Winning raffle ticket.

Every year my husband and I take a booklet with ten Esra raffle tickets, and have never given winning the raffle a thought. Imagine our surprise when our telephone started ringing after the draw. Friends and acquaintances hastened to tell us that we’d won three nights at a five star hotel in Budapest as well as two flight tickets.

Shlomi at Signal Tours in Ramat Hasharon did the booking for us and assured us that the hotel was centrally located and was indeed a five star hotel.

Due to unforeseen circumstances we were unable to make it and we not only gave the tickets to our children who live up north, we also offered to baby sit their three children.

We installed ourselves in our daughter and son-in-law’s home at Nofit, which is near to Kiryat Tivon with some misgivings. Would we be too tired at night to hear if one of the children cried or called during the night? Would my husband and I manage to deal with the myriad of things that have to be done daily in a household like theirs – including a dog and a cat?

My daughter called us from the Kaplinski Hotel where she and her husband were staying, and after asking how we were managing, she said; “Mom, we feel as if we’ve arrived in heaven.” Then she asked to speak to her lovely daughters.

As it so happens, the baby slept through every night for twelve hours without stirring, and the girls gave us no trouble at all.

Our children did most of their sightseeing on foot and had the time of their lives. To quote: “The three days felt like two weeks…. it was such a treat for us to have time to ourselves that it felt like a second honeymoon.”

I am including pictures of the Parliament Buildings which they found spectacular.

Thanks Esra for a wonderful experience all round.

Jill Sadowsky, Ramat Hasharon

Open letter to Eli Gonen (President & CEO of Sheraton hotels, Israel), Ariela Mader (Spokesperson) and Daphna Kalderon (PR Department)

On behalf of Esra I want to thank you for your good will and generosity in responding to our difficulties which our organization encountered at the Sheraton Dead Sea.

Our members were very pleased to accept your offer and thus enjoyed their stay at the Sheraton in Tiberias.

This hotel is a credit to the Sheraton chain, where everything is excellent. It is so well managed that it was a pleasure to be there. We experienced an extremely helpful and organized staff, from the reception desk, dining room, spa and pool areas, as well as lovely well-maintained rooms.

Thank you Eli for this wonderful gesture. And thank you Ariela for all of your assistance and understanding. And special thanks to you Daphna, who handled the numerous phone calls and reservations, but always with such incredible patience and good humor.

In appreciation, this letter will be in our next Esra Magazine which is distributed to over 5000 families.

Lynn Pressman, Travel Coordinator

Beautiful format

I want to congratulate you on the beautiful new format of the Esra Magazine. It really looks incredible and continues to prove itself as top quality reading material.

Well done to you Mickey and all involved.

Lyn Bach, Herzliya

My Angel

I had to go to Meir Hospital to consult an eye doctor.

After having all the necessary tests, I left the hospital with a bandage over one eye. Then I did something silly; I realize that now but at the time I wasn’t thinking straight.

I looked for a taxi; they were all occupied so I started to walk. I expected to find a taxi on the way – but I didn’t.

Before I knew it, I found myself at Raanana junction on the wrong side of the road. There was a young man standing by me and I asked him if he would take me across the road. He said ‘with pleasure’.

While we were waiting, a lady in a car called out and asked where I was going. I said I was going to get the number 47 bus to Ramat Hasharon.

She was waiting on the opposite side. She said “I am going to take you home”.

She did so and also stopped at Super-Pharm so that I could buy the drops the doctor had prescribed, as I was going on a trip the following day and there is nowhere open at 6 am.

I am very grateful for this lady’s kindness. She told me only that her name was May and she lives in Raanana.

If anyone happens to know this angel, please let me know.

Natalie Goodman, Ramat HaSharon

CHAJES Realgymnasium, Vienna

I am trying to trace ex-pupils of this unique Zionist Jewish co-ed Secondary/High School. The Nazis soon closed it, the luckier pupils scattered around the world and now most are in Israel, the US and the UK. If you were there or know of someone who was, please contact me. Just tell me your former name, address, the classes you attended and respective school years; I will send you a list of your classmates and the occasional newsletter, until recently handled by Uri and Sasha Spielvogel, now in Woodbridge, Connecticut. (If you had my questionnaire, you are already on our list.)

Marzell Kay-Kirschenbaum, 1A, 1937/8, POB 65337, Tel Aviv 61652, phone/fax 03 6447801, marzell@zahav.net.il

Thank you Esra Community Fund

1. For the generous scholarships for 5 students, Melissa G., Yigal S., Yatiyahu M., Smadar M. and Rakefet D., which will greatly help them to succeed in their studies.
   Dr. Shalva Weil, Director of Program for Training Outstanding Leadership in Education of Immigrants from Ethiopia, Hebrew University
2. Thank you, Esra Ramat HaSharon, for being a community blessed with the ability to give and love and thank you from us and from the families for distributing food parcels on Pesach. This is the meaning of true community partnership.
   Tali Nadir, Welfare Dept., Ramat HaSharon
3. For dental care to Tal O. D., a child with special needs who has severe cerebral palsy and multiple developmental problems. Your donation warmed our hearts to know that parents of special needs children are not alone in their constant struggle to help their children advance and realize their potential.
   Aya Ofer, Social Worker, Chimes Israel, Dutch Center
4. For your donation of NIS 1,000 for help in buying a hearing aid for our daughter, Ayala. Thank you for answering our request to help us in our efforts to give our daughter the tools and the opportunities to adapt to and succeed in a regular society and to hear despite her handicap.
   Your help came at a moment when we had very large expenses, far above our means, in trying to improve and help Ayala to hear and to better understand her environment at home and in the kindrgarten.
   Yehudit M., Modiin Elite

Dear Carl Hoffman,

Thank you so much for your review of Black Jews, Jews, and Other Heroes.

The last paragraph of your review captures exactly the message that I was trying to get across. What the AAEJ did was history. It is the future that counts now.

Howard Lenhoff

One of the best magazines 

After browsing and reading this latest issue (Esra Magazine #141, July-August 2007), I just had to write and say Thank You for one of the best magazines I've read in graphics, editorials and informative articles. It surpasses most commercial magazines.

Wishing all involved continued success!

Bob Maharam, Netanya

Thank you Sandra Raphaelson,

Some months ago I asked Esra for a volunteer who could help me improve my English. Thus, I had the opportunity of meeting Sandra Raphaelson, from Ranaana.

I want to tell you that I met an incredible and very sweet person who from the very beginning devoted herself, with permanent interest and enthusiasm, to help me.

I have no words to thank her for all that she did for me, and will keep her in my heart forever.

Thanks to all of you for your unconditional help.

Sabrina Magali Yalcover Bal, Raanana

smyb28@hotmail.com