Tova's+I-Face+Project

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=**__Rationale:__**=

Profiling an individual who represents one of the many faces of Israel is a very important project. The population of this country is a rich tapestry of individuals who come from many different backgrounds. They represent many diverse countries and cultures. By researching the life of one specific person, we gain an important insight into a slice of life in this country and we strengthen our connection to our community.

For my project I chose to profile Micheline Ratzersdorfer, my neighbor in Katamon. Micheline is a friend who has known our family for many years. Together with her husband Marc, she moved to Israel three years ago from New York. She was born in Europe and she moved to New York before World War II where she has lived for over sixty years. She has been a Zionist all her life and three of her four children live in Israel.

Micheline represents a number of different types of Israelis. She is the Israeli moved from country to country before her arrival here. She represents the Israeli who comes to retire here after a long and active life elsewhere. She represents the Orthodox Jew who has always yearned to live in Zion and finally fulfills his/her lifelong dream. She represents the Jew who has focused on volunteering her time and effort to help others and who now wants to continue this valuable effort in Israel. By understanding her life, we understand the lives of many Israelis.

=__**Profile:**__= Living in the charming Katamon neighborhood of Jerusalem is a generous and inspiring woman named Micheline Ratzerdorfer. Throughout her life, Micheline has continuously devoted her time and energy to giving to others. Micheline has witnessed history, being born in Nazi Europe, and has made her own history, by making aliya to Israel. Micheline was born in Vienna in 1927. As a child, Micheline was always on the move with her family, in an effort to escape the Nazis. At the age of six, her family moved to Paris. There, she lived until the age of twelve and a half. Because her family had a feather business they were known by people all over Europe. As a result, Jews who fled their homes often ran to stay with Micheline's family. When she went to school, Micheline would see Jews waiting outside of her house. She remembers giving up her seat at the dinner table to guests who needed a spot. Micheline described her childhood as, "a lonely childhood because we were very foreign." On June 1, 1940, Micheline was sent to Vichy by her parents, two weeks before Paris was captured by the Nazis. She spent days at the railroad station waiting for her parents who arrived after the down fall of Paris. The Petain government, a puppet government in Vichy, forced the Jews to leave. Micheline has vivid memories of the Germans on their motorcycles. "It was very scary," she said, to see the Germans driving around on their motorcycles. Micheline then moved to Nice, where she attended high school, although not on Shabbat. There were rumors that "foreign" men would be taken east to labor camps. No one had a clear idea as to what was going on. Micheline's grandparents had no visas because they were stateless since the borders were constantly shifting. This was equivalent to death. Micheline's father had to flee, but her mother remained. Her mother would say: "I can't leave these old people behind. If I do, I will never see them again." Everyone left to Casablanca except for her mother, grandparents and Micheline. Micheline's mother went daily to the consulates in Marseilles to beg for or buy visas for her parents. She had no success even though she went five days a week for six weeks and never gave up. Eventually, she managed to obtain two visas to a Central American country. They all took the next boat, which was the last boat out of France to Martinique. The boat was captured by the Dutch. They were taken to Trinidad, where Micheline's grandfather was interned as an alien enemy. Micheline and her mother went to Cuba. By September they had obtained visas to America and immediately sailed to the U.S on a luxury boat. Micheline's mother was a heroine of the holocaust, because she saved her parents. Micheline lived in New York on the Upper West side when she arrived, at the age of 14. She was very lucky to have escaped. She had true friends for the first time in her life. Micheline attended New York University and graduate school at the Brooklyn Polwtechnic institute. She met her husband, Marc, and they went to Paris to get married, because a few surviving members of her family lived in Europe. Micheline grew up in a very Zionistic home. Her father was a strong Zionist. Growing up Micheline had pictures of Herzl and Jabotinsky over her bed. Israel was extremely important. Tikvat Israel was a group that the young people in the neighborhood formed to support Israel. Micheline and her friends attended demonstrations for Israel when it was still Palestine. Since 1954 she has been affiliated with Amit, a non-political organization that supports education for children and attempts to break the cycle of poverty. After many years of volunteering with Amit, Micheline became the volunteer editor of the organization's magazine. Micheline's Zionism became a reality when she made aliya to Israel. Three of Micheline's children live in Israel, along with grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She believes that living in Israel is important because it is the first Jewish country in over 2000 years. Micheline feels excited about having her descendants live in Israel. She said that "it is first of all, a joy and almost mystical feeling, of having all of our great grandchildren born in Jerusalem. I am a bat-Cohen, which means that my ancestors worked, and possibly lived, in Jerusalem. (All Cohanim came to Jerusalem to do a minimum of two weeks a year of Temple service.) To have my great grandchildren born in Jerusalem is an immense source of exhilaration and joy for me. We are back where we came from!" "I think it is special to be able to have the knowledge that we are in our own State. I worked my whole life to come to Israel. There is so much diversity in Israel, and yet, everyone is Jewish, which is an amazing feeling. Everything in Israel is special for me," Micheline said while describing how special it is for her to be in Israel. This quote expresses how deeply Micheline loves Israel and how hard she longed to come to live in Israel. This devotion is remarkable, especially compared with many Israelis and Jews all over the world who don't recognize what an incredible opportunity it is to live in Israel. While talking about the tiyulim she hikes in Israel, Micheline gets very excited. "My husband and I go on a great number of tiyulim in Israel, usually day-long organized tours based on our history in the land. The excitement of being on the very spots mentioned in Chumash, Prophets and our later history is something so amazing and meaningful to both my husband and me. It is unbelievable, very powerful and inspiring." For Micheline, Shabbat is one of the most special parts of living in Israel. She described the wonderful Shabbos feeling in the Jerusalem neighborhood where she lives: "Already on Friday afternoon everything slows down on the streets, the shops close early, the challah-vendors in front of the shuls have gone, as has the once-a-week flower seller whose stock is in his car. Shabbos is creeping in. And then, Friday night, with people going to visit, carrying bowls or platters covered in white cloths. And later in the evening couples returning home, some with sleepy complaining children. And the next day, practically no cars, you walk unharmed in the middle of the street. It's Shabbos, really." Another important part of living in Israel, for Micheline, is the national holidays. "There is real mourning on Yom Hashoah in Israel. The eve before restaurants close at 6pm, and the next days sirens blast across the country, the stop of all activity, the minute (which feels like a 3 hours) leaves me emotionally frozen for the rest of the day… Here, one really mourns, especially since so many people are either themselves Shoah survivors or children and grandchildren of Shoah survivors. The next few days, leading to Yom Hazikaron are but a waiting period. One is emotionally stretched, frozen, under the spell of our people's suffering. And when Yom Hazikaron comes, again the sirens, again the pain, so great because now one knows personally families, fathers, mothers, siblings, wives and children who have lost a loved one. And then the sudden explosion of joy on Yom Haatzmaut, almost too much to bear! Nine days which make you a Jew."

