Einat+Catan

//toc// Ezra,Michal and Volunteering

=**__ Rational __**= When I was told we were doing a project on Israeli Faces, I felt stuck. Who am I to choose an Israeli Face? I went to consult several people on the subject and they all replied the same thing- an Israeli Face is someone who you thinks represents Israel.

I kept asking people and getting the same answer until someone gave me a new answer "do it on something you feel passionate about". I thought about it and realized the only thing I feel passionate about is my branch in Ezra.

After giving it some thought I noticed that even though I have been a participant for over six years and a group leader for almost a year, I know absolutely nothing about Ezra.

I took it a little further and decided to do the project on my friend Michal, since Michal is also a group leader and she has a better insight to what Ezra really is.

I was hoping that by doing this project I will not only get a new aspect on Ezra and being a group leader, but also on being an Israeli in general.

=**__ Profile __**=

Michal Miriam Isenberg was born June 15th 1993. She was born in Jerusalem, Israel and has four older brothers. She lives in Beit Shemesh, Israel while she goes to school in Ulpenat Chorev in Jerusalem. Her after school activities include walking with a friend, and being a group leader (in Hebrew: madricha) in Ezra.

The automatic question that comes up is, what is Ezra? Michal kindly explained that Ezra is a youth group for boys and girls from grades 3-9. It splits up to groups according to grades and gender. Each group meets up on Tuesdays and Shabbats for weekly activities where they discuss the ideals of the youth group Ezra's ideals are "The Jews, in Israel, according to the Torah" and all that comes out of these ideas. These ideals mean that the youth group believes in the Jewish nation living in Israel. It also means they believe in G-d's rules, and that we must follow them. These activities include educational activities equally as much as it includes fun activities for the entertainment of the participants to teach them team work. The basic idea of youth groups like Ezra is to get the teens of the group to go and do things for the country and the society they live in (such as volunteer work).The youth group spreads out in the whole country. Each branch of the youth group is called a sniff.

This brings us to our next point: how Michal fits into the picture. Michal's job in the 'sniff' is to be a group leader. A group leader is the person in charge of a certain age group of boys or girls whom they are in charge of making activities for, but Michal claims it's much more than that: "Being a madricha is a privilege as much as it is a responsibility," Michal tells me. "Being a madricha is just giving these girls things their parents and teachers can't. It's like being a big sister." Michal really goes out and does everything she can for the group she was assigned to for the next two years of her life. "This is a very main part of my life right now, and it's going to be for the next two years. For that reason I want to make the best of it for me as much as for the girls who are participating."

In fact, Michal really is there for these girls no matter what. The girls are all 8th grade girls from Beit Shemesh, and are native English speakers. They each come from a different background but that does not change their connection with Michal. Michal believes being a group leader is more than just the activities and she does indeed help them with whatever they need. Whether it's help with homework or with boy troubles, Michal is always there for them and she is willing to help them no matter what. "I really do love these girls," Michal says. Furthermore, Yaira, the girl who helps Michal with the girls, says: "Michal really does more than needed when it comes to the girls. She will go to any lengths to make sure they get the very best they deserve."

When asked, Michal tells us that she has a very clear goal when it comes to the girls. "My goal as being a group leader is to make these girls be the best they can. I see the potential they have and I want to make sure it's fulfilled. I know they can each be a world-changing person and I want to be able to look back at this time in 20 years when they are all doing great things for the country and say 'I did that'. I think that by accomplishing that I have given the country not just one eager to help teenager such as myself, but twenty teenagers all wanting to make a difference."

Finally, Michal has a message she would like to pass on to all the teens of the world. According to Michal, teens have all the power in the world. Teens can change a situation and they have just enough gut to get it done. She therefore urges all teens to get up and do something. Whether it's to organize a huge donation or just volunteer work at a local soup kitchen, you can make a change in the world and that is what being part of it is all about. =**__ Background research- Youth Groups, Ezra and Beit Shemesh __**= In my interview with Michal I saw that Michal volunteer at the youth group named Ezra. I decided to do some research to see what this Ezra is and what a youth group is in general.

