Temima's+I-Face+Project

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=Ari Greenspan=



=Rationale=

My goal in this project is to gain a better understanding of the way tradition is passed on and impacts on the Jewish people.

The subject of my project is Dr. Ari Greenspan, a resident of Efrat. In addition to being a successful dentist, he is also a Mohel, a Shochet (ritual slaughterer), and involved in creating Judaica. He has spent the past twenty years researching Jewish Traditions that were on the verge of being forgotten as well as Laws and Customs that have been passed down from generation to generation for thousands of years. Some of these traditions include re-establishment of "Tekhelet", the blue dyes used on the fringes of "Tzitzit", and keeping alive the "Masoret" (tradition) of unusual kosher animals that are rarely eaten in the Jewish community.

Being that Dr. Greenspan is also my uncle, I've had a chance to see first hand how his projects developed. This experience really makes me realize how important traditions are, and how one person can influence many lives.

I hope that I'll be able to spread the values and the importance of the Jewish tradition through this project!

=Profile= Ari Greenspan was born in 1963 in Fort Knox, Kentucky. At the time, his father, Rabbi Alan Greenspan was a chaplain in the American army with a rank of Captain. Ari spent his childhood moving to and from different army bases. “It was very exciting growing up as a young child on army bases, I enjoyed being exposed to different places, people and many different customs. Because it was the only thing I knew, it wasn’t hard, I was used to it. Thinking back it must have been hard to move from place to place, different communities, friends and so on,” said Ari. By high school Ari had lived in Kentucky, Georgia, Panama, New Jersey and New York. Ari attended Yeshiva University High School where he began to develop his leadership skills.

During his high school years he was involved in Jewish outreach through NCSY and Torah Seminar. “My seventh and eight grade teacher was a Rabbi Winkler. He was very cool and inspiring. I didn’t know many religious Jews and he taught me that you can be a cool, down to earth and a religious person at the same time. Rabbi Winkler had a youth group in his school that inspired me very much”, said Ari about people who inspired him as a young boy. When Ari was in high school he lived on an army base in Fort Dix, New Jersey. During the course of those years his father experienced an inner ear disorder that caused him to get dizzy and off balanced. As a result Ari was often called upon to take over some of the Jewish services. He led services and often gave the weekly sermon. As a result of those early experiences Ari realized that he wanted to be involved in the Jewish community.

After high school Ari came to study in Israel for a year. He supplemented his Torah learning in classes outside of the Yeshiva, by learning about //Shechita// (Jewish ritual slaughter) and how to be a //Sofer Stam// (a scribe). After his year in Israel Ari learned in Yeshiva University in New York City. Following his two years of university Ari married his wife, Shari and then moved to Teaneck, New Jersey. Dental school kept Ari busy for the next four years. Throughout those years he made some extra money by writing “decorative marriage contracts” (ketubot) and by doing calligraphy art work. He also began his hobby of designing stained glass windows. Early in their marriage, Ari traveled with Shari to Russia in order to help the Jews who at the time weren’t allowed to express their Jewish identity in public. He taught them the Jewish laws and customs. In additon he went with a friend, Ari Zivotovsky to Ethiopia (Zivotovsky became Aris’ business partner in later years). They visited the Jews in the villages and had an opportunity to learn about their customs.

In 1987 Ari made Aliya with his wife Shari and first daughter Etana. They came to Efrat where they extended their family with two more daughters, Noa and Yael. In Israel, he successfully opened a dental practice. Once his practice was established he had time to further develop some of the projects and hobbies that he had started in America.

Twenty years later Ari is known in Israel and in the Jewish communities around the world as a man of many talents – even referred to as a “Renaissance Man”. Ari is involved in many projects that include dentistry, artwork that includes working with metal, glass, and wood. Ari is also a magician, a scribe, Shaatnez checker, Mohel, Matzah baker and researcher and a founding member of Amutat Ptil Tekhelet.

