all .

Gily went with a friend from school and her family to the Lunapark in tel Aviv, they wanted the kids to have a peaceful Shabat and invited her too. I was sooo happy she wasn't here .

I took Shir and Ron to Ashdod to do some fun and shopping. We had just left for Ashdod when the first siren caught us just outside Ashkelon on the highway. I stopped the car and the 3 of us hid behind the bus station , not quite sure how effective this was , but this is what you are suppose to do. The second siren we heard while we were in Ashdod talking with my mother-in-law , in Ashkelon, on the phone .

Nicole was out walking her dogs when she heard the distant siren and the booms. In the fields there is nowhere to hide, so she just watched the Iron Dome shooting the rocket out of the sky, leaving a puff and white smoke trail (see her photos below)

Follow the news in ynetnews.com

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4054360,00.html

http://www.ynetnews.com/home/0,7340,L-3083,00.html

Passover vacation started on Friday so no school or kindergarten, the kids will be home from tomorrow.

Nicole's photos from her walk today:

a very bright day, taking the photo into the sun (At night this would look like fireworks) .Look carefully to see the trail of the rocket after the Iron Dome blasted it into pieces.

Nicole's dog Heidi and the Iron Dome defense system in action in the background

The fields are full of red poppies - Spring!

Friday night in Ashkelon

2011-04-09T09:58:00.006+03:00

All afternoon and evening we heard Iron Dome system intercepting rockets , at one point 3 at once .The last one was around 9 pm. We went to sleep and woke up at 4 am to the familiar sound of a siren. This meant Iron Dome missed a rocket going our direction .

We ran under the stairway which is what we can do in 30 seconds and waited. No boom sound was heard . After a couple of minutes we went back upstairs .Gily, ( 9 years old) took her blancket and pillow to sleep in the living room , much closer to the safe area in our house . Ron , 16 was on facebook with all his friends that were all up.

It was difficult to go back to sleep .In the morning I saw on the news that the siren was a rocket that passed Ashkelon and Ashdod and landed in an open field . Beer Sheva had a successful interception too. Kiryat Gat that doesn't have a system , was target too. Shabat morning, we are hoping for a quiet day.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4054207,00.html

Rockets on Ashkelon

2011-04-08T15:47:00.004+03:00

Though we all felt very reliefed to hear that Iron Dome sysytem succsessfully intercepted a grad rocket from Gaza, we have many reasons to worry . Ehud Barak said that the system is not a 100% effective, and we need to keep in mind that in order to prevent the rocket from hitting Ashkelon , 2 rockets were launched, they cost 40,000$ each , to stop a 200$ grad ....

In Kfar Aza though , an anti tank rocket was aimed from Gaza to hit a yellow school bus . Luckily it was the end of its route so there were just the driver and one kid on the bus. The 16 years old kid was severly hurt .

Shabat shalom , and quiet ...

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4053704,00.html

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4054090,00.html

Ashkelon Dillers are on their way to Baltimore

2011-04-03T20:43:00.031+03:00

The North American Seminar is one of the highlights of the Diller Teen Fellowship year long leadership program

.These photos show this years Diller group saying goodbye to their parents and boarding the bus for Ben Gurion airport. They will be spending 10 days in Baltimore, staying in the homes of their Baltimore partners, connecting with people and volunteering in the Baltimore community, seeing the sights, learning, and broadening their minds and horizons.

Parting from their families - hugs, tears and much excitement

Uriel Ezra, 2010-2011 Ashkelon Coordinator

Last years Diller teens wave goodbye to the bus

SEE MORE PHOTOS HERE

Prof Darlene Smith Visits Ashkelon

2011-03-24T11:29:00.004+02:00

Professor Darlene Brannigan Smith, Dean of the Merrick School of Business, University of Baltimore, and husband Rick Smith were in Ashkelon for meetings with Professor Many and senior staff from the Business School at Ashkelon Academic College, to discuss future cooperation and connection.

Professor Darlene and Rick also met with Mayor Benny Vaknin and Deputy Mayor Shlomo Cohen, and Dr Alan Marcus, who welcomed her to Ashkelon.

Baltimore Hebrew Congregation visit Ashkelon on Purim

2011-03-24T09:41:00.005+02:00

To see full photo album click here

On Purim, 20th March, about 40 members of the Baltimore Hebrew, the largest reform congregation in Baltimore, visited Ashkelon.

Their first stop was a quick view of the Michael Lapidus Baltimore Park and Lyn Stacie Getz Playground. At Netzach Yisrael Conservative community in Afridar Ashkelon they were welcomed by Marcelo Burdman and the leadership of the community, as well as the NOAM youth group. Deputy Mayor Shlomo Cohen welcomed the group on behalf of the City of Ashkelon.

After dressing as pirates, together with the NOAM kids, the group marched in the colorful ADLOYADA (Purim Parade). This is the first time a delegation has ever taken part in Ashkelon's Purim parade. The NOAM and Baltimore group greeted the crowd from the front of the parade, behind the Mayor.

After lunch back at Netzach Yisrael, the group prepared "Mishlochei Manot" and presented them to the kids at Bet Canada new immigrant absorption center at the Purim party there.

A day to remember!