According to Wikipedia a youth group is an organization in which the youth of the area meets in a friendly and educational framework, which creates an expression to their unique teenage culture. The work in these groups' falls under the category of informal education. The different structures revolve around the participant's* world through individual forms of culture, ideology and so forth. With these things the participant forms his identity, as part of the youth group's identity. (Youth Groups, 1)

These youth groups are usually started with a social crisis. The youth group began after a realizing the youth's ability to fix the crises. For example: Ezra, the youth group to which Michal belongs to, was started in 1919 in Germany by a few Jewish, mitzvah keeping, students, that were brought up according to Rabbi Shimon Raphael Hirsh's philosophy of "Torah with Derch Erez"( Derech Eretz- moral acting). This system showed everyone combining every aspect of their life with Torah and Judaism. These students realized that to educate people according to this system, they needed an informal way of education. It had to use their free time so as to make up for the formal education so as to get the youth to move from their routine Orthodox Judaism to real and pure belief in G-d, to bring the Torah into every aspect of their lives and to get them to make Aliya and move to Israel.

Another aspect of youth groups is their names. Their names usually represent who they are and one or more of their ideologies. We will again give the example of Ezra, which inherited its name from Ezra Hasopher, a man who had a whole book in the bible dedicated to his works, and to his attempt to get all the Jews from biblical Babel to move to Israel. This shows one of the main ideas in Ezra – all Jews living in Israel.

A youth group is made up of many people, most of which are participants, who are divided into groups (usually according to age and in the religious ones also according to gender), and each group has one group leader or more. The group leader **is usually a teenager from the older grades and in some cases even an adult. Each place has its own group and each one is called a branch.

At the activities of the youth group the participants all wear a similar uniform (or as Michal says are //expected// to. Whether or not they do she says is a different story.). In Ezra, the uniform for participants is to come with a black/blue bottom and a white shirt. The group leaders on the other hand are expected to wear the white shirt with the youth group's symbol on it along with a black/blue bottom. This represents the colors of Israel and the way the country is important in every aspect of our lives.

Each youth group has a symbol, an anthem and a main ideal. In Ezra they are very specific. The symbol is a star of David symbolizing Israel, it is connected to the circle by 12 lines that symbolize the twelve tribes, and finally has inside the star a picture of the Tablets of stone which symbolize the torah. Together they form the Ezra ideal "the Jewish people, in Israel, living according to the Torah." That is also the reasons three of the triangles are colored. They represent the triangle that symbolizes that the Jewish people, Israel and the Torah are all connected.

Now that we understand what a youth group is, we can delve more into depth about Ezra. In Ezra, the weekly activities are on Tuesday and Shabbat as it is a religious youth group. The groups are from grades 3-9 and from 10th you can become a group leader. The groups are divided according to ages and gender. Ezra's philosophy is that boys and girls should be in the same sniff, in the same faculty and in the same surroundings but their activities should be separate. In the youth group each group has two group leaders of the same gender as the participants who are responsible for the participants and prepare and activate the activities throughout the week.

In addition to the usual during the week activities, Ezra does some special all country things throughout the year; a trip right after Sukkot, a trip during Tu Bishvat (in which you plant a tree), a two day trip right before Pesach and during the summer a sleep away program that differs according to age. These things are the extra things to give to the participants to develop team work skills and just to have fun.

It is acceptable that since no one wants the activities to be done outside each branch gets a building in which they have one room as a shul for Shabbat, one room as a meeting room for the faculty of the branch, and in the really fancy places they also have a room for each group.

On the other hand, Ezra Beit Shemsh is different. Due to some trouble with the city council, Ezra Beit Shemsh is a homeless branch. They do their activities outside, around a single lamppost in order to get light. That is their branch. They do their activities right near the shul so they can daven with them during Shabbat. When it occasionally rains, in the sunny city, they get a key for the hall in the shul and do the activities in there. (When asked why they don't use the shul's hall all year long Michal says "because they just don't let us").

