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10.20.2026 Nosh & Learn with Noa Gefen & Shahar Hermelin
10.20.2026 Nosh & Learn with Noa Gefen & Shahar Hermelin
Jewish National Fund-USA
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1 day ago • 41:48 min
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Transcript
[00:00]
Welcome everyone. I'd like to get us
[00:02]
started. It's 12:00 noon. Welcome to our
[00:06]
Lunch and Learn series and for those of
[00:09]
you on the West Coast to our Nosch and
[00:11]
Learn series. Uh this is a um
[00:16]
weekly monthly uh series that we talk
[00:20]
about different affiliates and learn
[00:22]
more about uh different Jewish National
[00:25]
Fund projects. I'm Heddy Tube. I'm the
[00:28]
executive director here in Atlanta and
[00:31]
it is my pleasure to welcome you all. Uh
[00:35]
I would like to get started to welcome
[00:37]
our guest speakers today. Once I've done
[00:40]
that, they will go ahead and present.
[00:44]
Once their presentation is done, uh we
[00:47]
will open the floor up to a question and
[00:50]
answer series. Please, if you do have
[00:53]
questions that like to be asked, please
[00:55]
populate them in the chat box and we
[00:58]
will go in order it was received.
[01:02]
Without
[01:04]
further delay, it is my pleasure to
[01:07]
welcome Noah Gafen, the executive vice
[01:10]
chairwoman of the Society for
[01:12]
Preservation of Israel Heritage Sites, a
[01:15]
nonprofit organization which restores,
[01:18]
preserves, and maintains vital and
[01:21]
historical heritage sites throughout
[01:23]
Israel. Under her stewardship, Spice
[01:26]
takes on a new restoration project every
[01:29]
year, such as the Ayalon Institute
[01:32]
Secret Bullet Factory and the Atlit
[01:34]
Detention Camp. Today, Spice is the
[01:37]
umbrella organization for close to 200
[01:40]
of these heritage sites, which represent
[01:43]
important milestones in Israel's path to
[01:46]
independence and which attract millions
[01:48]
of visitors from Israel and around the
[01:50]
world each year. Ms. Gafen is a lifelong
[01:54]
Zionist and a tireless champion for
[01:57]
Israel and the Jewish people who follow
[02:00]
closely in her family's footsteps. Both
[02:03]
her parents fought in the Palmach and
[02:05]
her father, the late Yehuda Dekel,
[02:07]
founder of Spice, was an esteemed leader
[02:11]
in the state who devoted his life to the
[02:13]
development of the Negev and the
[02:15]
Galilee. Her late grandfather, Eliyahu
[02:19]
Dobkin, an important Zionist leader and
[02:21]
one of the founders of the state of
[02:23]
Israel, served as the head of the Aliyah
[02:26]
Department during World War II and the
[02:28]
Holocaust, bringing thousand thousands
[02:31]
of Jews to safety during those years. He
[02:35]
was also one of the signatories of
[02:37]
Israel's Declaration
[02:39]
of Independence.
[02:41]
It is also my pleasure to introduce to
[02:44]
you Mr. Shahar Herlin.
[02:48]
has been the spokesperson of the Society
[02:50]
for Preservation of Israel Heritage
[02:52]
Sites since July of 2022. It's his
[02:56]
second term in this position.
[02:58]
Shahar was born and raised in Kibbutz
[03:01]
Ramat David in northern Israel. After
[03:04]
his military service in the Air Force,
[03:07]
he returned to his Kibbutz and worked in
[03:09]
the dairy farms for years. After leaving
[03:12]
the Kibbutz in 1992, he worked as a
[03:15]
journal journalist for local newspapers,
[03:18]
TV, and radio stations, and later as a
[03:21]
spokesperson for Spice.
[03:25]
During all that time, he also a
[03:28]
professional basketball referee.
[03:30]
Between 2008 and 2022, Shahar was Jewish
[03:35]
National Fund's Director of Tourism in
[03:37]
Israel and was in charge for more than
[03:40]
230 JNF missions and over 3,000 visits
[03:45]
of JNF donors and guests. Shahar is
[03:48]
married to Daniella and a very proud
[03:50]
father of a son and two daughters. Noah,
[03:54]
Shahar, welcome.
[03:57]
>> Okay. Well, thank you after this such a
[04:00]
warm introductions.
[04:02]
So, we can just leave and go and you can
[04:04]
continue.
[04:05]
But anyway, good morning, good
[04:07]
afternoon, and and good evening from
[04:09]
Israel. It's
[04:11]
always
[04:12]
wonderful wonderful to be among friends
[04:15]
and friends and if if I might say among
[04:19]
family.
[04:20]
Uh
[04:21]
I love to see some wonderful face
[04:25]
faces on the screen and and I miss all
[04:28]
of you very very much.
[04:30]
For those of you that are not familiar
[04:34]
with our work or with me or Shahar, so
[04:37]
this is So, thank you so much
[04:39]
for everyone who worked to put this
[04:41]
program together and and let's hope that
[04:44]
in the next half an hour or so
[04:47]
we'll get to know more
[04:49]
uh about our mutual work and also about
[04:54]
more about myself and about Shahar.