Rabbi Michael of Ashkelon welcomes Rabbi Andy of Baltimore to Netzach Israel

Sigal with Shlomo Cohen - Deputy Mayor, and Partnership Chairman

Dressing up as Purim pirates

The group leaving Netzach Yisrael for the Adlouyada

Adlouyada

mini Ashkelon pirate crosses swords with Baltimore pirate

Chief Pirate

Greeting the crowd

VIP catches lift in fire-truck

Preparing mishlochei manot - Purim parcels - for the kids

Purim party with Ethiopian kids at Bet Canada

Erez Menashe giving at a magic show at the Bet Canada Purim party

To see more photos CLICK HERE

2011-03-17T19:21:00.001+02:00

Wishing you and your loved ones a very

H a p p y P u r i m

President Peres visits Ashkelon

2011-03-09T23:12:00.009+02:00

President Peres was a guest of Ashkelon city yesterday . It was a special and festive day for us.

President Peres was welcomed by kindergarten kids and the 2 City chief Rabbis . In ab official ceremony he received from Mayor Benny Vaknin the award of " Honorary Citizen " of Ashkelon City . The award was given to President Peres for his continuous support of Ashkelon in the past years. Supporting Ashkelon to receiving approval to build the Marina, to be recognized as a preferred development area giving meaningful incentives . He showed his support during the Cast Lead operation when during his visit to the shelters in Ashkelon, rockets fell and he had to go in a shelter.

In his speech President Peres said that "Ashkelon is a city that I really love and I am impressed by its beauty and development . I recieve this award with honor and pride ".

The 2 parts of the visit that I participated in were the opening ceremony and a meeting with highschool teens . The opening ceremony started with the choir form the Art school , and I was happy to see our next year Shinshinit - Shani Yamin, among the singers. After the ceremony the president met with 1000 12th grade students from the diffrent highschools in Ashkelon for a round table with teens .

The chair of Youth Council in Ashkelon Sheli Babay , a Diller participant this year , welcomed the president in a speech that highlighted the volunteerism of teens in Ashkelon . On the stage 4 teens were selected to sit in a panel with the President and the Mayor ,all had special achievements in diffrent fields : Sports , science , Bible studies, debating. The star debating student is amember of our Magic Moment delegation to Baltimore for Yom Haatzmaut .

Sigal

Sheli Babay, Head of Youth Council, welcomes President Peres to Ashkelon
Sheli is a member of our Diller leadership program, this year

Leadership Mission to Ashkelon 9-12.2.2011

2011-03-07T23:13:00.005+02:00

Leadership Mission

Heart 2 Heart

Two important delegations visited us in the middle of February, the Leadership Mission and womens Heart to Heart Mission.

In such a short period of time we did so much together . Visits to programs that Baltimore funds through the Partnership and through the "Israel & Overseas committee". Meetings face to face and for the first time doing the anual allocation when over 30 members of the partnership sat around the same table - Ashkelonians and Baltimorians . And the highlight of the visits was to the new Volunteer Center that is soon to be finished .

Meetings and more meetings

Mayor Benny Vaknin greets Sue Liebman

Visiting Projects: The Center for Excellence

Science is fun - the Excellence Center for gifted students

Visiting a Beit Tzipora enrichment class

Many enjoyable shared meals

Visiting the new Volunteer Center

"I volunteered at the Ashkelon Volunteer Center"

Volunteer Activities at the new Volunteer Center

Sorting donated clothing for the AMEN store

Gardening

Beautifying the yard - the BAP logo

Meeting the new "shinshinim" for 2011-2012, Shani Yamin & Roi Dor

Gesher Hai Teachers Delegation to Baltimore

2011-01-30T12:52:00.072+02:00

Our Gesher Hai ("Living Bridge") program is very active in both Baltimore and Ashkelon. Each of our Ashkelon schools participating in the program is matched with a school in Baltimore. Gesher Hai aims at understanding cultural differences and working to form a close connection by means of a shared project.

In January 2011 a delegation of seven Ashkelon teachers representing the Arts School (Omauyot), the Science School ( Madaim), Ort Afridar, Harel, Mekif Daled, and Cochav HaZafon, travelled to Baltimore to strengthen the connection with their partners: Beit Tefiloh, Shoshana Cardin, Beit Israel, Yeshivat Rambam, Kreiger Shechter, and Baltimore Hebrew, schools. The delegation was led by Ashkelon Gesher Hai Coordinator Marcelo Burdman.

The Ashkelon teachers were hosted in Baltimore homes for the weekend and then stayed in a local hotel. They received a warm welcome and visited schools, synagogues, community centers and the Jewish museum. They participated in discussions, lectures, hands-on projects, lessons about Israel and Ashkelon, took part in many social gatherings and made close and personal connections with their Baltimore partners and friends. Thanks to everyone! We are looking forward to hosting the Baltimore teachers here in the future.

Photos by courtesy of Ariela Lerman and Tova Shafran

Our first MELITZ Magic Moments Project

2011-01-18T11:19:00.006+02:00

Last night we held a meeting with the teens and their parents of our first Magic Moments Project in Ashkelon. The meeting was hosted by Marcelo Burdman, our energetic Gesher Hai (Living Bridge) coordinator.