What Ezra does is urges the youth to go out, volunteer and make Israel a better country. We see that thanks to Ezra there is a lot of volunteer work in places like soup kitchens, poverty areas, old age homes and more. In Beit Shemesh they too have their way of helping. For one, they help a big portion of the new olim from the U.S who moved to Beit Shemesh. Another thing they do is go and volunteer as a group, for instance the 7th grade group in Ezra Beit Shemsh went to Hadassah hospital right before Purim to make sure they have a happy holiday too. This is one of the many examples of things Ezra does for the community.

A big portion of the credit goes to the group leaders: They are the ones responsible for what's going on. Other than just getting kids to use their time in volunteering they get the kids thinking and make them understand the importance of Israel and the need to help it. These 10th to 12th grade teenagers basically raise the next generation to be good people.

In this light I think it is safe to say that being a group leader is a great contribution to the society. It gives a lot and helps many people. By being a group leader you are being a real Israeli Face. _ Group leader – a group leader is a teenager who comes to the youth group to give the activities as a volunteer.
 * Participant – a participant is a child/teenager who comes to the youth group to participate in the activities.**

=**__Litarery Conection__**=

[|הדג נחש ואהובה עוזרי] __ מילים __ : דוד גרוסמן __ לחן __ : שאנן סטריט, גיא מרגלית, אמיר בן עמי, משה אסרף, דוד קלמס, יאיא כהן אהרונוב ושלומי אלון
 * __ שירת הסטיקר __**

דור שלם דורש שלום תנו לצה"ל לנצח עם חזק עושה שלום תנו לצה"ל לכסח אין שלום עם ערבים אל תתנו להם רובים קרבי זה הכי אחי גיוס לכולם, פטור לכולם אין שום ייאוש בעולם יה יש"ע זה כאן נ נחמן מאומן no fearמשיח בעיר אין ערבים אין פיגועים בג"ץ מסכן יהודים העם עם הגולן העם עם הטרנספר טסט בירכא חבר, אתה חסר הקדוש ברוך הוא אנחנו בוחרים בך בחירה ישירה זה רע הקדוש ברוך הוא אנחנו קנאים לך ימותו הקנאים

כמה רוע (כמה רוע רוע( אפשר לבלוע (אפשר לבלוע לוע) אבא תרחם אבא תרחם קוראים לי נחמן ואני מגמ מגמגם כמה רוע (כמה רוע רוע( אפשר לבלוע (אפשר לבלוע לוע( אבא תרחם אבא תרחם ברוך השם אני נושם ולכן...

מדינת הלכה - הלכה המדינה מי שנולד הרוויח יחי המלך המשיח יש לי בטחון בשלום של שרון חברון מאז ולתמיד ומי שלא נולד הפסיד חברון אבות שלום טרנספר כהנא צדק cnnמשקר צריך מנהיג חזק סחתין על השלום תודה על הביטחון אין לנו ילדים למלחמות מיותרות השמאל עוזר לערבים בגין טוב ליהודים פושעי אוסלו לדין אנחנו כאן הם שם אחים לא מפקירים עקירת ישובים מפלגת את העם מוות לבוגדים תנו לחיות לחיות מוות לערכים

כמה רוע (כמה רוע רוע( אפשר לבלוע (אפשר לבלוע לוע) אבא תרחם אבא תרחם קוראים לי נחמן ואני מגמ מגמגם כמה רוע (כמה רוע רוע( אפשר לבלוע (אפשר לבלוע לוע) אבא תרחם אבא תרחם ברוך השם אני נושם ולכן...

כמה רוע (כמה רוע רוע( אפשר לבלוע (אפשר לבלוע לוע) אבא תרחם אבא תרחם קוראים לי נחמן ואני מגמ מגמגם כמה רוע (כמה רוע רוע) אפשר לבלוע (אפשר לבלוע לוע) אבא תרחם אבא תרחם ברוך השם אני נושם ולכן...

