Canadian couple give new olim Rosh Hashana to remember

by Jenny Hazan

CJN Israel Bureau

SAFED, Israel — When the Tzahal Absorption Center in Safed suffered a direct hit from a Katyusha rocket fired by Hezbollah on July 13 – one of a barrage of rockets to fall near the centre – about 400 new immigrants from Ethiopia had already been moved to bomb shelters across Israel’s north.

Some were separated from their children for the first time, opting to let them go to southern cities for safety. Prior to their arrival in Safed, most of the new immigrants had spent five to seven years in Jewish Agency-run refugee camps, waiting for their flight to Israel. For most, the Tzahal Absorption Center – the largest of three in Safed, built for families of seven members or more – became their first home in Israel just weeks before the outbreak of the war in Lebanon.

When Jay and Amy Papernick, a recently married young couple from Thornhill, Ont., heard the story of these new immigrants to Israel, they wanted to do something to help the Ethiopian families who returned to the centre after the conflict ended.

“Here they are, totally new to Israel. Most of them speak very little Hebrew, if any. They have come from a very difficult situation to begin with. Then they finally get here, and suddenly they are thrown right into a war,” says Jay, a financial advisor with Assante Capital Management in Toronto. “This is no way for them to start their new lives, let alone the New Year, in Israel.”

Originally, Jay says, the absorption centre intended to organize a big Rosh Hashanah gathering for the newcomers, all Falash Mora, but because of the war, it had to redirect the celebration budget to fix the damage to the building and feed and care for those who had been relocated during the war.

“After everything they had been through, we thought the least we could do was to give them a great Rosh Hashanah meal for their first Rosh Hashanah in Israel,” Jay says.

By the time the couple got the go-ahead from United Israel Appeal (UIA), which agreed to organize the catering of the event from Israel and give them $5,000 (Cdn) of the $15,000 needed for the project, the Papernicks had only three days to raise $10,000. Jay sent out an e-mail to all of their friends and family in Toronto, asking for donations.

“The response was unbelievable,” Jay says. “By the time the deadline came around, we had raised $16,000 [from] random friends, family members and co-workers. We told UIA to keep their money for another cause.”

A few days later, the Papernicks were on a plane to Israel on a trip they paid for themselves. “It meant a lot to us to see the project through, in person,” says Amy, a Grade 2 teacher at Bialik Hebrew Day School in Toronto. “We wanted to be there to connect with the people rather than just give a dinner donated by anonymous people in Canada.”

Amy also got the school’s Grade 2 and 3 students to make Rosh Hashanah cards in Hebrew and little gifts for the children at the absorption centre. In addition, the Papernicks brought bags of candy, chocolates and New Year’s care packages for each family, as well as Canadian flags and pencils.

The personal touch went a long way, Amy says. “The manager of the absorption centre [Yonatan Freedman] kept saying how nice it was that we were actually there to give the gift, because it was much more memorable for them.

“I really enjoyed that part of it,” she adds. “We were able to connect with them on a personal level, and I think our presence made their memory of the event that much stronger. I feel that small projects like this make a big difference in people’s lives.”

In the end, more than 400 people came to the dinner in the ballroom at the Merkaz Hotel in Safed, a lavish dinner that included both Ashkenazi and Sephardi dishes.

“We wanted them to experience a traditional Rosh Hashanah meal,” Jay says, adding that the dinner also served as good practice for some of the immigrants who were not used to western skills like using utensils. “The best part of it was the look of enjoyment on their faces. You could tell that they were relieved to not to have to cook and to have something so nice done for them.”

To show their appreciation for the event, some of the children performed a short play about Rosh Hashanah. Another child read aloud a poem he wrote about the holiday and the community leader gave a speech to thank the Papernicks.

This was the highlight of the event for Amy. “He got up and did this whole, big speech about how they had never had something so nice, and that it was so great for them to be together for the holiday,” she says. “It was beautiful. It felt really good to know that we created [this] experience for them.”

The event was also a great learning experience for the Papernicks. “We learned a lot about their culture and how different it is for them to come here,” Amy says. “It was really neat to be a part of their culture while they are learning to be a part of ours.”

Freedman says that when they first arrive at the centre, most new immigrants from Ethiopia have never seen electric lights, used a toilet or lived in an apartment. When they first come, families of nine or 10 people assume that they are meant to occupy only the living room section of the apartment and other families will occupy the other rooms.

Freedman also says that moving to Israel is especially challenging for the men, who, for the most part, were farmers in Ethiopia and have no skills to bring to their new urban world. The children learn Hebrew quickly and adjust easily to school, the women cook and clean and are able to work in the community, but the men go from being the king of their family to becoming the least useful player in their new life. Depression is common among them.

As for their Judaism, their religious observance has not changed since the destruction of the Second Temple. “When they come to Israel, they have to learn the entire second half of Judaism,” Jay says, adding that the most interesting aspect of the cultural exchange was hearing the Ethiopians pray in Hebrew.

“They are so totally different from us in so many ways, but in other ways, their observance is exactly like ours.”

By far the biggest thing Canadian Jews and Ethiopian Jews have in common, Jay says, is Zionism. “Having lived through the war [with Hezbollah], all the youth we spoke to said that the only thing that they want to do is join the army. They couldn’t be more appreciative of Israel.”

This is one lesson Amy intends to bring back to her students. “I am excited to bring this whole experience back to Bialik and use it as a teaching opportunity for all grades,” she says. She has taken lots of photos and video footage of their new friends at the absorption centre.

The Ethiopian children were so touched by the cards the students made them that Amy is going to launch a pen-pal program between them and the Bialik students. “We do so much tikkun olam, but we never see the end result of it,” she says. “Now that I can bring back the end result and show the students at Bialik what tikkun olam can do, I think it will do wonders for the program.”

Jay says there is still a lot to be done. “It felt a little disheartening that it was just one little thing that we did, and these people are still struggling and could really use more help.”

He hopes the initiative marks the beginning of a lasting relationship between the Jews of Toronto and the new immigrants at the Tzahal Absorption Center.

“Until we got there, most of these Ethiopians didn’t know where Canada was,” he says. “Now they do, and now they know there are Jews in Canada who care about them and who are concerned about their future. Being a part of that felt really good.”