Magic Moments is a Gesher Hai project run by Melitz, where Ashkelon teens will travel to Baltimore to meet and connect with their peers, learn about the community and participate in Yom HaAtzmaut and Yom HaZikaron ceremonies.

Sigal welcomed the participants to the partnership family. Alexandra Benjamin of Melitz explained the background to the project, and Magic Moments Ashkelon coordinator Anat Peled gave detailed information about the project and answered questions from the parents.

The evening ended with a video-conference with our Baltimore partners, only the beginning of a soon-to-be close connection! The video conference was made possible by the donation of internet cams from Baltimore to our Gesher Hai project. Marcelo hooked up the cam to a projector and so we were able to speak to Ariela Lerman and the heads of the communities participating in this project.

Magic Moments Ashkelon 2011 participants with Marcelo, Anat & Sigal

Sigal listens as Magic Moments Ashkelon coordinator Anat Peled addresses the parents and teens

Marcelo, overseeing the video conference with Ariela Lerman and our partners in Baltimore

TAGLIT in Ashkelon 10 January 2011

2011-01-18T09:52:00.014+02:00

Three busloads of happy university students from Baltimore spent a night in Ashkelon as part of their Taglit-Birthright tour of Israel.

The next day they volunteered at locations all over Ashkelon; making their presence felt by teaching English and talking with students at high schools; planting trees and teaching songs at kindergartens; planting vegetables at the Ashkelon Community farm; and painting walls and beautifying Beit Canada, the absorption center for new immigrants.

The Taglit students also visited Michael Lapidus Baltimore Park and Lynn Stacie Getz Playground.

At lunch, the Taglit students enjoyed meeting Otzma participants and hearing about the Otzma ITC volunteer teaching program in Ashkelon. Many Taglit participants expressed interest in coming to work and volunteer in Israel for 10 months with Otzma and other programs.

To see more photos click HERE

Volunteer Day with the Family Mission 30.12.2010

2011-01-05T11:11:00.008+02:00

Beit Canada in Barnea Ashkelon, was a hive of activity on 30th December 2010 as participants in the Family Mission from Baltimore joined volunteers from Ashkelon to beautify the Absorption Center for new immigrants.

The night before, Family Mission was hosted by Ashkelon families, many renewed connections forged during previous Missions

More photos can be seen HERE and HERE

Shani Yamin (right) and her family hosted the Geller family

Carly Geller and Shani are Diller partners from last year

Einat (second from left above) and Shulamit (below)

renewed their Mom's Mission connection with Harriet Weiner and her family.

Vered and Dotan kept the Mission kids busy

SOME OF THE BEAUTIFICATION PROJECTS

==================================

The outdoor living room (below) - BEFORE

The outdoor living room (below) - AFTER

Entry mural (below) - BEFORE

Entry mural (below) - AFTER (not yet complete)

The dove, with Ashkelon artist Hana Raviv BEFORE

The dove, in place, - AFTER

Shlomo Cohen accepted a gift...

The Diller teens arrived to lend a hand

more photos can be seen HERE and HERE

Partnership Event 29th November

2010-12-22T20:24:00.011+02:00

On 29th November 2010, everyone involved in the Partnership gathered together at the Gvanim hall at the Barnea community center for a social evening. This occasion was the kickoff to the start of a new era for the partnership now operating under the new Vision, formulated after many months of discussions with our partners in Baltimore. New members were introduced and activities of the partnership were highlighted: past activities, present, and future ... There was a full turnout, good food and good company! Maccabi arts participant Gal Bental opens the event with a virtuoso flute playing performance. Behind her, "Highlights of the Partnership" slideshow.

Social Services staff shared a table

Alan and Ilana Marcus

Meir contemplates the spread....

A Gift for everyone...

Einat, Vered and Ilana with their gift mugs

And a "soofganiya" from Sigal & Einat

Lizzy (Maccabi Arts Coordinator), Marcelo Burdman & Shlomo Cohen

Maia tells everyone about the upcoming Family Mission

Dafna and her A-Team!

Carmel Fire Disaster

2010-12-06T21:50:00.006+02:00

UPDATE

Finally the Carmel fire is out!!!!

Israel held a ceremony to thank firefighters from neighboring countries, Europe and the U.S. for helping extinguish the Carmel Hills fire. (Photo: Israel Defense Forces from THE ISRAEL PROJECT)

Sadly, after a 4 day valiant struggle between life and death, Ahuva Tomer, firechief of Haifa, has succumbed to her wounds and passed away. May she rest in peace.

===============================

In Ashkelon and all over Israel it has not been a happy Hannukah 2010.

Hannukah events have been cancelled and everyone has been glued to their TV sets this weekend watching the disaster unfold. All 3 TV networks have been broadcasting round-the-clock coverage, pre-empting all their regularly scheduled shows, something like this is usually only done during a war

The Carmel fire has been the deadliest wildfire Israel has ever known. The fire, which has been raging since Thursday, killed 42 people and destroyed nearly 50,000 dunams of land in the Carmel region, along with homes, entire villages, animals, and natural habitat. 17,000 people were evacuated from their homes.