לחסל, להרוג, לגרש, להטעות להדביר, להסגיר, עונש מוות, no fear להשמיד, להכחיד, למגר, לבער הכל בגללך, חבר

A full generation wants peace Let the army win A strong country makes peace Let the army beat them There's no peace with Arabs Don't give them guns Combat units are the best, brother Induction (to military service) to everyone, exempt to everyone There's no despair in the world Salvation is here Na Nachman Meoman No fear, mashiach is in town No Arabs means no terrorist attacks Bagatz agreement is dangerous for Jews The nation is with the Golan The nation is with the transfer Test bircha (Yiddish) You're missing my friend G-d almighty we pick you A direct decision is bad G-d almighty to you we are impassioned by you Die extremists

How much evil (evil, evil) Can you survive (vive, vive) Dad have pity, Dad have pity My name is Nachman and I stut, stutter How much evil (evil, evil) Can you survive (vive, vive) Dad have pity, Dad have pity Thank G-d I can breathe and so-

A country according to the Jewish law- there goes the country Whoever was born gained Go Masaya king I believe in Sharon's peace Chevron forever Whoever wasn't born lost Chevron of our fathers Hello transfer Kahana was right Cnn lies We need a strong leader Good job with the peace, thanks for the safety We don't have kids for useless wars The left helps the Arabs Begin's good for the Jews Oslo criminals should be put to justice We're here they're there Brothers don't abandon Breaking apart settlement rips the nation apart Death to the traitors Let the animals live Death to the ideals

How much evil (evil, evil) Can you survive (vive, vive) Dad have pity, Dad have pity My name is Nachman and I stut, stutter How much evil (evil, evil) Can you survive (vive, vive) Dad have pity, Dad have pity Thank G-d I can breathe and so-

How much evil (evil, evil) Can you survive (vive, vive) Dad have pity, Dad have pity My name is Nachman and I stut, stutter How much evil (evil, evil) Can you survive (vive, vive) Dad have pity, Dad have pity Thank G-d I can breathe and so-

Destroy, kill, evacuate, deceive To glue, to hand over, death penalty, no fear Eliminate, eradicate, over through, exterminate It's all because of you, bro. This song is called the bumper sticker song for a very obvious reason: it is compassed of a bunch of bumper stickers put to rap music. The song is basically all the different bumper stickers you will see while driving in Israel. This song is all about the differences we have in the society. The artist has made sure the comparison would be very clear by putting two opposite "bumper stickers" one right after the other. For example: "the nation is with the Golan*, the nation is with the transfer**" he is trying to show the very different opinions there are in the country.**

In the light of that we see that the song is just one big political statement. Every line states another political statement which is known in the country. This shows something I feel is very beautiful about Israel. You can think whatever you want to think and no one will think the better of it.

Another point is the different opinions. An outsider can look at this song and think, 'how can people with such different opinions all live together?' This is something that is very remarkable about this country- everyone has a place no matter what your opinion is. A person who thinks that fighting the Arabs and being in the army is the most important thing in the world can talk and be friends with a person who believes that only peace will help. I have witnessed it myself.

Then again I might just be an innocent little girl who doesn’t really know much and by the fact that they put the different opinions together they were giving criticism about the country I love. They might have meant to say to their listeners 'look- these saying, they can all be in the same song and work it out. If the words can do it why can't the people who say them accomplish this task?'

The point still is the fact that there are many different kinds of people in Israel and we do all live here together because in the end "it's all because of you, bro"- we depend on each other and it all comes back to the fact that were all brothers. So no matter what your opinion is, and however different it is than the person sitting next to you, you still love them because that’s what family is all about. the transfer- this is referring to the resettling of some settlement in order to give the evacuated space to other people.
 * Golan- a settlement in Israel. The government is in debate weather or not to have the people of the settlement resettle elsewhere.