Ari got involved in the re-discovering of Tekhelet – the blue dye used during ancient times especially in the Jewish Temple. Given the fact the Ari is an experienced scuba diver – he was interesting in getting involved when he heard that a group of scientists were trying to identify and find the snail from which Tekhelet is made. Ari and a friend went diving and managed to find the Tekhelet snails. It took them around four years to figure out how to do the dyeing. From the beginning of the process until the opening of their factory took around seven years of legwork. The process of making Tekhelet involves the following steps: Collecting the snails, cracking them open, extracting the dye, mixing the dye together with chemicals, exposing it to sunlight, putting the dye together with wool, and spinning into a string. At the beginning of this project many people were skeptical as they claimed that you can’t suddenly decide something like this, once the tradition has been forgotten you can’t reestablish it. Once people saw that there was a tremendous amount of research that supported the actual Tekhelet project they were much more supportive, but there are still people that oppose it today.

Another one of Aris’ interests is to help keep the Jewish traditions alive and make sure that they don’t disappear. At the moment Ari is focused on Kosher animals. There are a lot of Kosher animals that are on the verge of being forgotten and Ari is trying to save this knowledge of these traditional animals before they disappear from the Jewish world. Ari has held three “Halachic dinners” (in Jerusalem, New York and Los Angeles), where he taught the participants about various animals, their history and halachic categories. At the dinners exotic animals were served that included: Pheasants, Sparrows, Swordfish, Buffalo, Pigeons, Grasshoppers, Guineas, Quails, and Partridges. “It has been tremendous. People loved it. It’s very clear that the Masoret (Tradition) is dying and has to be saved. They now acknowledge that it’s part of the real Masoret” said Ari at the dinners.

The history of Matza baking is another interest of Ari’s. He has a factory in his house and every Passover Ari runs Matza baking for his community. He is also in the process of writing a book about the different kinds of matzot and various customs related to Matzah throughout the world.

Ari’s interests find him traveling the world. He has been to many places: Tunisia-to see how they bake Matzah. Italy, Marroco to see how Etrogrim (the citrus fruit used on the Holiday of Sukkot) grow. Spain and Greece to research Tekhelet. Ethiopia – to learn about The Lost Tribes. Russia to give support to the Jews who had the time weren’t permitted to emigrate. Portugal to see the Marranos.He even happened to be there when the community had just discovered a hidden Synagogue! Croatia- as part of his research on Tekhelet as well as to learn about the ancient Jewish community. Turkey, to learn about the Shamuta, a Kosher fish that tastes like pork. Poland and Germany – related to his work as a dentist. Ari has a trip coming up to Latvia in which he will be performing a Brit Milah on 13 adults and 2 children who are at the end of their conversion process. There is no Mohel in the country that can do it and a friend of his made the connection between the Rabbi and him.

Ari described one of the many unusual experiences that he had an opportunity to see during one of his trips: “Sitting on a floor of a Synagogue in Djerba, Tunisia, (claimed to exist there since the times of the First Temple). There are no Leviim in Djerba. They claim that Ezra the Scribe told them to come to Israel and because they didn’t listen he cursed the Leviim and that they all died.”

Ari continues to research Jewish customs and communities throughout the world. He is constantly developing and contributing to the Jewish community. As I said earlier Ari is refered as a “Renaissance Man” he is respected in the Jewish community. I am confident that he is an important link in keeping the traditions alive.

=Background Research=

__Halachic Dinners__ Dr. Ari Greenspan and his friend, Rabbi Dr. Ari Zivotofsky have organized three “halachic” dinners that were designed to showcase kosher animals that are disappearing from the Jewish tradition (“Masoret”). The evenings took place in New York, Los Angeles and Jerusalem. They were a tremendous success and impacted the Jewish community.

"All of a sudden, we understood that we were these 18-year-old schnooks and we held the mesorah [the heritage] in our hands," Greenspan said. Julie Gruenbaum Fax who attended one of the dinners had said: It was a few years before they also understood that those traditions would soon be lost, as Jews move away from ancestral homelands and acculturate into industrial societies. So they started interviewing ethnic rabbis in Israel, bringing along a video camera and a live or stuffed bird. They have traveled together to Ethiopia, Italy, Portugal, Turkey, Germany, Morocco, Russia, Gibraltar, Greece, Croatia, Spain -- and many other places to investigate halachic traditions. They have expanded from kosher animals to exploring matzah and different etrogim (citron fruit) -- including watermelon-size etrogim in Yemen.”