Among the 41 people who died were a young volunteer fire-fighter aged 16 and two prison service cadets from Ashkelon: Tanya Lansky (23 yrs old) and Ronen Peretz (aged 34 and father of two young children aged 3, 6).

There are many injured in hospital, some of them very badly burnt, among them Ahuva Tomer, chief of Haifa police.

Israel has received assistance from many neighboring countries as well as the US.

Thank you everyone for your phonecalls and support.

(photos from ynet)

Diller Teen Fellows 2010 - 2011

2010-12-05T17:21:00.010+02:00

After the first few meetings at the Teen Center, a Shabbat weekend away from home, a meeting with the parents, and matching of the Ashkelon teens with their Baltimore partners, Diller 2010-2011 is well and truly on the way!

MEET the Ashkelon Team!

Left to right: Denny, Uriel, Itay & Adaya

Shabbaton at Kibbutz Galon

ODT and fun at Galon

Swearing in Ceremony at the Beach

2010-12-02T13:22:00.007+02:00

H A P P Y H A N N U K A H

The biggest Hannuka dreidel in the world, 5 meters high,

in honor of Hannukah 2010, on Bar Cochba traffic circle.

All over the city the main roads are lit up with Hannukah lights in different colors, in the shape of menorahs (hannukiot).

Rafi Sulam -Teacher of the Year

2010-11-07T10:16:00.013+02:00

Rafi Sulam, an industrial mechanics teacher from Ashkelon, was one of six Israeli teachers to be named 2009-2010 “Teacher of the Year.” The prize was a trip to the USA to observe a Jewish day school and spend time learning about America’s Jewish communities.

Rafi Sulam, a teacher at the ORT Adivi School in Ashkelon for the past 34 years, visited Baltimore from October 12-17 and ran a creative carpentry project at the Krieger Schechter Day School which was much enjoyed by the lucky pupils who participated.

See photos HERE and an article in the Baltimore examiner HERE

Teacher of the Year Rafi Sulam with Marc Terrill & family

and Sigal Ariely

Rafi Sulam with Sigal and Ashkelon's Shinshinim in Baltimore:

Ronit Pinsky and Dor Trainic

Ashkelon Beach Cleanup

2010-10-26T12:31:00.003+02:00

As part of international Beach Cleaning Week and Ashkelon's continued efforts to preserve our environment, about 300-400 Ronson high school students cleaned up beaches in Ashkelon this week.

Here they hold huge yellow garbage bags that say on them "Clean Beach"

Shlomo Cohen, Ashkelon Chair of the Ashkelon-Baltimore Partnership, worked with the kids to clean up the beach.

Our "shinshinim" at work

2010-10-17T12:43:00.004+02:00

Our "shinshinim" (young emissaries) Ronit & Dor, at work connecting Baltimore kids to Israel...

At Baltimore Hebrew

At Beth Israel - map of Israel activity

Dalia Bromberg and sons visit Ashkelon

2010-08-16T16:42:00.001+03:00

Dalia and her three sons were in Ashkelon for a day of volunteering at Beit Canada, and brought the kids there some play equipment. The Bromberg kids had a great time playing with the Ethiopian kids at the absoprtion center.

Ashkelon teens at Maccabi Arts fest in Baltimore

2010-08-12T10:22:00.010+03:00

Accompanied by coach Liza Aharon and producer Hani Herzl, ten talented teens from Ashkelon are in Baltimore, taking part in the Maccabi Arts Fest as part of the Baltimore team.

See articles about this year's Maccabi Artsfest in the Baltimore Jewish Times HERE (List of articles in right margin under MACCABI ARTICLES

Grad exploded in Ashkelon today

2010-07-30T11:24:00.008+03:00

Boy , was I happy this morning that the Diller kids from Baltimore have left town... No offence.

At 8:30 am I was food shopping for the weekend, with my daughter Shir at Cosmos shopping center, right outside of Ashkelon, this is why we didn't hear the siren or the Grad rocket that fell and exploded not too far from the Delila beach....

I started getting calls from my husband, my mom, friends, Gily (who was at summer day camp at the time but was still updated thanks to a concerned parent) .

On the way home, like every Ashkelonian who owns a car we drove past the place where the rocket exploded. I couldn't believe how close it was to a fully occupied apartment building of 10 floors!

Another miracle escape: Nothing happened , just a few damaged cars, blasted out windows, and trauma victims.

My first thought was: "Thank god the Diller kids are back home..."

My mother in law called, she swims at the beach every morning. They were all in the water when the lifeguard told them to go out of ther water quickly and lay on the sand ... in a few seconds they heard the boom not far from them. And, in my mother in law own words: "well , it wasn't fun" .... Shabat Shalom and a safe weekend to all.

See YNET report: "Rocket explodes in heart of Ashkelon"

and photos on ASHKELONIM

Diller Teen Fellows Summer 2010 - volunteering in the community

2010-07-20T20:33:00.005+03:00

Volunteering at Beit Canada new immigrant absorption center

Volunteering at Burton community center with day campers

Helping the Burton day-camper kids make cards in English for their parents

Drum circle at Meitar, with darbookas

Diller Teen Fellows Summer 2010 -1

2010-07-19T20:51:00.005+03:00

The Baltimore Diller Teens are in Israel for 3 weeks.