[04:56]
So again, thank you so much for coming.
[04:59]
I will turn it now very shortly to
[05:02]
Shahar
[05:04]
uh that will give us all let's say a
[05:08]
background and introduction
[05:11]
uh about SPICE. What is it? What does it
[05:13]
mean? We keep saying SPICE SPICE SPICE,
[05:16]
but you know, for some of you of you
[05:19]
like like Ira or Myra or Lynn
[05:23]
and and Barbara, they can give this talk
[05:26]
and lead this conversation
[05:29]
instead of us.
[05:30]
But for some of you, I'm sure that it's
[05:33]
a little bit something new, so we would
[05:36]
love to give you some introduction.
[05:38]
Um and we would like of course to take
[05:41]
some time and to share with you
[05:44]
what is happening on the ground right
[05:46]
now as we speak.
[05:49]
Uh
[05:50]
so with your permission, I will just
[05:52]
share a few slides short presentation
[05:54]
that we have prepared for you.
[05:57]
And and Shahar, you can start take over.
[06:03]
>> Thank you, Sophie. Share me out your
[06:04]
screen, people will be able to see our
[06:07]
presentation. Hi everyone.
[06:10]
Good afternoon. Good morning.
[06:14]
>> Can you see my screen? Can you see my
[06:15]
screen, guys?
[06:17]
>> Yes, we can.
[06:18]
>> Terrific.
[06:20]
>> Always happy to see our friends on the
[06:23]
wrong side of the Atlantic.
[06:26]
So
[06:28]
let's talk a little bit about the
[06:29]
Society for Preservation of Israel
[06:31]
Heritage Sites or Spice for short.
[06:34]
Um
[06:36]
You're looking at
[06:38]
historic photo of the Herzliya
[06:39]
Gymnasium, one of the most famous
[06:41]
schools in Israeli history, mostly
[06:44]
because it was the first school that
[06:46]
insisted on teaching only in Hebrew.
[06:49]
That was unheard of at the beginning of
[06:51]
the 20th century.
[06:53]
Um but they insisted and
[06:56]
they became a symbol
[06:58]
of the Hebrew language and of education,
[07:01]
but in 1957, in order to make way
[07:04]
to the first skyscraper in Tel Aviv, the
[07:07]
Shalom Tower, they tore down the entire
[07:09]
place. Didn't leave one stone.
[07:12]
Um
[07:14]
They regretted it a week later, but of
[07:15]
course it was too late. This is why as
[07:18]
you can see on the left side of the blue
[07:20]
stripe, we have made it our logo. So
[07:24]
people will always remember that some
[07:27]
places, some sites are worth preserving
[07:30]
for the future generation.
[07:33]
So what is Spice? We were founded almost
[07:36]
42 years ago. It's going to be 42 years
[07:39]
in in December.
[07:40]
Uh with three main missions
[07:43]
to prevent the destruction of important
[07:45]
uh, historic sites in uh, in uh, Israel.
[07:49]
And when I say historic
[07:50]
I do not mean ancient history. Um,
[07:54]
Masada, the Kotel, Caesarea, these are
[07:57]
all antiquities
[07:59]
that are protected under the Antiquity
[08:00]
Law.
[08:01]
But there was no law protecting um,
[08:04]
historic sites and buildings post the
[08:07]
year 1700.
[08:10]
Um,
[08:12]
we were founded in order to make sure
[08:15]
that these sites that tell such
[08:16]
important stories uh, will be preserved.
[08:20]
Uh, another mission of ours was to do
[08:23]
actual preservation.
[08:25]
Uh, physical preservation with a team of
[08:27]
preservers. Um,
[08:29]
preservation is an art.
[08:31]
You cannot get your regular contractor
[08:33]
to do preservation. You have to know how
[08:35]
to do it. Uh, which materials to use and
[08:38]
so on. So we have a team that have
[08:41]
learned that. Many of them came from the
[08:43]
former Soviet Union where preservation
[08:45]
is considered to be one of the most
[08:46]
prestigious occupations. Uh, and they do
[08:50]
the actual preservation of heritage
[08:53]
sites uh, across Israel. And our last
[08:56]
uh, mission originally, as you can see
[08:58]
on your screen, we are the umbrella
[09:00]
organization for now almost 230 heritage
[09:04]
sites across Israel. Each and every one
[09:07]
of which tells one story.
[09:09]
Um,
[09:10]
one what we call a piece of a puzzle
[09:12]
called the road to Israel's
[09:13]
independence.
[09:15]
Um, the oldest site under our umbrella
[09:18]
has to be
[09:20]
Mikve Israel, the first agricultural
[09:22]
school, uh,
[09:24]
which is where the Mossad headquarters
[09:26]
is, founded 1870.
[09:29]
But the rest of them have to do with
[09:31]
settling in Eretz Israel, the first
[09:34]
moshavot, the pioneers in the Galilee,
[09:36]
the pioneers in the Negev, how we
[09:37]
brought water to the Negev, um homes of
[09:40]
famous people like Ben-Gurion and Rabin
[09:44]
and Begin and Bialik and and so many
[09:46]
others. Uh of course, many of them, you
[09:49]
know, Israel's history very well. Many
[09:52]
of them have to do with um Israel's
[09:55]
wars, uh with the different undergrounds
[09:58]
that operated uh in the country in the
[10:01]
pre-state days,
[10:03]
and so on.
