Fun In Jerusalem

Pesach Kaytana: Spring Day Camp

The week before Pesach is school vacation for kids in Jerusalem. There are a variety of Spring Day Camp options for parents who need the time to prepare for Pesach. It is a great opportunity to teach your children art, sports and more.
The following is a list of local camps. If you know of more feel free to add them to the comments section or to email us.

Gheppeto’s Wood Workshop Kaytana
Ages: 6-12
Dates: March 21-25 (Daily rate available)
Time: 9am-1pm
Cost: 680 NIS (15% discount for siblings)
Includes: Material for one project a day as well as a week long group project
Contact: 077-456-0165

YMCA: King David Street
Ages:Gan Chova-6th Grade
Dates: March 21-25
Time: 8am-3pm
Cost: 500 NIS
Includes: Morning Snack and hot kosher lunch, swimming, sports, art and more.
Contact: 02-569-2684

Ein Yael “Saba Jack” Horseback Riding School
Includes: Horseback riding, Taking care of horses, dog training and more
Hours: 8am-1pm
Dates:March 22-28th
Contact: 02-645-3573 (after 4pm) or 050-680-1985

Ein Yael Pesach Kaytana
Includes:Arts & Crafts, cheese making, milking cows, recycling workshop, storytime, bow and arrow, cooking and more.
Hours: 8am-3:30pm
Dates:March 21-25th
Cost: 550 NIS (Includes snack and lunch)
Contact: 02-645-1866

Bible Lands
Dates: March 21-25
Times: 8:30am-1:00pm
Includes: Tours of the Museum, art workshops, cooking, games, plays and costumes
Ages: 1st-5th Grade
Contact: 02-561-1066

ICCC
Date: March 21-28, 2010
Cost: 700 NIS 8am-1:00pm, 930 NIS 8am-3:30pm (includes lunch)
“Chess & Sports” Spring Camp: Chess, Basketball, Soccer, Frisbee, Table Tennis
“Tasting & Creative” Spring Camp: Art, Painting, Cooking
Ages: 1st grade -5th grade
Contact: 02-566-4144, 052-268-8666
Location:12 Emek Refaaim

El Halev: IMPACT (Girls Self Defense Course)
Date: March 22-25th 10:00am-2:00pm
Cost: 1000 NIS
Ages: 12-17
Location:Pierre Kenig 37, Talpiot
Contact: 02-678-1764
www.elhalev.org

Israel Museum: Art Festival Day Camp
Activities: Landscape painting, portraits, collage, sculpture, still life
Dates: March 21-25th 8:30am-1:30pm
Ages: Gan Chova-5th Grade
Cost: 110 NIS per day (can register per day)
Reservations Required Contact: 02-670-8960

For information about backyard camps run by teenagers please contact us.

Check our Calendar of Events for other activities going on the week before Pesach and on Chol Hamoed.

Run With the Children of SHALVA at the Jerusalem Half Marathon

This is a great opportunity for your children to participate in a memorable Jerusalem event this month. The Jerusalem Half Marathon on March 18, 2010 will include a special 400m track for the children of SHALVA with mental and physical disabilities. This is the first time in the 18 year history of the marathon that there will be a special track.

SHALVA has invited your children and teens to partner with a SHALVA child, give them a chance to get to know the child at the Har Nof campus in advance and then to run with them on the 400m track.  Help spread the SHALVA message that disabled children should have an equal place in society.

Run hand-in-hand with a SHALVA child and help them achieve their goals. SHALVA is expecting to have over 60 children running on the special track. The event begins at 8:30am and there will be a special end of the race ceremony as well.

SHALVA is a wonderful organization based in Har Nof. To get a full understanding of what they do you only need to walk around their campus. The building is filled with love and joy and you will see children of all ages from babies to teenagers enjoying the facilities. They have special facilities for physically and mentally challenged children including

• Music room
• Sensory room
• Special integrated Gan (which has a long waiting list)
• Arts & Crafts
• Indoor Pool for hydrotherapy
• Me & Mommy Classes
• Support groups for families
• Specially designed park
• Kitchen where children can learn to cook
• Bedrooms for sleepovers 

Children come to the center to enjoy the facilities, have therapy and spend time with friends, counselors and volunteers  in the afternoon.

The most special room in the building is the Beit Knesset where children with special needs can celebrate their Bar Mitzva. SHALVA often receives requests from families abroad requesting to use their Beit Knesset for their spacial needs Bar Mitzvas. For information about Volunteer opportunities for teens at SHALVA please call Talia Simantov 02-651-9555.

Contact marathon@shalva.org and let them know you would like your child to partner with a SHALVA runner. Please make sure to send us your pictures of the race!