They are touring, visiting their sister city Ashkelon to stay with their Israeli teen partners, volunteering in the community and getting to know Ashkelon, and then participating in the Youth congress at Givat Haviva.

Also read Megan's day-to-day blog HERE

and check out more photos HERE

Dillers from Baltimore and from Ashkelon reunited!

Coordinators Reunited too !

Noa and Megan

Time for Mini- Gadna training!!!

FUN: Ashkelon's BarCochba Beach

PACT Ashkelon - 3rd Anniversary !

2010-07-08T12:02:00.004+03:00

PACT (Parents And Children Together , a JDC program funded by the ASSOCIATED ) celebrated the end of their 3rd year of activity in Ashkelon. The entrance of Woldenberg Community Center was decorated with Ethiopian art, and an exhibition of seasonings, festive clothing and musical instuments from the Ethiopian culture . Traditional Ethiopian food - Ingira, Dahbu bread, made by the participants, was served. Lots of children came with their parents to join the celebration and to watch a play about the Ethiopian community .

Cry to the World- Gilad Shalit Rally

2010-07-06T10:45:00.013+03:00

Yesterday I took Gily, my youngest daughter , and with some friends we joined the "Cry to the World ". A rally that took place in Park Eshkol , next to Gaza where Gilad Shalit was kidnapped 4 years ago. This was a non-political event and everyone who took part volunteered. Zubin Mehta thanked all those who participated and said "as you all know, free concerts are very expensive...."

Thousands of people gathered in the park. The Isreali Philharmonic Orchestra , conducted by the famous Zubin Metah , Shlomo Artzi , and top Israeli musicians, all volunteered to give a free concert , in hope to convince Hamas to allow the Red Cross to visit Gilad and allow him basic humitarian rights .

Gilad's parents and brother came from Tel Aviv , where they took a short break from their long protest march - from their home in the north to Jerusalem .

After Noam Shalit , Gilad's father, spoke hundreds of yellow balloons were released to the sky with hope that Gilad will be safe and soon released. Everyone sang together with Shlomo Artzi his song that became a symbol of the support with Gilad - "Yten Mize Anahnu Lo Zrichim " - "This is all we need ...."

As we were leaving, everyone prayed in their heart that this actually made a difference.

Noam & Aviva Shalit, captured soldier Gilad Shalit's parents lead the 8 day protest march (photo by Yakov Brener from ynet)

The protest march winds its way through Tel-Aviv (photo from ynet)

BZD - Baltimore Zionist District, in Ashkelon

2010-07-01T11:58:00.006+03:00

BZD youth group are in Ashkelon for 2 nights. They are being hosted by Ashkelon teens for 2 days full of activities. Last night started with a relaxing Tai Chi workshop at sunset on the beach.

When I met the group , 2 hours after they met each other, it was hard to tell who was from Ashkelon and who was a Baltimorian !

Today we met at Michael Lapidus Park Baltimore and the Lynn Stacie Getz Playground, and from there they went to volunteer, together with their hosts, at the Halperin home for the elderly .

Later they will go swimming at the beach and then pack gift packages for kids in the pediatric ward at Barzilay hospital.

BZD in Baltimore Park, Ashkelon

NET@ in Ashkelon

2010-07-01T11:43:00.006+03:00

After years of wandering between different classrooms in different locations NET@ finally has a home base at Beit Vosk Community Center, in Afridar, Ashkelon . This week the new class was officialy dedicated .

The Net@ participants themselves painted the classroom, installed the computers and connected the computer network.

Parents of the Net@ participants, Moshe Yanay - head of Education dept. Avner Maymon - head of the Youth and Sport dept and others attended.

See VIDEO HERE

Morei Derech Delegation Visits Ashkelon

2010-07-01T11:22:00.010+03:00

A delegation of teachers representing the Gesher Chai (Living Bridge) Project between our two communities spent a day in Ashkelon during the "Morei Derech" seminar trip to Israel in June.

The day was organized by our Gesher Chai coordinator, the one and only Marcelo Burdman.

The Baltimore teachers were matched with teachers from their partner schools in Ashkelon. They went to visit the schools and discussed joint projects for the future.

They took part in a seminar about Jewish identity and connections to Israel and then expressed their artistic skills at a mosaic workshop led by Tova Shafran - an artist who also teaches at the Ashkelon School of the Arts.

Before Dinner we all went to visit the Michael Lapidus Baltimore Park and the Lynn Stacie Getz Playground where the delegation saw other mosaic art pieces done by Ashkelon artists and other groups from Baltimore.

Joel and his young "assistants" from the Art School with their mosaic creation.

Claudette and Rita with their masterpiece

Salit from Ashkelon with Flo and Hasia

Tova Shafran (in emerald green shirt, behind) ran the mosaic workshop
More photos of the mosaic workshop HERE

Josh Schwartz's Barmitzvah Project

2010-07-01T10:52:00.020+03:00

Soccer Jerseys for Or Chaim kids soccer team in Ashkelon

Josh Schwartz and his family visited Ashkelon in June. They were eager to meet the Or Chaim Soccer team kids and hand-deliver the jerseys that they designed, as Josh's bar mitzvah project.

