Like Grandma, like Grandaughter: Bonding on a Mission to Israel

February 19, 2009

Sitting in Jerusalem at a festive dinner with other participants in the Federation of Northern New Jersey’s J2J2 mission, Hortense Cohon, 85, of Hackensack, New Jersey, found it hard to believe she almost didn’t make it to Israel.

“Before I came, I was changing my mind almost every day because of the rockets going over the South, and then because of the economy. Also, I’m not used to traveling alone, now that my dear husband passed on,” Cohon said.

Eventually, though, with support from family and friends, Cohon decided to make her first trip to Israel. There to greet her and spend a week of quality time with her grandmother was Annelise, 24, who is studying peace education and conflict resolution at the University of Haifa.

The two Cohon women spent the week experiencing Israel together, finding they both share a newfound appreciation for Israeli culture and Judaism.

“The people here are what makes the country amazing. You feel like part of this bigger community and it’s so much bigger than you can ever imagine,” explained Annelise.

“I was struck by the practicality and innocence of the Israeli people,” he grandmother added.

The two particularly enjoyed being guests for dinner at a host family in Nahariya, which is the Federation’s partner community as part the Jewish Agency’s Partnership 2000 program, a major program for communities abroad to become directly involved in developing Israel's national priority areas - the Negev, Galilee and Jerusalem.“ Anytime you can interact with someone and make a connection, you feel like you are not just a tourist but are part of things,” noted Annelise.

For her, that family-feeling was evident during a tour of a school in Nahariya. The group got a firsthand view of a school-wide program for captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, in which kids send out a children’s book written by Shalit to schools all over the world, giving international children a chance to illustrate and comment on it. When the artwork gets back to Israel, it is displayed and made into a book – a perfect way to remind the world that Shalit still needs help and create a feeling of togetherness at the same time, according to Annelise.

When not touring in the North or checking out Tel Aviv, the pair enjoyed learning about the architecture – Hortense is an art history buff who gives tours at the Metropolitan Museum of Art – and eating.

“I have never seen so much food in my life. I mean, you should weigh tons by the time the mission is over,” said Hortense.