Day 7

We bonded with our Haifa partners through ice breakers,
guided meditation, art projects, singing and dancing.

Connecting with Simha (שִׂמְחָה)/Joy
By Linna Ettinger

Not only were we totally outnumbered, but we were also overwhelmed by the love, joy, and camaraderie of our Haifa partners who welcomed us with open arms, hugs, kisses, food, music, laughter, and dancing.   We communicated with English and Hebrew, sometimes sign language and sometimes with the assistance of a nearby friend with better translation skills.

The previous six days of our Israel exploration gave us background knowledge about Ben Gurion's vision of a Jewish sovereign state,  a feeling about the spirit of innovation of Israelis through examples of entrepreneurship (Netafim Drip Irrigation and the Desert Daughter Bedouin Cosmetic Entrepreneur), a sense of the relationship between the land of Israel to Jewish identity, and an intellectual understanding of the complexity of the cultural and socio-economic diversity within Israel. But nothing could prepare us for the tidal wave of welcoming warmth and joy similar to a huge family reunion that would embrace us and invigorate us for the rest of our time learning together in Israel.

Calling our program the Boston-Haifa Early Childhood Educators' Connection is woefully understating the enduring quality of our relationship with our Haifa partners. Our connections are genuinely animated by shared life-long commitment to and love of early childhood engagement in the Jewish community both in Haifa and in Boston. I am deeply grateful to CJP and the Haifa Municipality for their generosity to make the Boston-Haifa Early Childhood Educators' Connection a reality. Now we have two dozen sisters in Haifa to learn with and learn from. What a gift.

Our guide Hanita, who is also one of our Haifa educator partners,
explained the history of the German Colony and the Wadi in Haifa.  

Some of our Haifa partners joined us for the day of professional development.

We learned about how the German Colony was situated near the Haifa Port, and gradually the Jewish community moved into neighborhoods higher up Mount Carmel. As the Jewish community moved away from the port neighborhood, the Arab community moved into the areas closer to the port.

Baklava and other sweets for sale in the Arab neighborhood.
In Haifa, the Arabs, Christians, Bahai and Jews live together.

Art decorates the Haifa market.

Joined by some of our Haifa partners, we visited the "Parents at the Center" center in Kiryat Eliezer. "Parents at the Center" is a Boston-Haifa program designed to be provide guidance, community and support to struggling families (mostly Russian, Arab and Ethiopian).

Galit shows us an example of a Welcome Baby basket that is given to families with newborns.
For more information about Parents at the Center, visit
https://www.cjp.org/our-work/israel-overseas/the-boston-haifa-connection/our-programs/parents-at-the-center

The "Lilac Center" is a parent resource center located in the Neve Paz Ethiopian neighborhood of Haifa.  While children come to play, parents participate in workshops to learn how best to interact with their children and also form social connections with one another. 

This indoor gym is well-padded in whimsically painted exercise mats. Some of our Haifa partners joined us as we observed how tennis lessons and other gross motor activities can take place in this limited space.

Diversity is reflected in the toys, more accurately representing the demographics of the children playing here.