Volunteer in the Negev participant, Lynne Elster, writes about her full day of activities, feedback, learning.
May 11, 2015
Today, we met with the manager of the Desert Iris Hotel, Cheli Alaluf. It was a productive meeting. She was quite interested in our recommndentations for improving the hotel and its staff. She took a lot of notes on our constructive critiscism and explained why things are done a certain way.
We were happy to learn that the staff are people from Yeruchum and are being trained . The Desert Iris Hotel is a beautiful new hotel. The staff is friendly, however they need to learn some English. Menus , signs and other written items need to be in English. Hotel busiiness will improve afte the pool, gym and children”s playroon opens.
Our Engligada students have made alot of progress however they need to continue practicing speaking English. We asked them to give us directions in English to their homes. We reviewed items on a menu and how to order food from the menu. They also described what they were wearing and different objects that were found in the Matnas (community center).
We attended the Sefer Torah celebration and mingled with new friends from Yerucham.
In the evening we had an introduction to Piyut, which is liturgical music. Piyut is a Greek work that means “”Poe.” This music is the sound track of Jewish life. We also heard Ashorn Shire, a piyut of Moroccan Jewry, which is well known in many traditions. It is a song of praise to the Torah and is usually sung on Shavuot and Simcha Torah. We also heard, Nagila Halleluya, piyut in the Alippa (Syrian) tradition. The song discusses the deep longing for redemption in Jewish hearts in all generations. A very enjoyable, enriching, educational experience.