=**__Background Article and Information:__**=

After settling in America, Michelene Ratzersdorfer started volunteering in an organization called Mizrachi Women's Organization of America, which later became known as Amit. She has been affiliated with this organization since 1954. Michelene volunteered with Amit and became the editor of the organization's magazine. Amit was founded in 1925 by Bessie Gotsfeld. Amit has always been focused on religious Zionist education, while many similar organizations didn't include the Religious part. After the Holocaust, Amit helped bring and settle children who survived the Shoah. Most of those children were orphans, who had lost their entire families during the Holocaust. Amit also helped the children of families who arrived in Israel from Sephardic countries in 1948. Today, there are over 70 Amit schools and programs in Israel, which includes youth homes for children in foster care. Amit takes care of more than 20,000 children in Israel. Most of those children are from poor homes, or dysfunctional families. A large number of the children are new olim from Russia and Ethiopia.

There are all sorts of programs run by Amit. For example, there is a program called Beit Hayeled. Beit Hayeled is a group home for orphaned children and children from abused homes. They provide the children with emotional and financial support and make sure that the kids graduate high school.

"Amit is a non-political organization that supports education for children, in addition to, attempting to break the cycle of poverty," Michelene explained. There are many Israeli children who do not have good educational opportunities. Here Amit comes in and helps these Israeli children reach their potential. The organization does this by teaching and helping children from all sorts of different backgrounds. Amit teaches the children not only to be good students, but to be good Israelis as well. One of Amit's main concerns is making sure that the students in their programs pass the Bagrut. When they saw a school whose students were failing (only 20% passed the Bagrut), Amit took it in their hands to make sure that the students there pass the Bagrut. "The purpose of Amit in the US, which has more than 3000 member families is to support the programs in Israel. There are many projects, such as Project 80, which focus on improving academic results. Some of our programs involve one-on-one tutoring, studying, and weekends away to help the students with their studies," says Barbara Goldberg, Director of Communications for Amit. Clearly, Amit is an important organization for Israel. It has provided so many Israeli children with a home, education and encouragement to succeed. All of Michelene's efforts went to a good cause which helped build a Zionist organization.