Fun In Jerusalem Purim Offers

• Costume Offers
• Mishloach Manot Supply Offers 
• Ready Made Mishloach Manot: Gluten Free & Healthy Options 
  

  ---

   Mishloach Manot Supplies
   
   

   

  ---

   Healthy Mishloach Manot

 

---

 

Purim Costumes

Last week Kibbutz Ramat Rachel hosted the annual Balloonland Convention for Balloon artists from around the world. The event is put on each year by Elisa from www.balloonland.co.il. Balloon artists from around the country come to Jerusalem to enjoy workshops and classes. Some of the guests included Medical Clowns, who use their talents to entertain sick children in the hospital.

This year the local children from the community were given a chance to enjoy the spoils. Children lined up in the lobby of the Ramat Rachel Hotel for the Grand Finale Raffle. Balloons from the workshops including masks, crowns, flowers, columns, walls and more were raffled off to lucky children. The event was a huge success and the lobby was packed.

At the end of the event those who were still around even got to see some tricks of the trade as Elisa took down the balloons she had hung in the lobby with a long pole using magnets.

Balloonland offers balloon services for kids parties, bris, Bar/Bat Mitzva parties, centerpieces and more.

Castel Fortress on The Road To Jerusalem

There is no better way to teach children about the History of Israel than to be able to show them the actual locations of crucial battles. Today, the road to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv winds uphill, a black ribbon surrounded by trees, greenery and small villages dotting the landscape. Sixty years ago, it was the site of the most crucial battles during the War of Independence. The battleground for Jerusalem, it was said, was the width of that road.
 
The History:

The Castel overlooks the main road to Jerusalem.  The word Castel means castle, in French. French Crusaders, a thousand years ago, built a fortress on the top of the highest mountain in the area, giving them a military advantage over those who lived along the route of the main road. After the Crusaders left, Arabs lived in the area, in a village they called Castel. This village gave them the military advantage over the road.
 
Tel Aviv was, and still is, the main portal in the country, whether by boat or plane. During and after the Shoah, Jews arrived to the country from Europe and many moved to Jerusalem.  In order to prevent this, the Arabs tried to cut off Jerusalem from the main population clusters, on the coast. They did this by sniping at the Jewish drivers coming with supplies from the coast, to supply Jerusalem. Food, water, medicine and personnel were unable to come through, and hunger became a real danger for Jews in Jerusalem. Our Holy City was under siege!

The Tour:

Once you park and start walking up the path, you’ll find an outdoor “plaza” with different ’stations’ and signs about the battles, beginning in April 1948. The battle for Jerusalem started with Operation Nachshon. Nachshon ben Aminadav, according to our tradition, was the first to step into the Red Sea, which led to the great miracle of the parting of the Red Sea, during our exodus from Egypt. The Zionist leaders named this important operation after Nachshon Ben Aminadav because they realized that war was at hand and this could be the beginning of the  independence of the State of Israel. 
 
Keep walking up the hill, to the top. There are bunkers and trenches you can enter along the way, which will give you and your children a real feeling for how the Jewish soldiers felt at the time.

A Battle Story:

There is a story to be told here, about Abd El Khader El Husseini, the Arab army commander. He understood the importance of holding on to the Castel as an Arab stronghold, but the Israeli Palmach fighters captured it the night of April 5-6. The Arabs knew they had to get it back!  In the battle the next night, Abd El Khader el Husseini, himself, went to fight–and was never heard from again. It’s only later on that his soldiers realized that he had died in battle. They were very upset, and gathered their men to return and fight the Palmachnikim. In a very bloody battle, in which almost all the Jews were killed, the Arabs conquered the Castel again. When they did, they discovered the body of their leader, Abd el Khader el Husseini.  They quickly brought his body to Jerusalem, to be buried in a hero’s funeral on the Temple Mount. While they were all at the funeral, more Jewish fighters came and recaptured the Castel and the Castel has remained in Israeli hands ever since.
 
Activities:

Movie:There is a movie about the location and its’ battles in the cavelike bunker on the top of the hill.

Model: There is a model demonstrating the battles.

Views:From the top of the hill, you can see Har Nof, which is the area of Deir Yassin, the Arab village that was the site of the battle the next day. You can also see neighboring villages, Maaleh Hachamisha, Shoresh, Motzah, Har Adar, and more. Today, they are beautiful built up communities.

Getting There:Take Route 1 from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv and turn off at the Mevasseret Zion junction, and follow the signs to the Castel. The roads are very narrow, and even if you think it can’t be thru there, it is!

Article Guest Author: 
Esti Herskowitz is a wonderful tour guide based out of Jerusalem. She is a great storyteller and has the most amazing Tanach (Bible) with thousands of post it notes in it. She brings a location ALIVE with stories, history and activities. Esti has led tours for adults but has a great knack for bonding with kids and knowing what they will enjoy. She led my family on a fabulous tour of Cesarea and kept the kids ages 9-1 entertained the whole time. You can reach Esti at st_tours@netvision.net.il