August 19, 2009 / 29 Av, 5769

The summer season has brought some very important guests to southern Israel.  Among these visitors is Howard Tevlowitz, head of the Sarasota-Manatee Jewish Federation in Florida, who came to Israel together with his wife, Bryna.  On Thursday, August 13th, the Tevlovitzs took a tour of the Jewish Agency’s projects in southern Israel’s Negev region.

They visited a young community in Be’er Sheva (Shechuna 4) that has been very active in assisting the Jewish Agency, and heard a presentation about the community’s involvement.  Thirty youth help Negev residents through a variety of educational and social programs.  The Tevlovitzs also visited Ringenblum Café, which runs a community organization through which dropouts are employed in the café’s kitchen.

Later, Mr. and Mrs. Tevlowitz visited the Nitzana Youth Village where they met with youth from Sderot who spent a week enjoying a variety of fun activities in and around the village.

The tour of southern Israel ended with a visit to the Neveh Midbar complex in Ramat Hanegev.  There they met with coordinators and trustees of the Jewish Agency’s Youth Futures program in Netivot, who had come to the complex as part of a summer camp funded by the Sarasota-Manatee Jewish Federation.  The Tevlovitzs heard the trustees and parents speak about the program’s successful work in Netivot, and watched as the children splashed around in the pool, relishing every moment.

The families proceeded to the summer camp in Nitzana, and the Tevlovitzs returned to central Israel feeling a genuine sense of pride and satisfaction.