The Or Chaim soccer team kids were thrilled to receive the soccer shirts and immediately tried them on. Gavriel, their coach grabbed a soccer ball and the Schwartz kids - Josh, Andrew, Joseph and Allison joined them, trying to score goals!

Or Chaim soccer team with the Schwartz family

MARCELO BURDMAN, our Gesher Hai coordinator organized this program.

Josh Schwartz read a speech he wrote in Hebrew, and shared how excited he was to share his love of soccer with new friends from Ashkelon.

After their visit to the school, the Schwartz family visited the Michael Lapidus Baltimore Park and Lynn Stacie Getz Playground that they helped to build two years ago. They were excited to see how green and colorful the park is now, and they inspected each and every mosaic piece of art in the park.

Taglit in Ashkelon

2010-07-01T10:41:00.000+03:00

Baltimore Yeshiva Boys visit Ashkelon

2010-05-25T11:04:00.005+03:00

Last weekend 16 yeshiva boys from Baltimore, who are currently participating in different programs all over Israel, gathered in Ashkelon for a weekend with the youth of Yeshivat Torat Chaim. They went to the beach, swam in the sea and visited the antiquities in the Ashkelon National Park, spent time in the Michael Lapides Baltimore Park, enjoyed Oneg Shabbat with the Rabbi and his family, and participated in Shabbat activities with yeshiva boys their age over the Shabbat weekend. The highlight was a kumzits & barbecue after Shabbat was over, with the boys of Yeshivat Torat Chaim, singing and dancing until the early hours . We hope to welcome them again in Ashkelon soon!

The Baltimore Yeshiva boys in Baltimore Park

Deputy Mayor's Delegation to Baltimore - April 2010

2010-05-25T10:51:00.013+03:00

Deputy Mayor Shlomo Cohen lead a delegation of Ashkelon committee chairs to Baltimore in April, for partnership meetings. David Wolfson, Meir Bouhnik, Einat Turgeman, and Marcelo Burdeman, joined Shlomo and me on this trip, Shlomo Cohen presented the Mayor of Baltimore Stephanie Rawlings, with a framed commemorative set of stamps

To see more photos from city hall - press HERE

During the visit, Ashkelon delegation members volunteered in the community.

Sigal & Einat met the Baltimore Moms at a Moms' Mission Reunion

Chairman's Mission in Ashkelon for Independence Day

2010-04-21T21:33:00.006+03:00

Mayor Benny Vaknin greets the Chairman's Mission

The Chairman's Mission was in Ashkelon for most of Yom HaAtzmaut.

They toured some of the youth projects in the city and then joined the kids at the Or Shalom Mishpachton (children's home) for a barbecue, where they also met next year's shinshinim:Ronit Pinsky and Dor Trainic.

Later they attended the main independence day ceremony in the city, and the annual award ceremony for youth volunteers.

The day ended with a dinner at the home of deputy Mayor Shlomo Cohen & his wife Yaffa.

Mark Terrill chats with Ronit, Dor & Erez Menashe - Head of the Youth Council

Ronit Pinsky and Dor Trainic -

Our new young emissaries to Baltimore (Shinshinim) 2010-2011

Chag Sameach LaMedina!

2010-04-20T00:47:00.003+03:00

Yom HaAtzmaut Sameach

Happy 62nd Independence Day!

2010-04-20T00:33:00.004+03:00

Today is YOM HAZIKARON (Remembrance Day) for our fallen soldiers.

The siren was heard last night at 20:00 and this morning at 11:00. During the siren, traffic stops, everything stops, and everyone stands in silence to remember and honor our fallen soldiers. Ceremonies are held in military cemeteries, schools and other places all over the country. Everyone is united in remembering the price we pay for our independence. Yom HaZikaron ends when Independence Day celebrations begin.

Ashkelon Diller teens are Home!

2010-03-29T22:35:00.024+03:00

Ashkelon's Diller CSI Teens were in Baltimore just before Passover, to meet their Baltimore partners, learn about The Associated, and volunteer in the community. The visit was one of the highlights of the year-long teen leadership program led in Ashkelon by Noa Nagar-HaLevy and in Baltimore by Leah Berry & Megan Goldsmith. The Ashkelon teens are looking forward to hosting their Baltimore counterparts in Ashkelon this summer. Below, a small taste .....
First stop - Battery Park, New York

Leah, Noa & Megan

Volunteering at Kayam Farm

Diller teens from Baltimore and Ashkelon connect!

Volunteering at Falstaff Elementary

Learning about The ASSOCIATED, with our fabulous Shinshinim, Hadar & Natan

Having fun with the kids who will be on the Family Mission in Dec 2010

Leading a session with Rambam pupils

Lunch with community leaders at THE ASSOCIATED

A day in Washington DC - the only rainy day of the visit.

Volunteering at Carmelo Anthony

A Baltimore tree asks for, and gets, a hug

Signing each other's T-shirts before saying farewell

Host families and teens at final dinner at the Sholk's home

Wishing you a Happy Passover

2010-03-29T20:20:00.003+03:00

Chag Sameach!