[10:04]
Um
[10:05]
So, these are the missions we were
[10:08]
founded for.
[10:10]
>> [snorts]
[10:10]
>> But uh uh as we all know and as you can
[10:14]
see as as the presentation goes on,
[10:17]
um
[10:19]
everything in in this country um has
[10:22]
changed uh
[10:23]
um on October 7th, um
[10:27]
we we were um
[10:30]
forced to uh to pivot as Noah will tell
[10:33]
you in a second. What I do want to share
[10:36]
before that is that we are one of the um
[10:41]
probably oldest affiliates of Jewish
[10:43]
National Fund USA in um in Israel,
[10:46]
meaning that we've been partners for
[10:48]
almost 30 years
[10:50]
uh doing many, many great things
[10:52]
together. You're looking at the uh
[10:54]
state-of-the-art lobby at the Ayalon
[10:57]
Institute, the bullet factory here on
[10:59]
the right hand side, um and we've been
[11:01]
doing great things with JNF um in Atlit,
[11:06]
in uh Ayalon, in Itzanim, uh Har'out
[11:10]
Museum in the Upper Galilee, and and
[11:12]
many, many more.
[11:13]
Uh we just don't have enough time to go
[11:16]
all of uh um through all of them. This
[11:18]
is Atlit detention camp, uh the famous
[11:21]
Galina boat. Uh I'm sure some of you
[11:24]
have been there. If not, you should
[11:26]
definitely come
[11:27]
um in the next um the next time you're
[11:30]
in Israel. Before I turn it over to
[11:32]
Noah, I just want to tell you that um
[11:36]
the essence of spice is that
[11:38]
Jewish National Fund USA um has done
[11:42]
many great things in Israel, is doing
[11:44]
many great things in Israel as we speak,
[11:45]
and no doubt will be doing great things
[11:48]
in Israel in the future. But none of
[11:50]
this um
[11:52]
would have happened if it wasn't for
[11:54]
those people who were there first. Um
[11:57]
all the pioneers and the visionaries,
[12:00]
and their stories are told in in our
[12:03]
heritage sites. So, remember um while
[12:07]
there are many names that you you you've
[12:10]
got to know over the years, there are
[12:13]
tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of
[12:16]
what we call the unsung heroes of
[12:18]
Israel's independence. And in order to
[12:20]
honor them, you really need to come and
[12:23]
visit the heritage sites where their
[12:25]
stories are told. And uh since we only
[12:28]
have half an hour, I'm turn it over to
[12:30]
Noah to tell you about what has happened
[12:33]
since October 7th.
[12:36]
>> Yeah, thank you so much, Shahar. And And
[12:38]
I really want to invite you all
[12:41]
let's have it as a very kind of an open
[12:44]
conversation. If you have question and
[12:47]
you want to comment anything, just, you
[12:49]
know, feel free to do so. As I said in
[12:51]
the beginning, many of you are so
[12:53]
familiar with our work. Um and just
[12:58]
maybe another comment
[13:01]
when Shahar and I were introduced in in
[13:04]
the beginning, so you very kindly also
[13:07]
spoke about our families.
[13:09]
And this is right, because even just
[13:11]
looking in this picture and and and
[13:14]
maybe you can have the opportunity to
[13:16]
hear from Shahar about his personal
[13:19]
connection about the immigration to
[13:21]
Israel.
[13:23]
Uh uh and but I have so many stories
[13:26]
about my own family uh that is so much
[13:29]
connected to the rebirth time and the
[13:32]
establishment of the state of Israel as
[13:35]
was mentioned my father was actually the
[13:38]
founder of the society for preservation
[13:41]
of Israel heritage sites the
[13:42]
organization that both Shahar and myself
[13:45]
and our team are so proud to be part of
[13:48]
and my grandfather was a signatory of
[13:50]
the declaration of independence so I
[13:53]
guess for us
[13:54]
it's so much more than than something
[13:56]
that we do for a living it's it's part
[13:59]
of our life it's part of who we are
[14:03]
and and I believe that each one of you
[14:06]
has a story has a connection it's part
[14:09]
of us in a way
[14:12]
but with your permission
[14:15]
let's continue
[14:17]
So we spoke about spice and how it was
[14:21]
founded 40 years ago and how we
[14:26]
are very proud to say that we so far
[14:29]
have managed to open more than 230
[14:32]
heritage sites from the Galilee to the
[14:34]
Negev from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv to the
[14:38]
public and how we are collaborating with
[14:40]
Jewish National Fund of USA for so many
[14:43]
years
[14:44]
but of course as we all know
[14:48]
our reality and our life actually
[14:52]
has changed change
[14:54]
in a very
[14:57]
in many different ways
[14:59]
uh
[15:01]
first from the personal point of view
[15:04]
we lost many people that we that we knew
[15:08]
our children are are participating in
[15:11]
this war literally fighting this war as
[15:14]
we speak I have two boys in who are
[15:18]
soldiers one of them is a reservist one
[15:21]
of them is in doing his active duty. Uh
[15:24]
Shahar daughters are also one of them is
[15:27]
still in in in the army. Uh
[15:30]
so this is part of our life and we just
[15:33]
recently commemorate and and mark the
[15:36]
the the the third anniversary of October
[15:39]
7th of course.