The purposes of the evenings were to sustain the kosher status for animals that are in danger of disappearing from the Jewish tradition. The Torah lists twenty-four types of non-kosher birds, and all the rest are kosher. These days, it is impossible to identify the listed birds and be certain that they are the right ones. Additionally, we may only eat birds that have been in our Masoret. With animals, the situation may seem simple. They must have split hooves and chew the cud. However, throughout the generations the Rabbis added a requirement that there must also be a masoret with animals. The problem is that people eat “factory” made chickens and cows. The masoret for other types of animals are rapidly disappearing from Jewish communities. Once the tradition is lost we are unable to reestablish it. Therefore Ari Greenspan and Ari Zivotofsky are trying to create an awareness of this situation.

During the dinner different kinds of unusual species were served. They included: dove and pigeon soup, fleishige eggs, turkey on rosemary skewers, in zatar sauce. (Turkey doesn’t sound like an unusual dish, but its Halachic status is actually extremely complicated. There obviously can’t be a masoret for a bird that was only discovered after Columbus!),A fig, stuffed with chicken, plates of goose, duck, muscovy duck, pheasant and partridge, quail and guinea fowl, on a bed of roasted wheat kernels, water buffalo and American bison, served as delectable dumplings in okra sauce, deer stuffed with rice and raisins. One of the highlights of the meal were the grilled locusts served for dessert. Rabbi Nosson Slifkin, who was a participant at one of the dinners, had commented of his experience of eating locust, “According to the instructions, I removed the locust’s wings and legs, and unscrewed its head. Then, with my face screwed up in repulsion, I ate it. Like many candies, it was crunchy on the outside with a chewy center. But all that I could think at the time was, Yeuuuuchhh, I’m eating a bug!!!”

The Dinners were tremendous in the Jewish community. People who attended the evenings felt that they were really part of maintaining the traditions. Hopefully there will be many more evenings of these kinds and Jews from around the world will get involved in them!

__Sources:__ http://www.kosherblog.net/2004/01/ January 30, 2004The Feast of Delights — Rabbi Nosson Slifkin http://www.greenspandental.com/JewishJournal.com.html Gourmet kosher brings out fear factor, By Julie Gruenbaum Fax, Education Editor, 2007-08-10

= = =Poetry = **__I came to join the women__** By: Rochelle Mass

I came to a place where cotton grew out of yellow hearts where bitter olives were picked and cured where melons with green flesh grew on the top of the hill where etched numbers from camps were told and told again. Why did you come they ask me, and ask again. I couldn’t say then but after twenty years and more I know I came to join the women before me. Devorah first to judge and Yael first to command troops on the Gilboa ridge and Jezebel who flashed oval eyes at soldier boys and Michal daughter to a king who lost his head on that same height of land. I came to join the women before me take my place, make things new in the valley of Jezre’el, the lord himself sowed. After they drained the swamps, I came after Golda joined a kibbutz just down the road after eucalyptus rooted into the tough earth and after pines and sycamore bent to the wind. Why did you come? Why do you stay? they ask I walk down the road to the Kings’ Way where the tillers, the farmers, carve the slim land. The cotton is swelling again. I remember when I came and why.  Source: Rochelle Mass http://www.wzo.org.il/en/resources/view.asp?id=1310&amp;subject=47 I came to join the women, 11-march-2003.

__Rational:__ I chose this poem because I think that it shows the hard times that people that came to Israel went through but even though times were hard they got through them and kept living in Israel. It represents the women who took part in Israel. I hope to be one of them in the future.

