Israel Center Notes: -
Re: The Israel Center and Torah Tidbits

NOTICE: The OU Israel Center and Torah Tidbits do not necessarily endorse the political or halachic opinions of its advertisers, nor to we guarantee their quality of service.

The Israel Center's Beth Din to adjudicate and arbitrate monetary disputes, according to Jewish law There is a registration fee of 200nis per case No other charges for this service Please call 566-7787 ext. 204 for further information We have forms for two types of cases: Those where both parties agree to submit their disputeto the Beth Din, and those where a complainant wants the Beth Din to summon the second party. The first batch of cases have been processed and "invitations" have been issued. The Beth Din is now in full swing.. Yitzhak Fund, Esq. • Rabbi Emanuel Quint Chairpersons

Kashrut Questions
If you find a discrepancy between the Hebrew labeling and the original packaging... or if you have any other OU kashrut questions, call this toll-free number (from Israel to NY) 1-800-949-0123 From 4:00pm - midnight, you get a human; other times, leave a voice- message OU Kashrut in Israel office at the Center: 5667787

Israel Center Cafe
After nourishing the soul, come nourish the body serving coffee, sandwiches, toasts, pizza, french fries, salads, eggs, stuffed potatoes, lasagna, soups... and more Located on the lower level of the Israel Center Hours: Sun.-Thu. - 10:00am - 3:00pm Ask about our catering services on or off the Center premises

Thirsty? We now have a hot drinks machine with coffee, tea, & hot chocolate located on the ground floor, anda cold drinks (cans) machine on the first floor near the library.

The Israel Center needs volunteers to help with TT deliveries on Thursdays during the summer. Please call Toni 058 532701

NESTO • Native English-Speaking Teen Olim
Limited number of placesstill available for the Junior NESTO Camp, 6th thru 8th grade, August 6-11; For more information,call: Chave 050-444 401

On the lighter side...
Remember the Parshat Pinchas issue of TT that was erroneously marked Parshat Balak?
Well, a very popular Hebrew-language parsha sheet with a circulation more than ten times that of Torah Tidbits had an insert for Shabbat Parshat Matot-Mas’ei erroneously labeled Parshat Pinchas. When a friend of mine questioned the editor of the insert, he answered that he takes the previous week’s pages and changes... My friend interrupted with "I already heard that excuse".
And on that same week, a certain English-language daily newspaper mistakenly carried Rabbi Riskin’s Dvar Torah for Parshat D’varim - the following week - instead of Matot-Mas’ei.
So it seems that we either started an epidemic with the Balak-Pinchas error... or that mistakes do happen.
Last Motza’ei Shabbat (Nachamu), the auditorium was packed with nostalgic music lovers, as Howie Kahn (a.k.a. Ruach Uno) performed — no, he preferred to consider his role in the evening as leading a sing-a-long — Chassidic music of the ‘60s and ‘70s, Israeli music of that era, American folk music, and popular Carlebach songs.
Howie was also stand-up comic and trivia quiz host as he both quipped and fired questions at the audience between songs.
The evening was billed as a Pioneer-Pineview Reunion, and many in the audience smiled broadly with reminders of Route 42 and 52 in the Catskills, funny tidbits about summers long gone, and many awakened fond memories.
We already have another evening of nostalgic music planned for Motza’ei Shabbat, August 24th — watch for further announcements.

Israel Center Scene • A Review of recent Israel Center Activities • July 2002
FOCUS ON YOUTH
Having reported recently to our readers about the various highlights of our programs in the OU Israel Center, it's time to let you know what's doing this summer in our youth camps.
Let's start off by telling you that all our camps - for over 1000 young people! - are being held in the very tranquil and countrified setting of Moshav Keshet in the Eastern section of the Golan Heights. Climb the hill overlooking the settlement and you will have vistas of the Syrian foothills. And what better place to take kids these days than a quiet, pastoral setting far removed from the daily trials and tribulations. Indeed, we have made special efforts this year to provide as much relief from the prevailing "situation" as we can to the young people in our programs.