[15:42]
Uh
[15:42]
but what we need also to understand and
[15:45]
you probably heard it by now
[15:49]
uh from the JNF
[15:51]
USA perspective and maybe other
[15:53]
organizations or initiatives that you
[15:56]
are
[15:57]
participating participating with.
[16:00]
But we
[16:01]
as organization, the Society for the
[16:03]
Preservation of Israel Heritage Sites
[16:06]
had to change the way
[16:09]
uh uh
[16:10]
we do things, the way we work, the the
[16:13]
way we operate uh uh
[16:15]
our our heritage sites and so much more.
[16:19]
Uh I believe that by now, I hope so,
[16:22]
many of you have heard about the
[16:25]
resilience program
[16:27]
that we literally started right from the
[16:30]
beginning.
[16:31]
Right day after that terrifying Shabbat,
[16:35]
the terrifying
[16:37]
Saturday of October 7th we knew that we
[16:40]
need to act.
[16:42]
So we started to send our team to the
[16:45]
different emergency centers and hotels
[16:48]
all over the country
[16:50]
in order to understand how
[16:54]
can we help.
[16:56]
As
[16:58]
the days and the weeks and the month
[17:01]
went by
[17:03]
we came up with a very comprehensive
[17:06]
program that now we know how to name it.
[17:09]
Now we call it JNF USA Spice Resilience
[17:13]
program.
[17:14]
And it's all about
[17:16]
using in a good way
[17:19]
our heritage
[17:20]
in order actually to help different
[17:24]
populations, our people
[17:27]
in so many ways.
[17:29]
So during so many of
[17:32]
for example the Iranian wars, we had
[17:35]
unfortunately so many of them. We
[17:37]
literally brought
[17:40]
different activities for kids and for
[17:42]
families and for teenagers literally
[17:45]
under fires
[17:47]
to bomb shelters.
[17:48]
Either it would be in Kiryat Shmona or
[17:50]
when it was needed also in places like
[17:53]
like Beersheba or even or even in Tel
[17:55]
Aviv
[17:57]
or or Jerusalem.
[17:59]
We are working
[18:00]
with like
[18:02]
so many seniors
[18:04]
in in in in in I would say in the Gaza
[18:07]
envelope area, but also in the Galilee
[18:09]
in the north. We know that many of our
[18:12]
seniors
[18:14]
went through very challenging days and
[18:16]
and and years so far.
[18:19]
They had to to leave their homes for
[18:21]
such a long time.
[18:23]
But then even when they started to go
[18:25]
back to their community, it wasn't the
[18:28]
same anymore. So by bringing them like
[18:31]
weekly activities that it's all based
[18:34]
about again about our heritage and our
[18:37]
stories and and the story of the
[18:39]
creation of the state of Israel,
[18:41]
we are bringing them not just a little
[18:43]
bit of relief, but also something to do
[18:47]
and something to do in a more like
[18:50]
regular way.
[18:51]
Helping them to get back to some
[18:55]
routine that all of you that have maybe
[18:59]
older members in your families maybe can
[19:02]
relate to that and understand how much
[19:05]
it's important for old people.
[19:09]
We have so many women that unfortunately
[19:13]
are suffering from a
[19:16]
a
[19:16]
so many difficulties nowadays.
[19:20]
And we speak, of course, about so many
[19:23]
young women that we became widows. They
[19:26]
lost
[19:28]
their their spouses
[19:31]
being so young. And I'm talking about
[19:34]
they can be sometime 26, 27, 28 years
[19:38]
old. Can you imagine to yourself like
[19:41]
losing your love of your life in that
[19:43]
kind of a
[19:44]
age? So, we created special programs for
[19:48]
them. Look at this picture, please.
[19:52]
They are smiling. They are They look as
[19:55]
if maybe they are happy
[19:57]
even for few hours. In this picture,
[20:00]
this is one example of a workshop that
[20:03]
we did for a group of women in one of
[20:06]
our heritage sites. In this case, it's
[20:08]
in Mikve Israel, a beautiful place just
[20:12]
outside of of Tel Aviv
[20:14]
and near the city of Holon.
[20:16]
Um
[20:18]
maybe
[20:20]
you know, when they will go back at
[20:22]
night back to their you know, to their
[20:24]
bed alone, it will be hard again.
[20:27]
But at least for few hours, we gave them
[20:29]
the opportunity to be together among
[20:33]
other women that are experiencing the
[20:37]
same situation.
[20:40]
We are working with other communities,
[20:42]
like for example, the Nova
[20:45]
We call them the Nova families.