=__Literary Connection:__= = =

Ordinary People January 4,2008 "A few months ago I discovered a little delicatessen on Nahalat Binyamin, near Ha’Aliya Street, that sells the best of everything: feta cheese and kalamata olives from Greece; tinned plum tomatoes from Sicily; Bonne Maman jam from France; preserved capers from Liguria; maple syrup from Canada; Dutch Gouda cheese; Norwegian red caviar paste in a tube; deep yellow Danish butter cut from a huge lump and sold by weight; Turkish halva; and, well, you get the idea. I don’t know what this shop is called. There is no sign on the door, and the three brothers who are the proprietors write the bill on scraps of white paper, adding up the prices in their head instead of using a calculator. The brothers are soft-spoken and cultured, and courteous without being effusive. When one of them disapproves of my choice, a little crease appears above the bridge of his nose. When they approve, they smile gently. One day I heard them carrying on a conversation in Ladino. “Are you from Turkey?” I asked. “Not really,” answered one of the brothers. “We are Castillian. That is, we lived in Spain for about 800 years. Then we were in Italy - actually, Livorno - for about 400 years. We were only in Turkey for 200 years. Then, about 80 years ago, we moved to the Land of Israel.” I gaped at him for a moment, unsure of whether he was joking or not. Seeing he was serious, I said, “You are like a living history of Sephardic Jewry. I’d love to take your photo and write about you. Would that be okay?” “Write about us? Why? Our story is very ordinary.” Taken From: [|http://lisagoldman.net] "On The Face"-The thyme of the blog

This story talks about a woman visiting a store in Tel Aviv. The owners of the store sell lots of different kinds of foods from all over the world. The author hears them talking in Ladino and she asks them if they are from Turkey. They explain to her the history of their family and the countries that they lived in. When Lisa, the writer, asks them if she can write about them, they don't understand why. They think that they are just ordinary Israeli people.

The author's main point is to show that every person in Israel has an unbelievable story behind them. Walking down the street it is easy to forget that every person we pass has a family history and a world behind them. And we, as Israelis, can forget that.

The article shows us in the most clear way that Israel, more specifically, the Jewish people, is built up of many different people from diverse backgrounds. The opening paragraph of the article uses the metaphor of food to show us from every corner in the world. There's syrup from Canada, jam from France, olives from Greece, and so on and so forth. Similar to food, there are Jewish people from France, from Greece, from Canada and many other places.

If the owners of the store feel that their background is so ordinary, then what are our backgrounds? Are we ordinary or are we special? What is ordinary? What is special? If these unique people call themselves "ordinary" then we are not just ordinary, but also dull. If we all approach life and our backgrounds in this way, then special won't be special anymore. Instead, we have to change our outlook to realize that each and every person and their backgrounds are special. Special is not just one thing. Coming from America is unique. Coming from Spain is special. We all are special and have special backgrounds.

This article was very interesting, especially in the way that it expressed the point that every person is special. One of my favorite parts of the article is the part when the store owner starts explaining to the author his family history, from 800 years ago. This part of the article clearly shows how special this man is. If we are all asked where we came from and we all answered in that way we would all realize that our own past is also special.

=__Creative Connection:__=

"Israel" A Poem by Tova Wasser When we look into our nation, what do we see One religion, one people, and yet, diversity Different paths, different thoughts, different looks Two different aliyot- that's what it took It started with a group of Hasidic men and scholars They supported themselves with donations from abroad, in dollars Aliya Hashniya arrived not too long after It wasn't so easy, there wasn't much laughter The two groups clashed and fought Work the land on our own is what Aliya Hashniya thought While the scholars sat in the four holy cities and studied The others worked the land while getting all muddy In 1948 the deal was sealed This land became ours, cities, seas and fields. Now look around, what do we see A country that's almost turning sixty Shakshuka, pita, and falafel too Makes my stomach rumble, oh what a fondue This country is not perfect, there's still room to grow Bad government and poverty, these things make us feel low There was a problem with rats So they brought in the cats Black, white, and gray You see all different colored cats every day English and French, are languages too But Hebrew, that's our language, the language of a Jew Bombs fall on Sderot and people there feel scared The only thing we can do is make them feel that we care Being able to be a free Jew, in our own free land With beautiful beaches where children can play in the sand With all the good, with all the bad We have this country, and for that, we're glad This little country that we call home It's Israel, where you're greeted with a Shalom Poetry is a beautiful way to express yourself and your feelings about different things. I have a lot of things to say about Israel, both beautiful, and upsetting. There is a lot to say about the situation Israel is in now. Israel today has to deal with security issues and problems with the government and poverty, but it is still the Jewish homeland and there are still amazing things happening every day. When I wrote the poem, I started with the technical facts we know about Israel and its history. I felt it was rigt to start with the bravest group that first came to Israel wanting to work the land, leaving behind their good life where there they did not have to worry about starving to death. As the poem goes on I felt that it was right to put my feelings and thoughts into it. The government in our country makes a lot of us feel like they dont have any interest in their citizens. Every third child in Israel is poor and the government is not doing anything to try to fix this problem. Bombs are falling on Sderot and even on Ashkelon. People are killed and hurt, tromutized and scared. Where is the government while this is going on? The things I wrote about in the poem are things that show Israel's face and also things that Israel has to be willing to face.