__Poem: __This poem is about a woman who came to Israel during hard times "when bitter olives were picked and cured, melons with green flesh grew..". People asked her why she chose to come to Israel, back then she didn't have an answer. After twenty years she is able to look back and say that she came to join the women who were here before her, to take her place in Israel and make things new. Only after she sees the “cotton swelling again” she remembers that she came to help and develop Israel and maintain what the the Jewish women before her had started. The message of this poem is the importance of our land. Rochelle Mass came to Israel even though times were hard. We have to stand strong and keep going on. She came to continue the tradition of woman who took part in the Jewish history before her. When she came to Israel she didn’t know that she would be successful but she worked hard and didn’t give up. I connect to this poem because I believe that you have to always work hard, not give up. We have to keep the tradition going and look up to the women that were here before us, like: Devora, Yael, Michal, Golda and many more women from Jewish history. It’s important to hope and have a goal in life. I wish to be one of those women who make a difference and hope continue those wonderful things that they have begun. This poem has a very clear structure. It has an opening that mirrors the ending: __Opening__: I came to a place where cotton grew out of yellow hearts.... Why did you come they ask me, and ask again, I couldn’t say then. __Ending__: The cotton is swelling again, I remember when I came and why. The title of the poem: “I came to join the women” explains why Rochelle Mass came to Israel. She came to keep the tradition of Jewish women who came before her. She wants to join the women and take her place next to them. The historical background to the poem contributes to understanding the meaning of it. Rochelle Mass came to Israel during a difficult period of time. She comes after Golda joined a kibbutz, after they drained the swamp…although times are hard she stays strong and stays to fight for our land. The end result to her actions along with many more Jewish people is the establishment of a Jewish country- Israel!

=Creative Connection= I chose to create a slideshow about aliya “Israel faces” represents to me all the types of many Jews that live in Israel- Ethiopian, Israeli, Russian, South African, American and many more. I chose to make my slideshow about the American aliya because it’s the strongest one at the moment. . I feel that because the project is being viewed by people in America they should get to see what it’s like to come and live here. They are welcomed warmly and happily by the country and I don’t think they all realize that. Nefesh B’ Nefesh is an organization that developed as a result of the Second Intafada. Around seven years ago, Rabbi Josh Fass decided to establish the organization, in order to bring Jews from the United States to Israel, despite the difficult situation that was facing Israel at the time. The results have been tremendous, bringing plane loads of US Jews to Israel in the past few years. Hopefully aliya to Israel will keep on growing all over the world!!

Slideshow about Nefesh-BNefesh- http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7665436422910258729 media type="google" key="7665436422910258729&hl=en" width="400" height="326"

=Reflection=

Now that I have finished my project I look back at the expectations I had of it. Some of my goals and expectations met and some not. I hoped to learn more about Israel and my home. I feel that by learning the importance of Israel to Ari Greenpsan I learned the meaning of living in here. He is involved in many projects that surround Israel, he left his home in America to come and live here, I understand that living here is so important. To live in Israel you have to give up many things (your home, friends, work and so on) but all those reasons are not a cause to give up the dream of coming here! I expected from Weber school to be participative throughout the project. I was excited to meet new people and be able to speak to kids my age from a different country. That didn't happen and I don't feel that we really connected to them and got to know them… I anticipated learning and improving my English throughout this project. Looking back at my English at the beginning of the year compared to now really shows me the "jump" I've made! My project was about my uncle- Ari Greenspan; I didn't expect to learn so much more about him. After interviewing Ari I was surprised to see how much I didn't know about him. I feel that I've learn a lot of interesting fact that I didn't know and wouldn't have without this project. I would change this project by not doing it online. It wasn't fun working on Wiki and it just took extra time to organize it and sit for hours trying to fix the page when everything jumped. Sometimes the Wiki didn't work and my projects weren't handed in on time. I rather work just on "Word". Throughout this project I learned a lot about myself. The importance of Israel to me- I didn't realize how important living here was to me. By seeing how Ari feels so blessed to live here I thought about how lucky I am to have grown up and live in Israel. I liked learning about Mesorot that I normally wouldn't gain knowledge from, I probably wouldn't have even known about. My favorite part of the project is the creative connection. It’s a part in the project that you can open up in and decide to focus on whatever you want. I decided to make a short film about Ari Greenspan.

= = = Bibliography =

Fax Gruenbaum, Julie. Education Editor. http://www.greenspandental.com/JewishJournal.com.html Gourmet kosher brings out fear factor, 2007-08-10.

Greenspan, Ari, Inteview. Efrat, Israel, December 14, 2007.