[20:47]
We are all familiar with the Nova
[20:49]
Festival
[20:51]
and how many young and not just young
[20:55]
men and and women
[20:57]
were murdered at the Nova Festival.
[21:00]
So, we created special programs, for
[21:03]
example, for mothers
[21:05]
uh,
[21:06]
kids. Yeah, they were kids
[21:08]
who lost their their their beloved one.
[21:11]
And in this case, we are doing a
[21:14]
very special program in one of our
[21:17]
heritage sites. It's called It's
[21:19]
actually within the Palmachim
[21:21]
kibbutz. It's our
[21:24]
Palmachim Heritage Museum.
[21:27]
And over there, because it's so close to
[21:30]
the ocean, it's so close to the sea,
[21:33]
we created water-based
[21:36]
therapy sessions.
[21:38]
So, they are coming for a full day of
[21:40]
retreat.
[21:42]
In the beginning, in the next hour or
[21:45]
so, we we offer them a beautiful
[21:47]
breakfast overlooking the ocean. Then,
[21:51]
we are doing about 3 to 4 hours
[21:55]
water-based therapy.
[21:57]
Later on,
[21:58]
we all
[22:00]
get together and and we
[22:03]
we are we are bringing actually
[22:04]
professionals
[22:06]
that will talk with
[22:09]
the mothers and will give them the
[22:11]
opportunity to process and to talk and
[22:14]
to share their personal story.
[22:17]
This kind of sessions are so powerful.
[22:20]
And again,
[22:21]
it's it's in our hands to give them
[22:25]
those opportunities
[22:27]
to overcome, even for a little bit,
[22:31]
the situation that they are at.
[22:34]
And of course, our soldiers. And and
[22:38]
excuse me for being so emotional here.
[22:41]
Uh,
[22:41]
because again, as a mother, as a mother
[22:44]
to two
[22:46]
two heroes, you know, I grew up all of
[22:48]
my life
[22:50]
to appreciate so much
[22:52]
the previous generation, my parents'
[22:54]
generation and and their parents. All of
[22:56]
a sudden, the the you know, the soldiers
[22:59]
that we see here on the screen,
[23:02]
they're the hero the heroes right now.
[23:06]
They're the one that we owe them
[23:09]
our lives. No other way to put it.
[23:11]
They're the one that are still fighting
[23:13]
our second war of independence.
[23:16]
And and we are doing anything we can,
[23:19]
anything in in our power
[23:22]
to try, even a little bit, to help them
[23:25]
to get back to their
[23:27]
their previous life.
[23:29]
Unfortunately,
[23:32]
so many of our soldiers
[23:34]
uh
[23:35]
uh suffered from different kind of
[23:38]
either it could be PTSD or were
[23:40]
physically wounded. We're talking about
[23:43]
uh
[23:45]
something like
[23:46]
I think 30,000
[23:48]
soldiers
[23:50]
that were wounded from this war.
[23:53]
This is enormous. Never in you know in
[23:56]
Israel's history before we had numbers
[23:59]
like that.
[24:00]
So, we are doing programs in heritage
[24:03]
sites
[24:04]
all over the country on a daily basis
[24:07]
in order to help our soldiers.
[24:13]
So, what I would like to invite you is
[24:16]
to to look Look at this this slide for a
[24:19]
minute and listen, please, to the
[24:21]
number.
[24:23]
We are talking about 400,000
[24:27]
Israelis
[24:29]
that have participated in our resilience
[24:32]
program so far. JNF USA Spies Growth and
[24:37]
Resilience Program.
[24:39]
And this is, guys, all thanks to you.
[24:43]
Because by sitting, it doesn't matter if
[24:46]
you're in Arizona or in Florida or or in
[24:49]
in Washington, D.C. or in San Diego.
[24:53]
But but making the decision, this is
[24:55]
something I'm supporting. This is
[24:58]
something I'm going to help JNF and and
[25:00]
Spice to continue on doing.
[25:03]
You have such a huge impact on people's
[25:08]
life
[25:09]
here in Israel.
[25:11]
And it's
[25:12]
and I know that we have so much more
[25:14]
work to do. And we will talk about it
[25:17]
maybe in the next few minutes that we
[25:18]
have left.
[25:20]
But
[25:21]
if we won't make sure
[25:23]
that we are going to help our people
[25:26]
with the healing process,
[25:28]
then it doesn't matter how doesn't
[25:31]
matter how many more buildings we got we
[25:34]
will be able to fix or or or to build
[25:37]
because we need first to help the
[25:40]
people. And this is our main goal
[25:43]
in the last 3 years.
[25:46]
And this is something that we are going
[25:47]
to continue on doing.
[25:51]
So, where do we go from here?
[25:53]
Uh
[25:54]
uh
[25:54]
uh
[25:55]
I think first
[25:57]
if the in the beginning we named our
[25:59]
program
[26:01]
the resilience program. JNF you say
[26:03]
Spice
[26:04]
resilience program. So, recently we kind
[26:07]
of decided to add the word growth
[26:11]
because we understand that this is a
[26:13]
process. This is something that we need
[26:15]
to continue on looking on the future
[26:18]
and to see how we going to continue.