A kassam in Sderot

A pile of few of the kassams that fell on Sderot.

=__Reflection:__=

= = When I started this project, I really didn't know what to expect. I couldn't see the whole picture in front of my eyes. As I started to push myself to begin this project, I had to invite my Israeli face over for an interview. I only met Micheline a few times before I interviewed her, but I didn't really know who she was. As my Mother was sitting shiva, Micheline came to visit many times and I had the privilege to hear many amazing stories from her. I didn't want the stories to stop and I realized I wanted to interview her for my project. I expected the project to be long and hard, but I also thought it would be a privilege to have the chance to work on this project. I also thought my writing and my English would improve. In looking back on the last couple months of hard work on this project, I realize that my expectations were correct. It was definitely a privilege to get to know Micheline and I hope that our connection won't stop here. I also feel that I became a better writer by working so hard on this project. I really enjoyed getting to know our partners at the Weber School. Being in touch with them led me to understand that my writing is better than I thought it was. I wasn't surprised by things that the Weber students said to me since I grew up in America and came to live here in Israel only a few years ago. I am very complete and happy with my final project. I expressed myself and my thoughts and I said what I had to say. Before this project I never really asked myself the questions that were expected for me to answer in this project. This project really made me think about how I relate to Israel and how in sixty years we achieved so many things in this country.

=__Bibliography:__= [|http://www.amitchildren.org/history.asp  © AMIT 2004 - 2007) [|http://www.geocities.com/bhayeled/index.htm Interview with Michelen Ratzerdorfer in Jerusalem, Israel in December, 2007.

Interview with Barbara Goldberg, Director of Communications, Amit in the New York, New York, U.S.A. on January 11, 2008.

[|www.ynet.co.il/.../ 04062007/1315395/1_a.jpg] the picture of the kassam in Sderot

[|www.ynet.co.il/.../ 20022007/1112090/JG036_wa.jpg] a lot of kassams in that fell on Sderot

=__Appendix:__=

Are you an Israeli citizen? If you are then why and for how long? If not then why? Why do you think it is important to be an Israeli citizen? I am not yet an Israeli citizen. At this point in time, it hasn't yet worked out for me to make aliya. I believe it is important to be an Israeli citizen because it is wonderful to be a citizen of the first Jewish country in 2000 years.

What is special about living in Israel? There are so many things that are special about living in Israel. I think it is special to be able to have the knowledge that we are in our own state. I worked My whole life to come to Israel. There is so much diversity in Israel, and yet, everyone is Jewish, which is an amazing feeling. Everything in Israel is special for me.

When and where were you born? I was born in Vienna in 1927.

What languages do you speak? I speak French, English, German, a little bit of Polish, Yiddish, and Hebrew.

You said you volunteer with an organization called Amit? What do you do there and for how many years are you already volunteering there? Tell me about the history of the organization Amit. Amit is a non-political organization that supports education for children, as well as, attempts to break the cycle of poverty. Amit is similar to Hadassah, but Amit is the only religious organization of this type. It has been very meaningful for me to be involved with Amit. After volunteering with Amit for a while, I became the editor of the organizations magazine. I've been affiliated with Amit since 1954.

Do you read Israeli literature and poems? I read Israeli literature and poetry, but with difficulty.