Camp Dror
Under the watchful eye of our senior staff member Chaim Pelzner, 170 teenagers enjoyed close to two weeks of hikes, survival games, chugim, and Torah studies and… yes - even color war! The kids hailed from a variety of cities and towns all around the country and, at one point, you might even think you were back in America (or England or S. Africa…) with all the English spoken. Shabbatot were one of the main highlights, with songs echoing through the mountains and discussions continuing until the wee hours - on subjects of concern such as faith and religious practice. Everybody was very impressed with the madrichim who devoted themselves not only to the program but more importantly to striking up strong and meaningful relationships with the kids. Our thanks to all the staff and to Keshet for making the camp such a success.

Makom Balev
90 kids from development towns such as Lod and Bet Shemesh - the first of two groups - were thrilled to participate in a brief camp experience of 3-5 days alongside the regular camp. Special activities designed for these children, largely from deprived neighbor- hoods, gave them a chance to enjoy themselves in an environment they would never usually experience. They were accompanied by madrichim who throughout the year nurture their progress in their weekly activities such that the bonds between them were tightened in the camp. Most heartwarming was seeing the variety of colors reminiscent of Ethiopians, Morrocans, Sabras, and citizens of the Former Soviet Union - all of which add credence to the notion of the "Ingathering of the Exiles." The camp had a very strong affect on these children who later returned to a rich plethora of social-educational activities in their Israel-style NCSY regions. We are planning for a second group to go up to Keshet in mid-August.

Bet Kharkov
25 very eager young adults, members of our Bet Kharkov program (graduates of the OU high school in Kharkov, Ukraine) also spent an extended Shabbat in the Keshet machane. Some of the participants were more knowledgeable than others in terms of their religious observance, yet all of them joined together for a Shabbat of warmth, song, and study. Their presence on the campus with the other campers added to the overall feeling of unity that pervaded the Shabbat atmosphere in Keshet.

Mibreishit
One of the highlights of this summer is the OU Israel Center's cooperation with Rabbi Motti Elon's new foundation Mibreishit. The goal is to strengthen the Dati Leumi community - and a strong emphasis is being placed on youth activities.

The Israel Center's youth department under the watchful eye of Rafi Danan has worked together with Mibreishit staff in setting up and running two camps in Keshet for older teenage boys and girls, respectively. The participants hail largely from Yesha communities and they will spend time not only horse-riding, and the like, but also in chavruta study sessions and discussion groups where they will examine the contemporary questions of the day which are affecting youth. These include dealing with friends and families who have suffered at the hands of terrorists, questions of Emuna, peer pressure, and so on. In all no less than 700 young people will participate in these challenging programs.

NESTO
In line with our policy of providing quality program- ming to as many of our young people as we can, the Israel center is also running a camp for 40 Junior NESTOers in August. Junior NESTO for English speaking kids is a relatively new project of the Center, answering a need for youngsters, mainly the children of Olim, who find it easier to mix among themselves (at this point) than with their Hebrew speaking Israeli peers. We wish all the participants an enjoyable and meaningful camp experience.
üThe Israel Center is proud of the progress made in the Youth Department. Daily we see more young people involved in our programs, receiving warmth and caring, rich Jewish values training, and pride in their people and Homeland. May the participants in this year's summer camps go "Michayil el Chayil." - M.P.

Our thanks to the over 400 people who responded to our TT readers’ survey. Your gift will be on its way soon. Winners of the drawing for the Shabbat at Lavi for Two and other “runner-up” prizes, should contact us at the Center. First place winner is: Shmuel Buchwald, Har Nof. The four “other” winners (tape collections and/or books) are: Herbert & Naomi Edelman, Beatrice Safran, Sandra Ironi, and Yehoshua Jacobowitz. Congrats & be in touch.