NESTO - Native English Speakin Teen Olim
This Tuesday Senior NESTO went out of its way to do some chessed. (Yeah, we do that every once in a while…) We went to Bikur Cholim hospital and gave out food and lots of smiles to the sick children and their families.

We received beads, chains and letters for "Refua Shlema" from young children in NCSY’s New England region. We made the bracelets with the kids in the hospital and also gave out the thoughtful letters sent by the children in America. We hope we made the kids happy, even if it was only for a little while.

Junior NESTO enjoyed another shiur in Bet Shemesh. Together, we recapped the entire first chapter of Pirki Avot. We also emphasized the importance of keeping all the mitzvot. No one can decide what mitzva is more important than another. The moment we ignore some mitzvot, slowly, our Torah and Emuna will fade away… Every single mitzva is important, whether we under- stand it or not.

This past Shabbat, we had two of our Junior NESTO Madrichim - Yoel Kahn and Arieh Solomon, spend their Shabbat in Bet shemesh. On Friday night, they made a beautiful Oneg for the chanichim. Thank you to the Yeres family who hosted the Friday night Oneg. Thank you to Rabbi Fischer who enriched us with Divrei Torah and to Mr. Trapido as well, who joined us. A big thank you must also go out to Yoel and Arieh, who initiated the Oneg Shabbat. Kol HaKavod!

Please note: our Junior NESTO cookbooks are still waiting for you at the Israel Center. All proceeds go to charity. Be a part of our Chessed Project and buy one!

All NESTOites, be prepared for the upcoming Shabbatonim and talent shows!

Have any Questions, Suggestions or really good stories? They are always welcome at: Nesto@IsraelCenter.co.il That's all from us, Shabbat Shalom
The Israel Center's youth program for Anglo-Israelis • tel. 566-7787 ext. 250 • fax: 561-7432 • chaveabrahams@hotmail.com • Chaim Pelzner, Director, Chave Herschberg, Coordinator, Mimi Edel, Bat Sherut, NESTO is partially funded by the Jewish Agency for Israel

Israel Center Notes: -
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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, and a cold drinks (cans) machine on the first floor near the library.

The Arnold Abroms Memorial Lending Library: Hours - SUN., MON & WED: 10-5, TUES: - 10-4; THURS: 1-3,MON & WED eve.: 5-8pm

Yankel Winet z”l Torah Tape Libraries including the Israel Center Torah Tape Library and the Aish HaTorah Tape Library at the Center• Sunday, 11:00am-1:00pm, 3:00-5:00pm; Monday - Wednesday, 10:00am-1:00pm

Join 100,000 Jews in reciting the Prayer for IDF soldiers daily and help raise funds to benefit our Israeli soldiers. Buy Tefila L'chayalei Tzahal cards (for yourself, family, and friends) for 5NIS each and be a part of this mitzva! All proceeds benefit injured and needy soldiers. Cards are available at the Israel Center - just ask for them at the front desk

Special thanks to Yad Chaim Zvi and the Markowitz familyfor the gift of Seforim to theYair Landau Memorial Library

We thank Mrs. Bette Lerner for her gift to the Yair Landau Memorial Library

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Yearly membership is 225NIS (family included); LIFE MEMBERSHIP - $500 (payments poss.) • Membership includes lower rates for all Israel Center programs, tiyulim, etc. and a subscription to Jewish Action, the Orthodox Union’s popular quarterly magazine - You can cut and send this form to us atP.O.B. 37015, Jerusalem 91370 or call us (566-7787 ext. 204) with the details and arrange credit card payment by phone or email to trochel@netvision.net.il; Special note to TT readers who do not regularly participate in Israel Center activities (or never): You actually do participate in an Israel Center activity... called: Torah Tidbits; Many people feel that just for Torah Tidbits alone, it’s “worth it” to become members of the Israel Center.We hope you feel that way too.

This is the time to report on the visit of the OU/RCA Mission to Israel from the perspective of the Israel Center. We were very honored that Rabbi Zvi Hirsch Weinreb was able to take time from this very exciting and busy program to meet personally with the staff and to hear of the amazing progress being made in the development of the Center's projects.
In particular, at the end of the tour, together with the Jewish National Fund, we hosted the Mission in what is now the new OU/NCSY Forest in Ein Sejma at the foot of the old site of Masu'ot Yizhak in Gush Etzion. Among those who spoke, Israel Center Dir. Menachem Persoff drew attention to the spiritual meaning of the event and Israel Center Youth Dept. Dir., Rafi Even Danan - who lives close to the site - described the heroic acts of the previous settlers there who gave their lives defending the southern approaches to Jerusalem.

Of special note was the same day celebration with the Mission participants of the first anniversary of our NCSY-style youth program in Sderot at which children, parents, and local dignitaries joined them in the singing and dancing and other festivities. The youngsters in the Makom Balev program took part in presentations based on themes from the Talmud, exchanged gifts with Mission representatives on behalf of NCSY in Central East (with whom they have a twinning program) and received blesssings, inter alia, from Rabbi Weinreb and the Mayor of Sederot. (The next day shells fell on Sederot literally minutes away from the Hesder Yeshiva which hosted the celebration.) Everyone left this celebration with a sense of wonder and achievement, impressed by the dedicated work of the local advisors and the community spirit of cooperation between no less than six partners with the OU in the growth of the Makom Balev chapter. By the summer, we expect to have 500 children registered in this chapter alone!

This report will also highlight the OU Israel Center's developing project - "Shabbat Across Israel" - which last week ran four Shabbat programs in Afikim, Ramot, Had-nes, and Sha'al, in the Golan Heights where most of the settlers are not religious. Some 50 families - all secular - are scheduled soon to have a joint Shabbaton which will inject a new and exciting dimension to this fledgling project. In addition to the above, the dedicated team in the Golan arranges minyanim, shiurim, and special holiday programming, injecting a new sense of Jewish identity among individuals searching for meaning in our generation.