[26:21]
Maybe it will be
[26:22]
sometime in tiny steps.
[26:25]
It It's not something that we will
[26:26]
happen overnight.
[26:29]
But sometimes we can we need to to hold
[26:32]
each other and and take each other, you
[26:34]
know, hold our hands and to
[26:37]
continue going in this path.
[26:40]
And again,
[26:41]
uh making sure that we are helping each
[26:43]
other uh to heal.
[26:46]
But of course, we have
[26:49]
uh uh
[26:50]
and now I'm going back to what Shahar
[26:52]
spoke in like earlier in the beginning
[26:55]
of this conversation.
[26:57]
We are still responsible for so many
[27:01]
heritage sites around the country.
[27:04]
And unfortunately, many of them, the one
[27:07]
that are located either in the in the
[27:09]
Galilee, in the upper Galilee, or in the
[27:11]
western Galilee, or those that we have
[27:14]
in in the Gaza envelope, along the
[27:16]
borders of over there as well,
[27:20]
have suffered greatly
[27:22]
from this war.
[27:23]
And I'm not I'm not talking just, you
[27:25]
know, about physical
[27:27]
damage. Although here, this beautiful
[27:30]
synagogue in Metula, just
[27:33]
by the border, was physically damaged.
[27:36]
And we have many other places like that.
[27:39]
But all of them
[27:42]
suffered from the economical point of
[27:44]
view, from the lack of tourism and and
[27:47]
and visitors.
[27:49]
So, it's our responsibility to help at
[27:53]
least the 20 25 sites that we have in
[27:56]
the north, and the 15 sites that we have
[27:59]
down south,
[28:01]
to help them actually to get back on
[28:03]
their feet.
[28:05]
So, have beautiful and very
[28:08]
comprehensive
[28:10]
development plans for many of them,
[28:13]
because it's our responsibility to tell
[28:15]
their stories
[28:17]
of these of each of these places. Like
[28:20]
Yad Mordechai, that may maybe some of
[28:22]
you are familiar with the story. And if
[28:24]
not, we would love to share it in more
[28:28]
details
[28:31]
in in another opportunity.
[28:34]
But this is our responsibility to make
[28:37]
sure
[28:38]
that what happened here
[28:41]
80 years ago, 70 years ago, in '48 war,
[28:45]
but also now, 3 years ago,
[28:48]
these are things that we and stories
[28:52]
that we're going to share with our
[28:55]
children, with your children, with our
[28:58]
grandchildren, and again, for generate
[29:00]
with generations to come.
[29:02]
Uh, we have a new story to tell. Uh,
[29:06]
the story of the of the of of October
[29:08]
7th and this current war.
[29:12]
It's It's not just something that just
[29:13]
happened in one day and that's it. It's
[29:16]
still happening and we And to be honest,
[29:19]
we're still looking for the right right
[29:22]
way how to go about it. And it's not an
[29:25]
easy mission to do.
[29:27]
We are sometimes struggling among
[29:29]
ourselves.
[29:31]
What is the best way to go about and
[29:34]
commemorate and share this story? But
[29:36]
this is something that we'll
[29:38]
promise to ourselves
[29:41]
to continue on doing.
[29:44]
We would like to invite you
[29:46]
to continue joining our mission
[29:49]
uh to support the resilience program,
[29:52]
help us renew the north and the south,
[29:56]
and of course, preserve and protect the
[29:58]
Zionist story.
[30:00]
Uh,
[30:02]
it's our mission. It's our shared
[30:04]
mission.
[30:05]
And I hope that we'll find a way uh
[30:09]
to be able to make sure how we're going
[30:11]
to go about it.
[30:13]
There are wonderful giving
[30:14]
opportunities.
[30:16]
Each one of you, in every level of
[30:18]
giving, can be part of the either the
[30:21]
resilience program that again, helping
[30:25]
like thousands of thousands of people
[30:28]
all over the country,
[30:30]
uh
[30:30]
and of course, the different capital
[30:33]
projects in places like Ayalon, Akko,
[30:37]
and and and those sites in the in the
[30:39]
Galilee or in uh the negative.
[30:43]
Um
[30:46]
Thank you so much as always and
[30:49]
I know really want to invite us all
[30:54]
to have
[30:55]
you know an open conversation.
[31:00]
And please this is it's our story. It's
[31:02]
our shared story.
[31:05]
>> Great. Thank you so much Noah and Shahar
[31:07]
toda. I would like to open for 5 minutes
[31:12]
of questions. If you can populate your
[31:13]
questions in the chat. Eric Passman had
[31:17]
a question. Is there a list of
[31:18]
historical sites that we can incorporate
[31:21]
in a future visit? And if you can please
[31:25]
go ahead and put that link in the chat.
[31:30]
Noah and Shahar.
[31:32]
>> Shahar, would you like that to address
[31:33]
that?
[31:35]
>> We have heritage sites we can
[31:36]
incorporate.
[31:38]
Um
[31:39]
How many do you want?
[31:40]
>> Do if there's a list of sites?
