While several of our Judaean communities participate in Jserve programs, we are so very proud of our Burlington, VT Judaeans, who along with their advisors and the whole community brought together 70 volunteers to participate in various mitzvot at the Ohavei Zedek (OZ) Synagogue and in the larger community. They cleaned and organized toys, closets, classrooms, as well as the kitchen and the community freezer at OZ in preparation for the Passover holiday; cleaned up the grounds around the synagogue and helped clean, organize and paint in the Shalom Shuk, a thrift shop run by Ohavi Zedek Synagogue, and staffed by volunteers, serving the refugee community in the area. It was a great day of Tikkun Olam!

The Tsofim group made lasagnas and cookies at the Ronald McDonald house, a home away from home for families with children being treated at the Vermont Children’s hospital at Fletcher Allen.

The Bogrim group made and served meals at the COTS Daystation and the Burlington Emergency Shelter, preparing food to feed approximately 80 people as well as preparing lasagnas for Vermont Respite House and adding 10 lasagnes to the community freezer at OZ for families in the immediate community in need of meals. (BES’s, OZ’s community freezer’s and VRH lasagnas were prepared in Temple Sinai’s kitchen).

The Burlington, VT group was the recipient of a JServe grant, which enabled them to support their program and make a meaningful impact in the community.

Founded by Young Judaea Year Course alumni in November 1973, mere weeks after the end of the Yom Kippur War, Kibbutz Ketura’s history has always reflected its desert home. Against many odds and elements, Ketura has produced some of the world’s most innovative environmental technologists and technology, leading Israel and the world into a greener existence.

 Yosef Abramowitz, a lifelong Judaean and member of Ketura, has consistenly landed the kibbutz in the headlines since 2006 through his work with the Arava Power Company, of which he is a co-founder. Most recently, Abramowitz announced that his companies Gigawatt Global and Energiya Global have secured $23 million in financial support to build Africa’s first utility-scale solar field in Rwanda, on land owned by the Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village. ASYV was the creation of the late Anne Heyman, philanthropist, activist and Young Judaean. The solar field in Rwanda will reflect the same research and design that went into Ketura Sun, Israel’s first commercial solar field designed and built by Arava Power Company in 2011 in – you guessed it – Kibbutz Ketura.

Not only Has Ketura been at the forefront of green technology and entrepreneurship, but the kibbutz also houses the Arava Institute of Environmental Studies, which brings together Israeli, Palestinian, and Jordanian students for environmental study and research in one of the top programs in the Middle East. Students research water management, sustainable agriculture and development and energy conservation. One of the institute’s most noteworthy and publicized accomplishments was the recent germination of a Judaean date palm using a seed from roughly 2000 years ago, found at Masada. Long considered extinct, the tree itself now grows at Kibbutz Ketura and stands as a living testament to the survival and regeneration of Israel itself.

Ketura is also home to a large facility of Algatech, the world’s leading supplier of astaxanthin, a red micro-algae said to benefit human health and fight diseases like cancer and immune disorders. The facility has been commercially producing the algae since 2003, and Kibbutz Ketura’s sunny, desert location ensures year-round production.

As part of their ongoing anniversary celebration, Ketura will be holding an open day at the Kibbutz Friday, May 2. For more information and to RSVP, click here.

KUMA trip to Poland

Diary From the Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village in Rwanda
by Stephanize Blitzer, Year Course Participant

Being here in Rwanda has really made me appreciate everything I have.  I may not have all the things I want in the world, however I am surrounded by love and kindess and I also have a lot to give.

Tuesday was my third and last time making mud bricks for the house that the senior-4 class will be building.  Words cannot describe how good and refreshing it felt to be helping out someone in need.  I will miss getting my feet all muddy, singing songs, having discussions with the students, and showing the young children how to take photos on an iPhone, but the smiles and the laughter as well as the grateful looks will always be something that I will take with me as a gift.  There is no way to illustrate how I felt helping to make the bricks and being surrounded by such passionate young adults.  As cliché as it sounds, my experience building bricks over the past three weeks brings tears to my eyes thinking as I think about the hard work that the students put in and how enthusiastic they are.  There is so much devotion that went into making the bricks and making sure that the children were smiling and having a good experience, too.

Over these past weeks, I have been trying to figure out how to describe my experience in Rwanda.  Like so many Year Course experiences, it is difficult for me to find words that will evoke the emotions  I’ve been having other than saying it has been amazing.

The Year Course Group in India