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 recommendations for improving the hotel and its staff. She took a lot of notes on our constructive criticism 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 business will improve after the pool, gym, and children's playground opens.
Our Engligada students have made a lot 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 th 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 word that means “”Poe.” This music is the soundtrack 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 the Jewish hearts of all generations. A very enjoyable, enriching, educational experience.
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