Just another day of amazing Mitzvah work.

Jori from Adas Israel in the Tomato fields

Arnie showing the USYers the Gaza border from Sderot, only 800 meters away

Odelia Ben Porat, Project director of Reut

USY Group 1 painting and gardening in the mid day sun

I'm writing on Friday just before Shabbat trying to get as much down as possible, because it is so hard to fall behind with the things we are doing.  Thursday 19 July was a packed day with USY.  We went back to the tomato field (but I have a new story to tell) and then we went south to Sderot, just two days after the last 2 rockets fell, to work with the Reut Non-profit, who we have been working with for the last several years.

Group 1, though a bit less involved in USY, was outstanding, as was their staff.  While we were picking tomatoes with Leket there was another group in the field, from Mexico.  They were tossing tomatoes to each other, and not treating the food as if it was not going to be eaten by others.  There is a level of holiness (as I said to the teens later) that is involved in Mitzvah work, and I was extremely proud that our USYers attained it without being prompted and had the proper kavod (respect) for the food and the people that would be eating it, especially if they were beneficiaries of tzedakah.

I find Sderot, and the people who make up Reut amazing.  They literally risk their lives and those of their family members to contribute and improve the lives of their neighbors who don't have a choice in where they live.  They provide after school programming, a clothes closet, food pantry, classes in Judaism and text, clubs and classes for all ages, and great personal sacrifice.  The USYers helped clean up the landscaping around their headquarters and club house and stained a pergula.  It was very hot but the USYers got into their work, never complained and had a great time doing it.

At the end of the day, I took off for parts north to rejoin my Israeli poker game in pardes Hanna.  I've been a "visitor" of this fame for more than 10 years and I really like the guys.  It was worth the 4 hours of travel it took to get there and back (at 2:45 a.m.).

Friday, I mixed pleasure (Mitzvah work) and pleasure (wine tasting).  I starting the morning at Kibbutz Tzuba, where I met with Moti and Meir at Yaakov Maimon volunteers about projects they're working on and to discuss and allocation with them.  Then I met Eiton Green at the winery for a taste of 3 great wines, the 2011 Chardonnay (1/2 unoaked, half only 3 months in oak and then blended together), the 2009 Harmony (Sangivese-Syrah blend) and the Metzuda 2009 blend (Cab, Merlot, Cab Franc).  Each was excellent.  I opened a bottle of the pinot noir later with friends at the Yehuda winery at Shoresh and it just shows that Pinot Noir is not really yet thriving here in Israel.  It did improve over about an hour of time exposed, but still was not a great Pinot.

I spend a fun few hours with Avi Yehuda and the Friday regulars at Shoresh, and we tried a horizontal blind tasting of 3 wines from barrels that were completely different in character that turned out to be from the same vineyard and harvest, but aged in different kinds of barrels (1 new oak, one 4 years old and one former shiraz barrel.  I only guessed right that one was a cabernet sauvignon, but I identified the one from the Shiraz barrel immediately.  I impressed my fellow tasters.

In the afternoon I picked Abby up at the bus station so we could spend shabbat together, and then Alex Simone, a young man now in the army here who used to teach for me at B'nai Tzedek stopped by to say hi and schmooze for a while.  It was a nice surprise.

Alex Simone, former Bnai Tzedek teacher, current defender of Israel

 

Well, I have to finish getting ready for Shabbat.  Saturday night I have a reunion with the "Kerbel Girls" from the Gandel group that visiting Washington 2 years ago, and then Sunday is USY 8 day, followed by USY 3 on Monday.

Shabbat shalom, from Jerusalem, which is starting to cool down.