Purim Adlouyada

2010-03-01T15:27:00.004+02:00

The Purim parade, due to take place on Sunday, was postponed and held on Monday, to the great delight of the kids of Ashkelon!

The Youth Council led the procession.

Happy Purim everyone.

Chag Sameach!

2010-02-27T20:11:00.001+02:00

2010-02-23T13:52:00.003+02:00

Our Shinshinim, Natan and Hadar , are home for a 2 week visit . Shlomo Cohen , our chair and Ashkelon's Deputy Mayor , met with them to hear first hand their expiriences . Most of all they miss their moms' home cooking and their friends of course.

They had a chance to meet next year new Shinshinim that were just elected - Ronit Pinsky and Dor Treinin. They told me it's not fair that we are already the next generation while they still have 6 more month to go ...

Hadar and Natan, you are doing a great job in Baltimore!

Tu B'Shvat At Dekel School with the "Moms"

2010-02-04T13:09:00.016+02:00

The Ashkelon Baltimore women's forum is matched with a similar group of women in Baltimore. The women from Ashkelon carry out various volunteer projects and this year they decided to "adopt" Dekel school in Shimshon neighborhood.

Vered said: "we wanted to volunteer somewhere where there is a real need and where our help would be appreciated. We don't donate money or raise funds, we donate our time and our skills. We saw the wonderful work being done at Dekel school by the principal Sigal Yashar and her group of highly motivated and dedicated teachers, and we offered our help"

Last week on the Friday morning just before Tu B'shvat, the women took over classes at the school to teach the kids about the role of trees in our lives, and carry out creative activities. The kids enjoyed rolling out clay tiles and decorating them with trees, working to create drawings on aluminium sheets, creating mosaics and flowerpots, and producing animals out of dried fruit.

At the end of the activity Einat said "It was hard to tell who enjoyed the day more. We were amazed at our warm welcome. The kids were very enthusiastic, participated wholeheartedly in all our activities and were so proud of their creations".

At the end of the activity, the headmistress Sigal Yashar thanked the women "Thank you for your help and the wonderful experience enjoyed by the children and the teachers. It is good for the children to be exposed to volunteers who come to help of their own free will. This will help to teach them the value of giving and turn them into people who volunteer and contribute to society."

The Ashkelon women are excited to continue their contact with the kids and teachers at Dekel School.

nicole

Big Brother End of Year Ceremony

2010-02-01T15:03:00.007+02:00

To mark the end of a productive year of volunteering, the Big Brother Program participants held a ceremony this week, to award certificates of appreciation to all the volunteers. Big Brother is a mentoring project operated by the Social services Dept of Ashkelon with the support of the Ashkelon-Baltimore Partnership.

The Big Brother volunteers each "adopted" a child of 6-12 years old. At weekly meetings, the Big Brother volunteers help their charges with homework, play with them, give them much-needed attention and inspiration, listen to their problems. The children receive personal attention, guidance, empowerment and life-skills.

Liat Levi is the coordinator for the program. The Big Brother volunteers receive professional guidance and support, and take part in group learning sessions with their fellow volunteers.

Shlomo Cohen, Deputy Mayor of Ashkelon and Israeli Chairman of the Ashkelon-Baltimore Partnership, said "I am pleased to see that there are so many dedicated volunteers in Ashkelon. Volunteerism in the city is continually expanding. It is clear that the Big Brother volunteers have made a lasting impression on the children they mentored and given them skills and grounding to help them cope with life's challenges "

Meir Bouhnik - Director of Ashkelon Foundation, Shulamit Maimon - Head of Social Services, and Mazal Levi - Head of Community Services also attended the ceremony together with representatives from this year's Big Brother program and last year's program.

Baltimore Birthright-Taglit in Ashkelon

2010-01-15T18:36:00.007+02:00

Birthright (Taglit) Visits Ashkelon: Jan 13th, 2010 Report from Maia Hoffman:

For the first time ever we had two buses full of Birthright students from Baltimore arrive in Ashkelon. Each bus went on a tour of Ashkelon, planned by the eight soldiers from Ashkelon who had accompanied the group from the beginning of their visit to Israel. This was the Ashkelonians opportunity to show their friends from Baltimore “their Ashkelon.”

Ashkelon soldier Dotan Amrani - tour of Ashkelon

After the bus tours everyone met up in the Michael Lapides Baltimore Park and the students were excited to play in the Lyn Stacie Getz Playground.

Taglit visit the Michael Lapides Baltimore Park and Lyn Stacie Getz Playground

After a few words about the Partnership they each got to choose from 5 volunteer activities and they were off….

Some went to the Halperin Senior Home for the Elderly and did one on arts and crafts projects with the seniors. Others went to the Dekel Elementary School, one of the tougher schools in Ashkelon, where they did “outdoor training activities” with the kids, and painted their playground. Others went to the City Farm in the middle of the City, which is used by schools to teach kids about the environment. The students helped get the farm ready for spring by preparing the ground for planting, helping out with the maintenance and joining in some renovation and beautification projects. And finally, some of the students got to help organize and design the Second Hand Store for needy and at risk teens in Ashkelon.

The backstage story of the connection of these Hillel Birthright buses from Goucher, Johns Hopkins, Towson and UMBC is as follows….