Mass, Rochelle. http://www.wzo.org.il/en/resources/view.asp?id=1310&subject=47 I came to join the women, 11-march-2003. Slifkin, Rabbi Nosson. http://www.kosherblog.net/2004/01/ The Feast of Delights. January 30, 2004. Ari Greenspans website- http://www.greenspandental.com/aboutenglish.php Slideshow about Nefesh-BNefesh- http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7665436422910258729 Pictures given to me by Ari Greenspan, December 14, 2007. Map: http://www.greenspandental.com/aboutenglish.php Tekhelet symbol: http://tekhelet.org/
 * __ Links: __**
 * __ Pictures: __**

=Appendix=

__**Brainstorming for the interview**__

Loves tradition Just went to Ethiopia for 2 weeks Is writing a book about matza Is a dentist Grew up in America, moving around army bases- an army brat One of the tchelet factory founders Lives in efrat Is a mohel Wood work A sofer Involved in kosher meals (traditional meals) Tour guide in the kotel tunnels Did the stain glass windows in the rimon was born in america lives in efrat is my uncle... has three daughters learned in YU has 1 sister has a lot of "shofars" at home.. like stuffed animals and has a collection of them at home. his family loves his crazy ideas they are involved in them he has matza baking in his house the night of the seder when the seder comes out on motzaei shabbat!


 * Formulating Interview Questions**

__Youth__ 1. I understand that your father was a Chaplain in the American Army; How was it as a child to live on army bases and not live in one place, but movie around every several years? 2. Growing up on an army base can be difficult when you are the only Orthodox Jewish family around, what was it like for you as a young boy growing up in that environment? 3. Did your early experience living as an Orthodox Jew, constantly explaining to others what your beliefs are contribute to your involvement in re-establishing the “Mesoret”?

__Schooling__ 4. What type of school/s did you learn at while growing up in the US Army? 5. Was it difficult constantly switching schools every year and to develop new relationships while getting used to new schools? 6. Did you have any teachers that inspired you to learn more about Mitzvot and specifically the “Mesoret” and the significance of it to your life?

__Profession__ 7. I understand that you work as a dentist. Why did you decide to go into dentistry? Did you consider any other profession?

__Projects__ 8. In addition to being a dentist you are involved in so many other projects. Can you please describe what they are? 9. What exactly is your role in each project? 10. I would like to focus on your re-establishment of the Blue Dye (Techelet). How did you become involved in the discovery of Techelet? 11. How long did it take from the first stages until the establishment of a factory that now produces and markets Techelet Tzitzit? 12. How is the Techelet made? 13. Were Rabbis and people in the Jewish community supportive of this discovery? 14. If not, what was their opposition? 15. I would like to now focus on the Kosher animals that you have been researching. What are your goals for this project? 16. Can you describe some of the Kosher Meals that you have offered to the community? 17. Can you list the animals that you have reintroduced to the Kosher community? 18. What has been the response to this project?

__Customs__ 19. Have you traveled around the world to search and discover different types of customs?

20. Can you give some examples of unusual customs that you’ve observed during your travels?

__Goals and Values__ 21. How do you juggle all these responsibilities and how you have the energy and the time to be constantly exploring and developing new areas of expertise? 22. What is the value of Mesoret to you and what is the significance of it to the Jewish community? 23. Are you confident that the Mesorah will continue being passed down to the next generation? 24. What other topics would you like to explore? 25. Can you first define what your goals have been to date? Can you then add several goals that you have for the future?

