Reading aloud

March 20, 2012 - 11:10 PM by Jessica · 1 Comment
Filed under: General

I had a parent first yesterday, reading aloud at the JELLY story hour at the Baka Matnas, our version of the community center, albeit on a much smaller scale. Hosted by JELLY, which is sponsored by AACI (Americans and Canadians in Israel), it’s a really wonderful 45 minutes (is it only half an hour?) each week, in which our JELLY host, Deborah, reads from a selection of English language storybooks or has one of the parents bring in their favorites. Deborah is my favorite reader, because she has an ease and comfort with reading aloud that can’t be assumed, as I learned when I did it myself.

There’s a range of English speakers who come, some are Americans, others are Canadians, Brits or Aussies — I’m sure there’s been the occasional South African over the years as well. It’s wonderful to hear old favorites and ones that are new to us; as my boys have grown, I find they can sit and listen for the entire half hour, although it is true that a bag of apples or pretzels helps. Yesterday we brought some of our/my faves; Make Way for Ducklings, Caps for Sale, Harold’s Purple Crayon, Leo Lionni’s Let’s Make Rabbits, and while most were familiar to many, it was great to introduce these more American selections to my English friends, just as they’ve done for me.

I love the concept of introducing my kids to the pleasures of reading and stories, although there have been some changes at this particular story hour that have affected the overall program. While there is a library at the matnas, and story hour was always held in the children’s section of the library, we were kicked out this year and sent to one of the gan rooms downstairs. Now there is something easy about being in a gan room, with the small chairs and rug remnants that are perfect for copping a story hour squat. But it does mean that we have to schlep upstairs afterwards to exchange and find new books, and make sure that our kids don’t make too much noise, which is why we were all kicked out in the first place. There are two somewhat onerous librarians, one in particular, and they glare and yell if children so much as ask a question in a regular tone, which is to be expected from young children.

It saddens me, because I have such wonderful memories of the librarians of my childhood, back in Malverne, New York. But I’m not giving up yet, and it’s never a bad thing to insist on ‘indoor voices’ with toddlers, whether they’re hearing a story or picking out books for the week. Join us next time you’re in Baka on a Monday afternoon.

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Tags: aaci, Caps for Sale, Harold's Purple Crayon, JELLY, library, Make Way for Ducklings, story hour

Obama’s inauguration enraptures Israelis

January 21, 2009 - 6:08 PM by Harry · 1 Comment
Filed under: A New Reality, General, History and Culture, Immigrant Moments, Israeliness, Politics, War

Obama-themed celebrations With the Gaza ceasefire apparently taking hold, Israelis have been happy to have something new upon which to fixate our attentions in the news. Something hopeful. US President Barack Obama’s inauguration yesterday and the festivities surrounding it this whole week have kept Israelis enraptured.

The one exception to this trend might be American immigrants to Israel, who tend to be a Republican-leaning crowd, often because of the popular perception that the American Right is more friendly to Israel than the Left. This perception might or might not be true, but Americans living in Israel are certainly wary of Obama’s alleged lack of Zionism.

So despite citing nightlife-themed parties surrounding the inauguration which took place in Tel Aviv as well as Jerusalem, a Haaretz piece from earlier this week points out that mainstream American organizations were shying away from the event:

Neither the Association of Americans and Canadians in Israel nor the American Israeli Action Coalition – two non-partisan groups – have planned any special activities to mark the swearing-in of the new president. A spokesman for Israelis for Obama, a small group that was formed before the elections and operated mainly online, told Haaretz the group had dissolved after completing it’s only goal of seeing Obama elected.

But even though George Bush is considered by the people here to have been a great friend to the country, most Israelis are optimistic about new blood inhabiting the White House. The Associated Press even hints at some more literal connections between the Israeli appetite for inauguration news coverage and the Gaza ceasefire:

Obama’s inauguration became the lead story in Israeli media, which had been dominated by coverage of the Gaza offensive that began with a massive air bombardment on Dec. 27.

The front page of Yediot Ahronot, Israel’s biggest daily newspaper, featured the smiling Obama and his wife over an English headline: “Good luck.”

Seemingly timing its withdrawal to Tuesday’s inauguration, Israel had already pulled most of its troops out of the ravaged Gaza Strip after a deadly three-week offensive aimed at halting years of militant rocket fire. But the crisis is not over, with reports of shooting along the Israel-Gaza border, and with Israeli soldiers poised to resume the assault if Gaza militants break a fragile cease-fire.

Maybe it’s simply a matter of the incoming president’s rock star-like status, but Obama buzz is not relegated to Democrats – even when it comes to Americans living here. Summing up the feelings at last night’s parties, today Haaretz quotes a young reveler named Guy Simen:

“Even people who did not support Obama are excited, because they know the whole world is watching this event – and they feel close to home. They know that now we’ve elected a man who is supposed to change the world and many people are proud to be Americans.”

Image courtesy lostintransitzine from Flickr under a Creative Commons license.

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