From Lea Ganor about The JCC Seniors Visit

Yesterday we had the honor to host Orlando’s JCC Seniors in the “Mashmaut” Center in Kiryat Motzkin.

The Mashmaut Center stands for our Jewish heritage, the Holocaust, our traditions, values, and rebirth.

In Kiryat Motzkin, it was such an amazing experience to meet the people from Orlando and to tell them about our goals of the Mashmaut Center.

It was wonderful to see that we have so much in common! The group of the JCC Seniors met Holocaust survivors that volunteer in our center. These survivors volunteer in our community by telling their personal stories to the young generations here in Kiryat Motzkin.

The JCC Seniors from Orlando met seniors from our community that volunteer in the center and throughout Kiryat Motzkin. One of the Holocaust survivors from Schindler’s list, Aviva Nisbaum, showed to the group pictures with Oscar Schindler.

The guests from Orlando asked to know more and more about the Mashmaut Center, so in the evening there was a wonderful dinner that we held at the Center. At this dinner, the guests from Orlando were sitting together with people they met only hours before, and yet they were speaking to one another as though they know each other for years. I was deeply touched to see how people spent hours talking in Yiddish sharing an amazing evening together.

I will never forget these moments from watching these two groups interact together. It was very moving to hear from one woman who said to me she visited Israel several times, but she never had such a special experience like she had on this day.

The highlight of the dinner was when the guests danced with Kova-Tembel group, and also with the volunteers and Holocaust survivors. From myself, the staff of the Mashmaut Center, the Holocaust survivors, all from all of our volunteers, we will never forget this wonderful and moving visit from this delegation from Orlando in Kiryat Motzkin.

We wish to have more and more visits like this in the future.

Happy New Year, Shana Tova!

Lea Ganor

Director of the “Mashmaut” Center in Kiryat Motzkin
Youth Task Force Chair
Orlando/Kiryat Motzkin Partnership