[31:43]
>> There's a list there's a list on the
[31:46]
if you Google Society for Preservation
[31:49]
of Israel Heritage site then
[31:52]
you will find that we have a really good
[31:55]
website in English
[31:57]
the list is on the home page according
[32:00]
to geographical areas. You can just
[32:04]
wherever you are in the country there
[32:05]
are dozens and dozens of of sites you
[32:09]
can choose from according to what
[32:10]
interests you.
[32:12]
Again 230 sites that that's quite a lot.
[32:15]
So just
[32:17]
look for it on on our home page.
[32:20]
>> Great.
[32:20]
>> And I would like I would like to say
[32:22]
even more if you like for those of you
[32:25]
who are planning a trip to Israel.
[32:27]
Please don't be a stranger.
[32:30]
Feel free to write
[32:32]
to me or to Shahar. Let us know when are
[32:35]
you coming
[32:37]
which area are you planning to visit? We
[32:39]
would love to give you some nice
[32:42]
recommendations.
[32:44]
If you have you find it difficult to
[32:46]
reach us, feel free to you know, connect
[32:49]
your local JNF professionals
[32:52]
and they can
[32:56]
reach us as well, but we would love to
[32:59]
give you like a person some personal
[33:02]
recommendations as well.
[33:06]
>> Excellent. Thank you all so much. And if
[33:10]
there are no more questions, there's an
[33:12]
excellent newsletter of spice.
[33:16]
And please if you can share how to sign
[33:19]
up for that.
[33:20]
We will Noah and Shahar will be at the
[33:24]
global conference next month in San
[33:26]
Diego. We hope
[33:28]
to see you all there. We are practically
[33:31]
almost sold out. So we're excited for
[33:33]
that. And the women for Israel the next
[33:38]
WFI newsletter will go ahead and feature
[33:43]
about healing and innovative resilience
[33:45]
programs that are now being run by
[33:47]
spice.
[33:48]
>> I believe Jay had a question if I saw
[33:51]
right.
[33:52]
>> Thanks Noah. Thanks Noah and Shahar for
[33:54]
for doing this. We really appreciate it.
[33:56]
Just a question when when we were in
[33:58]
Israel probably a half a dozen years
[34:00]
ago, we were able to obtain again on the
[34:02]
question of the sites
[34:04]
spice. I don't even know if they did it
[34:06]
if if they did it, but you produced a
[34:08]
booklet a small little booklet of about
[34:10]
all the different sites to see and it
[34:13]
was quite it it went over extremely well
[34:15]
at at donor events and things like that.
[34:17]
And I know it's a costly production. Do
[34:20]
you still do that as opposed to the
[34:21]
newsletter cuz I mean we have these big
[34:23]
events. You hand this thing out and it
[34:24]
just it sells itself. I just don't know
[34:26]
if we still do that.
[34:28]
>> We still have this book.
[34:31]
We
[34:32]
as a matter of fact, yeah. Thank you,
[34:33]
Barbara.
[34:35]
>> [laughter]
[34:36]
>> Our model for for for for this morning.
[34:38]
Yeah, we still have this book. We are
[34:41]
actually working on a on a new edition.
[34:45]
>> Okay.
[34:45]
>> So
[34:48]
So once the new edition will be ready,
[34:50]
if you know about a specific event that
[34:53]
you would like us to send you, you know,
[34:55]
copies,
[34:56]
we can, you know, work on that. We did
[34:59]
it in the past and and and I think it
[35:02]
went very well.
[35:03]
For people that are will attend the the
[35:06]
global conference, they will have an
[35:08]
opportunity to receive a copy.
[35:10]
We
[35:12]
are going to bring with us a bunch.
[35:14]
And if you know about you know, a
[35:17]
specific person that's is looking for a
[35:19]
copy, let us know. We would love to
[35:22]
to mail it and
[35:25]
and I think yes, it's a wonderful
[35:28]
tool to have
[35:29]
information about.
[35:32]
Um
[35:33]
>> Well, thank you. Yeah, really
[35:35]
without being there it brings the sites
[35:36]
to life. They're really is quite quite a
[35:39]
production. So
[35:40]
but thanks to what what you and Shahar
[35:42]
do, we appreciate it.
[35:44]
>> Yeah.
[35:44]
>> And how [clears throat] do you you can
[35:46]
share the link I sent you on the group
[35:48]
chat. I sent a link to all the list of
[35:51]
heritage sites. So you can those of you
[35:54]
who are interested, you can you can look
[35:56]
for it. And Jay, will I see you in San
[35:58]
Diego?
[35:59]
>> Yeah, that's the that's the plan. And
[36:00]
just for the folks on the on the call
[36:02]
that haven't had the pleasure, Shahar
[36:04]
was back was probably what, in June I
[36:05]
think you were visiting us up here in
[36:07]
Boston and we had quite a quite a
[36:09]
showing at at the temple and similar
[36:12]
presentation, but it went very went over
[36:14]
very well. So thank you again for that.
[36:17]
>> Thank you for having me.
