October 2003
http://www.yadsarah.org.il/english/
Get into the inspirational and charitable spirit of the High Holy Days and visit Yad Sarah. Their website will quickly acquaint you with this venerable Israeli institution. Yad Sarah's aim, with the help of over 6,000 volunteers, is to provide a spectrum of free or nominal cost services which make life easier for people who are sick, disabled, elderly or recuperating and their families.
I found the site pleasant to explore and up to date. Their newsletter section, where you can also subscribe to their email list, tackles all kinds of health issues and is very informative. All in all - a worthwhile investment.Along the same lines - a supportive organization with many volunteers - an excellent website to visit is ETNI - English Teachers Network. This organization's goal is to provide support to teachers of English as a foreign language in Israel. Membership is not limited to Israeli teachers only. Rather, it includes teachers from all around the world, and has even led to successful aliyah and absorption for some members. The site has a great deal to offer the teacher and to students and parents as well. What clinched it for me was their cartoons from The Far Side which integrate humor and the classroom experience. Lest I forget --- they have a great links page for Yom Kippur and Succot.
Let's say you have a few hours to kill and you decide to spend it on culture. Where do you turn (if you are in Israel that is)? Try the ilMuseums site. It has information PLUS. First of all, it is clean. Each page follows the same order and uses the same graphics. Second, all the basic information is there, including hours, address, pictures, and a web site URL if it exists. So, if you have the time, as my grandmother would say, "get some cultcha".