The Second Hand Store: The Youth Council in Ashkelon, which is the “executive committee” of AMEN (an Associated supported project) currently engages 5000 teen volunteers in Ashkelon. Before Baltimore started this program with the JDC in Ashkelon 5 years ago, there were only 800 teens volunteering and now Ashkelon is the model city for engaging youth in volunteerism. The Youth Council noticed that teens were getting in fights, getting expelled and being absent from school because their families couldn’t afford to buy them acceptable clothes.

The Youth Council began an initiative to open a store where these teens can come and buy brand new cool clothes and shoes for 1 shekel. "Hands on Tzedakah " (Boca Raton, Florida), Sakal and Lev Ohev helped to renovate and stock the store. The store has engaged and inspired top business people and designers to be a part of the project by donating clothes, shoes, toiletries. Everything costs around a shekel or two, and that the environment in the store is trendy so the kids don’t feel like “welfare cases.” How does it work? Simple… Kids who are under the care of Social Services, come to the store armed with special vouchers that have shekel amounts attached to them. That’s how they to do their shopping so it doesn’t actually cost them money.

Time off for fun, at the Second Hand Store

When Rabbi Jason Klein, the lead professional for the Baltimore Hillel Birthright buses heard about this project he immediately asked what they could bring. The students from Baltimore brought $1,000 worth of tennis shoes with them to Israel and spent another $300 on shoes when they got here. One group went to the store to stock the shoes they brought and lots of other stock that had arrived that week from generous donors, corporations, etc., This was an incredible experience to not only bring the merchandise but also have creative input as to how to present it, and lots of other merchandise in the store.

Unpacking and arranging shoes to be sold at the Second Hand Store

Proud of her shoe-stand display!

At the end of the day everyone met at the Youth Center where some of the students, along with Ashkelon volunteers, had been working hard to make lunch for the 100 plus students!

Lunch at the Ashkelon Youth Center

The response from the community has been overwhelming - that many students at one time spread out over the city of Ashkelon made a difference in the lives of children, students, the needy and the seniors.

The other added bonus to the day was that as the group spent the day in Ashkelon, the families of the Ashkelon soldiers could join in here and there during the day – this gave the Baltimoreans an additional opportunity to connect with the families of the soldiers they had been with for over a week! Two moms even showed up at the Park to greet the group with home-made cake! Just goes to show that Jewish moms are the same everywhere…..

Kol Hakavod to the Hillel Birthright students for what they did to enrich the lives of Ashkelonians, Kol Hakavod to the volunteers – kids, teens and parents throughout the Ashkelon who helped make the day happen! Yeshar Koach!

Warm in Winter

2010-01-09T17:57:00.003+02:00

Sorry to tell those of you in the US who are suffering from freezing winter conditions that here in Ashkelon we are enjoying especially hot winter weather. With temperatures over 26 degrees centigrade, and a similar weather forecast for next week, everyone is out on "tiyulim" or even sunbathing at the beach. The nights are chilly, and we need our duvets, but during the day we are all out in T-shirts and shorts.

Definitely think of planning your next visit to Israel for winter!

Cordish Family Visit to Ashkelon

2010-01-07T13:14:00.008+02:00

On a sunny day in the last week of December, the extended Cordish family visited Ashkelon.

While the adults visited the Municipality to meet Deputy Mayor and Chairman of Ashkelon-Baltimore Partnership, Shlomo Cohen, and receive a briefing on Ashkelon security situation by Alan Marcus, the Cordish kids went to the Ashkelon Teen Center. At the teen center the kids packed gift packages for hospital patients and had fun with Ashkelon teens. The family visited PACT project in Ashkelon and heard about Net@

After lunch at the Marina, the family visited Barzilai Medical Center and handed out the gift packages to the surprised patients.

The Cordish boys pack gift bags for hospital patients, together with Ashkelon teens, at the Teen Center

My BBC Radio Interview

2009-12-28T13:22:00.004+02:00

Yesterday was a year since the Cast Lead operation . I got a call from BBC London radio a few days ago asking me since they have interviewed me a few times during the war , if I agree to be interviewed in a special program on the 27th Dec . I agreed.

It was me in Ashkelon and a Palestinian woman from Gaza. Both of us were interviewed a year ago during the war. They started by broadcasting a short clip from each of us from last year .She talked about the situation now , and I talked about how we in Ashkelon after the war focused on renovations and programs for the kids enabling them and us to go back to normal life.

I did mention though that over 240 missiles and mortar have fallen since the war ended and last Wednesday 2 kassams fell outside Sderot. She then said Israel blockade causes lack of medications in Gaza . I did my homework ,The Israel project had a good summary of last year with numbers of humanitarian aid to Gaza. I said that we allow medications and equipment to go through, but not things that will be used against us. Knowing they bring into Gaza weapons though the tunnels all the time .

When the reporter asked me what I suggest in order to improve the situation , I said , that I think that the Palestinians , like us , should focus on renovating the social structures and facilities and helping the citizens go back to normal , quiet lives.

When they started the interview saying: “ we have Sigal Ariely from Ashkelon and , (I can’t remember her name) from Gaza “ I suddenly realized how important it was …It was a good feeling, I hope I did well…