= =
 * Interview Answers**


 * 1) It was very exciting growing up as a young child on army bases, I enjoyed being exposed to different places, people and many different customs.
 * 2) Because it was the only thing I knew, it wasn’t hard, I was used to it. Thinking back it must have been hard to move from place to place, different communities, friends and so on.
 * 3) My father was doing so many things things, involved in the Jewish community always explaining to both unaffiliated Jews as well as Non-Jews what our Jewish laws and customs are all about. It taught be a lot about how to be a public speaker and a lot about leadership.
 * 4) We were lucky, by the time that I was in 7th grade my father left the army so I was around a stable Jewish surrounding. A few years later my father went back but always made sure that were based near a Jewish school so it pretty much worked out.
 * 5) It was hard having to leave friends behind and develop new relationships with new people. It was also hard that iin each place we moved we didn’t know anybody. We had to start from scratch.
 * 6) My seventh and eight grade teacher was called Rabbi Winkler. He was very cool and inspiring. I didn’t know many religious Jews and he taught me that you can be a cool, down to earth and a religious person at the same time. Rabbi Winkler had a youth group in his school that inspired me very much.
 * 7) All my life my dream was to be a Rabbi, but because of my desire to move to Israel that didn’t ‘work out. Instead I got involved in dentistry because I love science and art and being a dentist is a combination of both of those.
 * 8) Artwork that includes working with metal, glass, and wood; a magician, a scribe, Shaatnez checker, Mohel, Techelet, Baking and researching Matzah and lecturing.
 * 9) Mesoret, Maztah, Kashrut – trying to save them before they disappear, the other are jobs (dentistry, scribe, etc.)
 * 10) I liked diving very much and learned with a friend how to scuba-dive. I heard that a scientist was discovering a way to find Techelet. So I got involved and my friend and I went diving and we found the snails.
 * 11) It took about a year to figure out how to do the dying and threes years of lab work (seven years from the beginning of the process).
 * 12) Collect the snails, crack them open, extract the dye, mix the dye together with chemicals, expose it to sunlight, put together with wool, spin into a string.
 * 13) At the beginning many people were very skeptical, how can people suddenly decide something like this? There were scholars who were involved in the research of the blue dye but didn’t really take it anywhere into the practical realm. Once people saw there was a tremendous amount of research that supported the actual Techelet project, they were more accepting and supportive.
 * 14) Some of them said that once a Mesoret has been forgotten you can’t re-establish it. There were people against it and there continue to be people who oppose it today.
 * 15) The Halacha is that Kosher animals are only aloud to be eaten if they’re part of the established Mosoret. There are a lot of Mesoret that are on the verge of being forgotten and I am trying to save these traditions before they disappear.
 * 16) I had three Halachick dinners; In Jerusalem, Los Angeles and New York. We taught the participants about the various animals, their history, Halachick categories and then served them at an exotic dinner.
 * 17) Pheasants, Sparrows, Swordfish, Buffalo, Pigeons, Grasshoppers, Guineahes, Quails, and Partridges.
 * 18) It has been tremendous. People loved it. It’s very clear that the Mesoret is dying and has to be saved. They now acknowledge that it’s part of the real Mesoret.
 * 19) Tunisia-to see how they bake Matzah. Italy, Marroco to see how Etrogrim (the citrus fruit used on the Holiday of Sukkot) grow. Spain and Greece – to research Techelelt. Ethiopia – to learn about The Lost Tribes. I went to Russia to give support. Portugal to see the Marranos. I happened to be there when the community had just discovered a hidden Synogogue. Croatia- as part of my research on Techelete as well as to learn about the ancient Jewish community. Turkey, to learn about the Shamuta, a Kosher fish that tastes like pork. Poland and Germany – related to my work as a dentist. I have a trip coming up to Latvia in which I will be performing a Brit Milah on 13 adults and 2 children who are at the end of their conversion process. There is no Mohel in the country who can do it and a friend of mine made the connection between the Rabbi and myself.
 * 20) Sitting on a floor of a Synogogue in Djerba, Tunisia, claim that the Synogogue is there since the times of the First Temple. There are no Leviim in Djerba. They claim that Ezra the Scribe told them to come to Israel and because they didn’t listen h e cursed the Leviim and that they all died.
 * 21) Without support of my wife, Shari I couldn’t have done it. I try to never waste time, constantly learning new things and look at things from a different perspective. Once I have a project I’m and focused and determined.
 * 22) The link between the old world and the new generation. Preservation of our past.
 * 23) Yes, because we’ve done so much to ensure it.
 * 24) The process of making Klaf (parchment) and inc from a scientific perspective. I would also like to continue to explore more Jewish communities from around the world – their past and present.
 * 25) To try and capture the Mesoret before it disappears so that they will be available forever.