ibim_pg1 - oct10 - Jewish Federation of San Diego County

Village NewsOctober 2010Sha‘ar HanegevRegional CouncilDear Friends and Partners,and motivation culminating in the admirable achievenments of the past few years. Over the past month, wecontinued to incorporate the new Nitzanim Project families from the FSU, the new group of Israelis which hascome to help with the new immigrants (Garin Tzabar B’Kfar) and new and veteran immigrant students from theworld over who have begun their studies at Sapir College while residing on Ibim.Soni ZingerDirectorIbim-San Diego Student VillageIbim’s new Israeli group,Tzabar B’Kfar engage allthe Village residents inan evening of fun, musicand enthusiasm for thecoming year.

Once again, Ibim was happy to host a delegationfrom San Diego. We presented an overview ofthe various Village activities and the challengesin light of the recurring threat of rocket attacks.The delegates met with representatives ofgroups resident on Ibim: Ethiopian students,Nitzanim young families, ulpan and lonesoldiers. All observed a moment of silence in theMarla Bennett memorial corner.In the RunningIbim showed off its best colors last month to greet the team of judges from the Council for aBeautiful Israel which arrived to inspect the premises. After an initial overview, they poked in corners andgrilled the staff. The visit was a crucial facet in the process towards the granting of starred rankings. Ibimhas been awarded the top ranking of five stars eight years in a row.We hope to once again find ourselves worthy of the honor - recognizing our work in educating towardscleanliness and aesthetics, love of nature and the importance of maintaining and beautifying our physicalsurroundings.Representativesof differentgroups onIbim speak tomembers of adelegation fromSan Diego. SoniSinger (r)For more information about the San Diego-Ibim Student Village,contact Soni Singer, Director: SoniS@jafi.org orvisit the JAFI Aliyah and Absorption website:jewishagency.org/aliyahFirst Step toDiscoveryEager to see all of Israeli’s varied landscapes andattractions, Nitzanim Family project and Ulpanparticipants inaugurated their year of discovery with a tripto the capital of Israel and the Jewish people - Jerusalem.They visited the City of David, the Western Wall, MishkenotShe’ananim and the Jewish Quarter. It was a privilege toaccompany them of this journey in their national andpersonal history.Families and students atthe Western Wall, mostfor the first time.Firstly FestiveGarin Tzabar B’Kfar turned the first day ofuniversity studies into a celebration forthe whole Village, including the youngestresidents. Not long after their return fromcampus, the party opened with warmblessings for a successful academic year.Students, families and staff all partookin a whirlwind of activities, music andrefreshment into the late hours of the night.Tzabar B’Kfar is comprised of Israeli SapirCollege students who live on Ibim duringtheir studies and spend a part of every dayworking with the immigrant students andorganizing activities for the entire Villagepopulation.Deepening theCommitmentWasting not a minute, Ibim Ulpanstudents have already spent timevolunteering on a nearby IDF base.Their enthusiasm was boosted bytheir enjoyment, but in any event,Ibim views the value of giving backto Israeli society as a basic tenet ofabsorption. The experience visiblydeepens their connection to Israel,as is proved year after year by ourcooperation with the IDF.In uniform,Ibim Ulpanstudentsvolunteer ata nearby IDFbase.The Jewish Agency is funded byThe Jewish Federations of North America, Keren Hayesod,major Jewish communities and federations, the InternationalFellowship of Christians and Jews, foundations and donorsfrom Israel and around the world.