25 New Reasons There’s Hope for Future in Israel

Human Rights Watch finally called Hamas’ firing on Israel a “war crime,”

however, a month after Operation Pillar of Defense,

 new rockets were launched toward Israel from Gaza that fell short.

As the year 2012 comes to an end, how about some good news?

Last week I got out of Jerusalem, Israel, and went south,

sign Gaza photo

    near the Gaza border, where the sign was only in Hebrew and Arabic.

Sign Kibbutz Alumim

Kinneret was kind enough to show me around Kibbutz Alumim,

field near GAza

whose fields are 4 kilometers from Gaza, which can be seen in the distance.

factory on kibbutz

Carrots from the fields are sorted in this factory,

bomb shelter

whose bomb shelter is at its entrance.

bomb shelter children playgournd

Another shelter is placed on the children’s playground

bomb shelter Israel

and all the housing has safe rooms added on.

cows photo

 Alumim also has cows and avocado trees,

sunset photo

and impressive sunsets.

Like a pearl that started from a grain of sand in the ocean,

in this seemingly unlikely place, and because of “the situation”

Mechinat Yonatan

a new program began called Southern Task Force-Yonatan

or Mechinat Yonatan, for Yoni Netanyahu.

Started last year by a few idealistic girls who found others on Facebook,

study group

this co-ed, religious group of 25 young people

are taking a year after high school to work on the kibbutz,

class room lesson

 study Torah, and volunteer in schools in nearby cities.

music photo

They get up early and work hard, but still find time to relax,

Israeli tank

and all of them plan to join the army next year.

With young leaders like these, I say we have 25 new reasons to hope

Mechinat Yonatan

 for a better future in Israel.

sunset

The young people I spoke with talked of wanting

to work the land, learn Torah, and make a difference.

As 2012 comes to an end, can you think of a better hope for the future?

To see more photos, click HERE.

17 thoughts on “25 New Reasons There’s Hope for Future in Israel

  • December 25, 2012 at 4:21 pm
    Permalink

    When I was 18 I stayed and helped out on Kibbutz Alumim, working in the gezer factory the avocado patches and even visited the reffet. What a great experience then and its amazing to see so many years later. thanks for posting!

    Reply
    • December 25, 2012 at 4:33 pm
      Permalink

      Glad you liked I had so much more to share, (took 500 photos) but thought this was an overview.
      I loved the hard hat sign in the factory with a man and a woman for example.

      Reply
  • December 25, 2012 at 4:28 pm
    Permalink

    Our future is with/in our young people. Thank you for your reminder of this with such delightful and committed people.

    Reply
  • December 25, 2012 at 7:07 pm
    Permalink

    Nice post, Sharon, thank you, and we invite ALL your readers to come visit us here in the south – we are optimistic, idealistic, and Southern hospitality is alive and well here!!! Of course, it would be even better to have many more permanent residents in the south!

    Reply
  • December 26, 2012 at 11:49 am
    Permalink

    What a wonderful, heartwarming trip – thanks for sharing.

    Reply
  • December 26, 2012 at 2:54 pm
    Permalink

    Amazing. Pictures are worth more than 1000 words.

    Reply
  • January 2, 2013 at 1:20 pm
    Permalink

    Beautiful. 🙂
    It’s like a ray of light that makes me feel somewhat better about the situation here; the news is making me want to go back to America, if you know what I mean.

    Reply
      • January 2, 2013 at 2:12 pm
        Permalink

        Is that a question or an exclamation?
        If it’s a question, I don’t understand it.

        Reply
          • January 2, 2013 at 8:12 pm
            Permalink

            Thank you; now it makes sense. 🙂 I thought you were being sarcastic, and criticizing my comment for being negative. 😛 See, I knew I should ask before getting upset.

            Yes, you are right – we have to share all the good news we can.
            You’re doing a pretty good job of that, from what I see.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.