Israel Non Profit News » Ethiopian Jewish Community

Maksam’s Young Author Project a Success

Pamela Deutsch — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 16:10:56 +0000

The highlight of the school year at MAKSAM was the culmination of our “Young Authors” project. During the course of the year, the pupils were introduced to well-known Israeli children’s authors, and learned about their work and their style of writing. At the end of the project, each pupil composed and wrote their own children’s story in the style of the writer with whom they most identified. The pupils illustrated and printed their stories and “published” them in the form of a booklet, which were proudly displayed at an exhibition at the MAKSAM centers, to which their parents and guests were invited, on the last day of term.

We celebrated the end of the school year in June, with our traditional “trip to the theater” when all the MAKSAM pupils enjoyed a performance by the Orna Porat Children and Youth Theater, at Hadera’s Rene Shani Auditorium. Every year, thanks to a donation from one of our many friends and supporters, the theater company travels to Hadera specially to perform for MAKSAM’s pupils. Our pupils eagerly look forward to this treat every year. This year over 200 pupils (accompanied in some cases by family members) enjoyed “Adventure at the Circus”, the pupils were greeted before the performance by the Director General of the Hadera Municipality.

Maksam

Pamela Deutsch — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 13:46:10 +0000

The Gidon Association for Ethiopian Jews in the Hadera area is a grassroots Ethiopian NPO established by young Ethiopian activists who identified the need for programs run BY Ethiopians FOR Ethiopians, and is unique in that it is regarded by the community as its own initiative.

The Amuta is the result of the Ethiopian community expressing their own needs and working to obtain the solutions they desire.

The name they chose, “MAKSAM”, is an Amharic word describing the work of the bee passing from flower to flower collecting nectar, and producing honey.

Over the ensuing 13 years, MAKSAM has grown from a homework help program run by volunteers, to a Network of 5 After- School Study and Enrichment Centers in neighborhoods of Hadera with a large population of Ethiopian Israelis, providing professional programming to the pupils and support and enrichment to their parents.

The Program doesn’t dictate solutions, but offers empowerment and responsibility giving the community the tools to develop into a proactive group, working cohesively to better their lives and the future of their children. This is the only program that has successfully involved not only the children but their parents and extended family members, in creating the supportive framework that has brought about such significant improvement in the children’s academic and social performance.

The MAKSAM Network of Hadera celebrates Sigd

Pamela Deutsch — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 13:44:00 +0000

On the 29th day of the Hebrew month of Cheshvan, 50 days after Yom Kippur, the Ethiopian Jewish community celebrates the Sigd Festival. The name Sigd comes from the word “sgida” prostration before the Holy Torah and before the Lord, and the Sigd Festival commemorates both the giving of the Torah and the communal gatherings held in Jerusalem in the days of the prophets Ezra and Nehemiah.

In Ethiopia, the Sigd was marked with a half-day fast and a pilgrimage to the top of the nearest high mountain. There, the community’s religious leaders would chant from the Torah and lead the community in prayer, praying for the restoration of Jerusalem and the reconstruction of the Holy Temple and for their dream of making aliyah to Israel to come true. The day would end with a festive meal.

Since 2009 the Sigd has been incorporated into the Israeli calendar as a National Holiday for the Ethiopian community, many of whom travel to Jerusalem where they gather on the Talpiot Promenade, overlooking the Old City of Jerusalem for a day of prayer and festivities.

The Ethiopian pupils of the MAKSAM Network of After School Study and Enrichment Centers in Hadera celebrated the Sigd with a modest ceremony, including readings, songs and dancing, in the delighted presence of their parents and invited guests.

The pupils were excited by their awesome task, and their parents were overjoyed to watch their Israeli born “Ethiopian Sabras” celebrating the Ethiopian community’s most holy day with such reverance.