[36:18]
>> And the link is in the chat as well if
[36:22]
you'd like to go ahead. And
[36:23]
>> Before we say goodbye and I really want
[36:27]
I know that some of some of them had
[36:29]
already to leave, but Anne Zimmerman is
[36:31]
still with us. Uh
[36:34]
Anne is one of our dear, dear, dear
[36:36]
members of the heritage sites
[36:39]
task force, or the way we call it Israel
[36:41]
Independence Experience
[36:44]
uh task force, a very long name.
[36:47]
Actually, to say that
[36:49]
she is part of us and and help us to to
[36:53]
go about
[36:54]
planning our work and how to promote it
[36:57]
and how to present it to more people.
[37:00]
So, Anne, if if it's that okay, if you
[37:02]
want to say a word or two
[37:04]
to people that are not so familiar with,
[37:07]
you know, from from from your point of
[37:09]
view.
[37:11]
Uh
[37:12]
we would love
[37:14]
to hear from you.
[37:16]
>> [clears throat]
[37:17]
>> If that's okay.
[37:20]
But, you're muted, honey.
[37:22]
>> I I just sorry.
[37:24]
Sure, yeah. You put me on the spot here.
[37:28]
I
[37:28]
have learned from experience how
[37:31]
important it is to really pay attention
[37:35]
to the historical sites.
[37:38]
I've learned that I had a relationship
[37:41]
with the bullet factory.
[37:43]
If I'd only paid more attention to the
[37:45]
Hebrew, but I don't speak it, so
[37:48]
it didn't
[37:50]
um
[37:51]
But, it's really important to know where
[37:53]
you came from, to know where you're
[37:55]
going.
[37:57]
And I think in the resiliency, that is
[38:00]
really important as well. We're helping
[38:02]
them realize
[38:05]
how the people in the past have saved
[38:08]
them.
[38:10]
And moving forward, that they are doing
[38:12]
the same thing now. They're saving their
[38:14]
country. And they're saving our country.
[38:17]
And I don't think there's anything more
[38:19]
important than that. Helping these
[38:21]
heroes, and they're all heroes,
[38:23]
including Noam and Zahara. They're
[38:25]
giving up a lot to be there.
[38:28]
And the history they connect to is very
[38:30]
important, and I think we should all pay
[38:32]
attention to that and what the
[38:34]
resilience can do from being at these
[38:37]
sites.
[38:39]
>> Yeah.
[38:40]
I cannot agree more, and if I can just
[38:42]
conclude
[38:44]
with one story before we say goodbye.
[38:48]
Uh
[38:49]
and and again, talking about how we are
[38:51]
helping
[38:53]
people's life.
[38:55]
There's something that is people don't
[38:58]
talk so much about it so much is and
[39:01]
that's the very sad part of how
[39:04]
unfortunately
[39:07]
some of our soldiers are taking their
[39:09]
lives.
[39:11]
It's just too hard for them uh
[39:14]
to overcome the the the the experience
[39:18]
and and and and the situation that they
[39:20]
are at they were at in the last uh
[39:24]
3 years now.
[39:25]
Um
[39:27]
so we we understood
[39:30]
that with doing those programs,
[39:34]
you know, for so many populations, but
[39:35]
also for the soldiers,
[39:37]
if by doing that, we will be able to
[39:40]
save
[39:42]
one more kiddo,
[39:44]
one more child,
[39:46]
and I'm and I'm not just talking about
[39:49]
random stories or or people that we
[39:51]
don't know. Unfortunately,
[39:54]
three of my son's
[39:57]
friends committed suicide.
[40:00]
And and this is like people I know. It's
[40:02]
not just people that you read about it
[40:04]
in the paper.
[40:06]
So, I know that if we will be able to
[40:09]
continue doing these programs and
[40:12]
helping kids like that
[40:14]
and helping another young widow to
[40:17]
smile.
[40:18]
Or another child
[40:20]
from Kiryat Shmona
[40:22]
or from Eshkol to feel a little bit
[40:25]
better.
[40:26]
This is for me
[40:29]
means the world.
[40:31]
And I know that this if No, this is
[40:34]
something that we do together. Again,
[40:35]
it's I know we have Shahar and and we
[40:38]
are part of wonderful team that wakes up
[40:41]
up every morning and and each one of us
[40:45]
is part of this wonderful work and and
[40:48]
mission.
[40:50]
But it's all thanks to you. So, this is
[40:52]
why it's collaborated
[40:54]
efforts that we are continuing doing
[40:57]
together
[40:58]
on a daily basis. You do it in your
[41:00]
communities
[41:02]
and and we are doing our work here and
[41:04]
together
[41:05]
we can move things forward.
[41:08]
Uh
[41:09]
but I really want you to understand the
[41:12]
importance of it.
[41:14]
And how together
[41:17]
we are,
[41:18]
you know, affecting people's lives
[41:20]
in such wonderful and beautiful way
[41:25]
every day.
[41:27]
So, thank you so much for that.
[41:30]
>> Thank you all very much for joining
[41:32]
today. Thank you, Shahar and Noa. All
[41:34]
the information is in the chat and
[41:37]
have a wonderful and lovely day.
[41:40]
Thank you for joining.
[41:41]
>> Thank you. Bye-bye.
[41:42]
>> Bye-bye. Thank you. Bye-bye.
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