=**__ Creative Section __**= For my creative part I decided to take Michal's message to the world and show it. Michal message is "Teen have all the power". I decided to show a good way in which teens use that power. In this project you will see six different pictures of Israeli teenagers volunteering and given back to society. Each picture represents a different aspect of helping: whether it's giving food to needy people or helping kids who just don't fit in, these teenagers are out to help. These programs are just examples of how teenagers can contribute from themselves and give to others (which is what Michal does as a group leader). Each picture has a short explanation of what program it represents. In the center of the page a put a section of an article written by Susan M. Heim about teenage volunteering which I think sums up Michal message. I just wanted to prove that was Michal said is not only true, but possible to put into action. (because this is a wiki, the pictures do not show up. To view them go to the site that is underneath the paragraph.)

"When teenagers learn to serve others, they become empowered. They grow up knowing that they can make a difference in the world. Just imagine what this kind of attitude can accomplish when our adolescents are soon the leaders of society! Making the world a better place starts by showing our kids how they can be part of impacting the future through volunteering. " (Heim,S) This is an example of a group of teenagers who are have just finished a course in first aid and are now going to start volunteering in ambulances on a weekly basis. [] This is a group of sherot leomi girls. Sherot leomi is a program that offers girls that don't want/can't go to the army an option to donate to the country in a different way. Sherot leomi can branch out from working at a homeless hselter with kids, to helping in a soup kitchen, to working in places such as Yad Vashem (that survive on volunteers) these girls comit to a project for a year in which they contribute back to society. The shocking thing is that these girls are only 18 years old. [] This is another program that is very fond of the teenage volunteers. This program sends volunteers to catering halls and such where they collect the left over food which otherwise would have been thrown out and distribute it amongst families that can't afford to buy their own food. [|[[http://tabletotable.org.ilThis|http://tabletotable.org.il]]]

This program is a summer camp in which the girls (ages 12-15) instead of just having fun in their summer spend their morning volunteering either at a children's camp that doesn’t have consolers (since the kids can't afford it) or at old age homes. In the evening the girls have fun activities that make it a summer camp. (Note: the consolers in the summer camp are volunteers too and all the money that the camp receives goes to cover up the costs for the camp and the rest goes to charity.) []

This is a picture of an organization named "Kav Lachayim" this organization is a program in which teen volunteer to help kids with physical problems such as down syndrome or to help kids with other sicknesses such as cancer enjoy there last months of life. This picture shows the end of a camp the volunteers ran during Chanukah in which hey took the kids away for four days for a fun camp experience (which hey can't experience otherwise because of their situation). This is the end of camp ceremony when the kids got to be reunited with their parents at the Kotel. This picture is of the kids and the volunteers. [] This picture shows the people of Camp Koby. Camp Koby is a camp for children of families who got injured/badly affected by terrorism in Israel. As counselors for the camp they have teen volunteers from all over the country. []

=**__ Reflection __**= In this project I learnt many things: I learnt about Ezra as a general youth group- which was one of my expectations from the project; I learnt about my branch in particular; I learnt about what being an Israeli Face really is.

Other than just learning things I also had fun. It was quite enjoyable to interview my friend and hear her opinions on our branch, Ezra, and life as a general thing.

Furthermore the research wasn't as hard as I expected it to be either. The information wasn't too hard to find, and it went by quicker than I hoped.

While all that has been written above is true, my favorite part was the creative section. In this section I got to show different volunteer organizations. Not only was reading and writing about them fascinating but it was also inspiring to know that kids //my age// are going out and changing the world almost every day.

All in all I think that even though I complained non-stop about this project, it was fun and worth my while.

= **__ Bibliography __** =  __ Articles __


 * Ezra Youth Group. __Ezra Youth Group.__ 2007. 22 Mar. 2009 .
 * Ezra Youth Group. __Wikipedia.__ 17 May 2009. 22 Mar. 2009 .
 * Grossman, David. __Mp3 Music.__ 2007. 5 Apr. 2009 .
 * Heim, Susan M. __About.com:teens.__ 2009. 13 May 2009 .
 * Isenberg, Michal M. Personal interview. 4 Jan. 2009.
 * Youth Groups. __Wikipedia.__ 15 May 2009. 22 Mar. 2009 .