Ziv Koren, photojournalist. Courtesy of Z. Koren I interviewed Ziv Koren, one of Israel's foremost photojournalists, in his Tel-Aviv office, a site that speaks his aesthetic language: What seems to have been a room in the building's basement has been renovated in a cleanly modernist, functional style. Filling the sitting area are what appeared to me vestiges, of wood and of metal, of workshops fr...

Ilana Barak proudly holds up her graduation certificate awarded at the end of the Digital Computer Course (Photo by Liron Cohen​) A course in Ramat Hasharon for persons with Psycho-social Disabilities When the Ramat Hasharon Branch of ESRA re-invented itself in January 2018 under the chairmanship of Herzel Katz, the committee began to look for a local project to support. With the assistance of the Director of Volunteering in the Ramat Hasharon Municipality, Miri bat El, ...

It is said there are just two things in life that are certain: death and taxes. Ignoring them will not prevent their happening. So, perhaps a better option would be to take control of such things as what happens to your property after you die, and make sure your wishes are respected, even if (G-d forbid) you become mentally incapacitated. Here are ...

Synagogue in Elisabethville, Lubumbashi, Congo 1950s Wedding of Albert Russo’s parents Moïse and Sarah Russo in Elisabethville, Belgian Congo, 1942 UNICEF First Prize for Literature to Albert Russo in defense of childhood, 2013 Albert Russo is a prolific author and photographer whose life is, itself, the story of the 20th century and now the 21st. Russo is a passionate Zionist in the fullest, richest and best sense of the word. He is a humanist. And he is an exceptional man. In many ways, his story joins the story we share, we who have made aliyah and made Israel our home...

It is a little-known fact that the Tarlow family were blessed with an addition of three hens during the COVID. Not only do they provide us with eggs, they also provide us with hours of entertainment. Simon Seitz has encouraged me to start writing a book about my memoirs as the "chicken lady". That's not going to happen, but for today I'll shar...

This past year has been traumatic for so many reasons – fears of the COVID pandemic, being cut off from family and friends – especially at the holidays - having to wear facial masks and finally going through yet another war. And yet we have survived and are looking forward to a more normal way of life. And the Tel Aviv branch of the Knitting/Croche...

Arlette Kaplan used the lockdown during the corona pandemic to return to a much loved hobby - knitting. She had always knitted garments and toys for all her grandchildren and as she began to produce more and more items, she suddenly thought that others too might get pleasure from this creative activity. And so the germ of an idea turned into a new ...

Together with Maurice and Merylin Hyman I attended the Annual Graduation ceremony of the Bagrut students at Kfar HaNoar School at Kfar Hasidim. This is a school which is one part of the projects of the ESRA Haifa Branch. We donate funds to pay a special private teacher, who helps children with severe learning difficulties. Most of the children are ...

"Once upon a time…" is the beginning of many memorable children's books. Even when our offspring outgrow them, we often save the best ones for our grandchildren. We tend to keep, value and share the books we've read and loved. But there are those that we, our friends and even the ESRA bookshop don't want—volumes with information that Google can sup...

Tel Aviv benches have a life of their own, and give life to so many residents. Of course they also give rest to residents, and serve as meeting places for others. But they have added value, they give renewed life to clothes, household items, books, toys, and whatever – a recycling of all this which has environmental value. We in ESRA had a very mov...