Drora Karniel won a prize for her Purim cowgirl costume
at Gil Hagalil Senior Center in Israel's Lower Galilee
(Click the photo to read Zalman Shazar's
[Hebrew] homage to elders)
at Gil Hagalil Senior Center in Israel's Lower Galilee
(Click the photo to read Zalman Shazar's
[Hebrew] homage to elders)
Purim celebrates a story in the biblical Megillat Esther (Book of Esther), in which Queen Esther saves the Jewish people from (Ahasuerus advisor) Haman's plot to destroy them.
At their Purim costume party, more than fifty seniors sang, danced, clapped, laughed, argued, shared their current events and memories of pre-State Israel, ate lunch, and listened to the Purim story, history, and messages. The lovely black-olive-eyed Shai, for her Bat Mitzva project, distributed to each elder Mishloach Manot — a Purim gift basket that she had prepared. Other celebrants were three caregivers (two from Sri Lanka; one, from Nepal), a half dozen staff, and me (with my camera lens focused on the celebrants). It was a terrific morning.
At their Purim costume party, more than fifty seniors sang, danced, clapped, laughed, argued, shared their current events and memories of pre-State Israel, ate lunch, and listened to the Purim story, history, and messages. The lovely black-olive-eyed Shai, for her Bat Mitzva project, distributed to each elder Mishloach Manot — a Purim gift basket that she had prepared. Other celebrants were three caregivers (two from Sri Lanka; one, from Nepal), a half dozen staff, and me (with my camera lens focused on the celebrants). It was a terrific morning.
Watch the video (9:49 minutes).
Who is Drora Karniel?
Since 2005, when I first visited Drora and her husband, Mordechai, in their Kfar Tavor home at the base of Mount Tabor, we have become good buddies. Related by marriage (my late father and her late husband were first cousins), our free-wheeling conversations — in Israel or by phone when I'm in Atlanta, cover all manner of topics.
Mother to three, grandmother to ten, and great-grandmother to five (and counting), the Jerusalem-born matriarch grew up in Motza, at the capital city's edge, where her grandfather was a grape grower and vintner who traveled to Africa on business ventures several years. Following in the footsteps of her father, an elementary school principal, Drora opted to begin a teaching career at Kfar Tavor to join the pioneers living in simple bunks, using primitive outhouses, and bathing in shallow copper vats with water heated on a Primus (kerosene) stove, also used for cooking.
An educator always learning
Here, Drora met her future husband, a fellow pioneer ("he was like an encyclopedia"), and soon taught larger classes and higher grades at the nearby Kadouri Regional Elementary School (she retired after a forty-year career, at age 62). An avid reader of history, I.B. Singer, and other authors from around the world ("not just Jewish ones"), Drora continues a lifetime of taking piano lessons, playing the concertina, knitting sweaters for her family, and following her recipes for Hamantash — three-cornered holiday pastries (that she served me in her home and packed for my journey back to Tel Aviv). A globetrotter (in the USA —twice, and in Thailand and Italy), Drora sings in the Gil Hagalil choir, exercises weekly at the Kfar Tavor senior club, and concludes —
An educator always learning
Here, Drora met her future husband, a fellow pioneer ("he was like an encyclopedia"), and soon taught larger classes and higher grades at the nearby Kadouri Regional Elementary School (she retired after a forty-year career, at age 62). An avid reader of history, I.B. Singer, and other authors from around the world ("not just Jewish ones"), Drora continues a lifetime of taking piano lessons, playing the concertina, knitting sweaters for her family, and following her recipes for Hamantash — three-cornered holiday pastries (that she served me in her home and packed for my journey back to Tel Aviv). A globetrotter (in the USA —twice, and in Thailand and Italy), Drora sings in the Gil Hagalil choir, exercises weekly at the Kfar Tavor senior club, and concludes —
Hakol b'seder [Everything is OK].
— Drora Karniel
My previous Purim posts
3 comments:
Very sweet.
The video was wonderful. Drora makes a great cowgirl. Loved her singing. Give her our love and thank you so much for sending this to us.
hi, we watched the video together with Drora a few days ago. it is nice, and she liked it too.
thanks and Lehitraot, Yael.
Post a Comment