Where were you during the Holocaust? Leading up to the Holocaust, my father had a feather business and knew people from all over because it was an international business. Jews fled from all over and ended up at our house. On June 1, 1940 we were sent down to Vichy. The Germans were invading France. My parents escaped to Paris. I spent days at a railroad station. In Vichy France, the Petain government was in power, and as a result, the Jews had to leave. I remember Germans on motorcycles. We moved to Nice, where I went to high school. There was too much anti-semitism. There were rumors that foreign men were being taken to work camps in the East. We had no idea what was really going on. My grandparents had no visas because they were stateless, which was equivalent to death. Mother decided not to leave, but Father had to leave. Mother went to Marsailles every day to the consulates to beg to buy visas, but she had no success. She repeated this daily for six weeks. Finally she obtained two visas to a central American country. We took the next boat out of France to Martinique. The boat was captured and taken to Trinidad. Grandfather was interned as an enemy alien. Mother and I went to Cuba. By September, we had visas to a US luxury boat. Mother was a hero because she saved both of her parents. In the meantime, Father and my brother went from Casablanca to Martinique in the Carribean. There the governor was a Hitler puppet, so they left and went to Cuba.

Do you have any children, grandchildren or great grandchildren? Do they live in Israel? My husband, Marc, and I have four children. Three of them live here in Israel and one lives in New York, but just recently bought a house here in Israel. I have eleven grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. It brings me so much joy that my great-grandchildren were born in Jerusalem. I am a bat-Cohen, which means that my ancestors worked, and possibly lived, in Jerusalem. It is exhilirating to know that we are back!

How is it to live partly in Israel and partly in America? Why do you do this? Is it hard for you? It is really hard. I hate leaving Israel. There are more shiurim here in Israel, as well as more diversity, especially the older people.

Why did you wait so long to make Aliya? My father passed away and my Mother lived with me. I wanted to move to Israel but I had to take care of my Mother and she didn't want to move to Israel.

Were you always a Zionist and if so, what inspired you? When did you decide to make Aliya? Yes, I was always a Zionist. My Father was a strong Zionist. All of my life I lived with a picture of Herzl and Jabotinsky over my bed. I was part of a Zionist group that my friends and I formed, called Tikvat Yisrael. We went to demonstrations when Israel was still Palestine. Once my Mother died, at the age of 101, I was free to come to Israel.

Do you like to travel around Israel? My husband and I go on a great number of tiyulim in Israel, usually organized day long tours based on our history in the land. The excitement of being on the very spots mentioned in Tanach is something so amazing and meaningful to both my husband and me. It is unbelievable and very powerful and inspiring.

How do you feel on Yom HaShoah and Yom HaZikaron, followed by Yom HaAtzmaut? It is only once I came to Israel that I began to feel like a complete Jew, as a full Jew. That is because of the nine days between Yom Hashoah and Yom Haatzmaut. There is real mourning on Yom Hashoah in Israel. The eve before, restaurants close at 6pm and the next days siren blasts across the country, the stopping of all activity, the minute of siren which feels like three hours leave me emotionally frozen for the rest of the day. And the Shoah-related films on tv, all day and all night maintain this total emotional paralysis. Here one really mourns, especially since so many people are eithere themselves Shoah survivors, or children and grandchildren of Shoah survivors. The next few days, leading to Yom Hazikaron, are but a waiting period. One is emotionally stretched, frozen, under the spell of our people's suffering. And when Yom Hazikaron comes again the sirens, again the pain, so great because now one knows personally families, fathers, mothers, and siblings, wives and children who have lost a loved one. And then the sudden explosion of joy on Yom Haatzmaut almost too much to bear. Nine days which make you a Jew.

How do you like Shabbat in Israel? The wonderful Shabbat feeling in our neighborhood: already on Friday afternoon everything slows down on the streets, the shops close early, the challah vendors in front of the shuls have gone, as has the once-a-week flower seller whose stock is in his car. Shabbos is creeping in. And then Friday night, with people going to visit carrying bowls or platters, covered by white cloths, and later in the evening, couples returning home, some with sleepy, complaining children. And the next day, practically no cars. You walk unharmed in the middle of the street. It's Shabbat.

Do you miss your friends in New York and how do you maintain your connection with them? I do miss my friends in NY and I keep in touch with them by phone and e-mail.

How do you spend your time here? Do you volunteer in any organizations and if so, which ones? For the first two years, I was in ulpan. Now I see a lot of friends and spend time with my husband, who retired. I work with Amit and I work on my Hebrew every day. I spend more time with the family, children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. I'm active in the organization, fundraising, speaking and touring....