The group poses in Israel

FAIRFIELD — It was a year in the making, but if you ask 11 residents of The Jewish Home for the Elderly in Fairfield and Hollander House in Bridgeport who set off on a trip to Israel on Nov. 13 – together with clinical and support staff — the time and energy it took to plan their nine-day trip was well worth the effort.
“It was unbelievable how great everyone was on the trip,” said Andrew H. Banoff, president and CEO of The Jewish Home. “Not one individual missed a single activity. We had a magnificent time and are all very grateful to the private donors who financed the entire trip.”
“I so enjoyed seeing the changes and improvements since I was in Israel in the seventies,” said Selma Rosenblatt, president of the Home’s Residents Council and one of the eight Home residents on the trip. “Back then I worked for the Bridgeport Jewish Federation leading trips there to raise money for Israel. This time all of us got to see how amazing a country Israel has become.”
The three Hollander House travellers included a couple who emigrated from the former Soviet Union a number of years ago.
After arriving in Israel, the group went north to the Galilee, the Golan Heights, and the Sea of Galilee. The remaining five days were spent in and around Jerusalem.
According to Rabbi Stephen Shulman, the Home’s director of pastoral services, trip highlights included visits to the Western Wall, the Sea of Galilee, the Dead Sea and Masada, the Golan Heights, and a hike through the Tel Dan Nature Reserve. They toured the Yemin Orde Youth Center, and Yad LaKashish “Lifeline for the Old”, where elderly artisans create beautiful and practical objects.
The 11 seniors, whose average age was 91, were on the go from early morning until late evening. To meet the particular needs of this age group, Ellen Ashkins, the Home’s director of resident life, jumped through hoops to arrange for the necessary medical equipment, and appropriate accommodations for every aspect of the itinerary.
“I have been to Israel before but never like this,” said Ashkins. “Experiencing Israel through the residents’ eyes gave me an entirely new perspective on each monument, museum and mountain. Every bit of aggravation that went into planning the trip was worth it when I saw the expressions on their faces as they tasted new foods, met people from around the world, and stood at places they had read about.”
Adding a special dimension to the trip was the involvement of family members. Regine Arouete, a Home resident, was delighted when her son Marc flew in from Belgium to join her for a few days. Former Jewish Home employees Stephen Rubin and Miriam Duskis also stopped by for a visit; and Mor Goshen, who visited the Home weekly as an Israeli Emissary in 2006, brought her family to spend a Shabbat with the group.
Then, at the Begin Center in Jerusalem on the final day of the trip, the granddaughters of Jewish Home resident Leslie Novis, surrounded by their parents, marked their bat mitzvahs.
“The Emunotes from Afula, the sister community of Connecticut, entertained us one evening and got everyone up and dancing!” said Banoff. “Everywhere we went people were quite taken by the group and eagerly engaged in conversation to understand the importance of living and enjoying life. The Jewish Home staff was truly remarkable with our group, and managed every detail of the trip.”
Residents who couldn’t make the trip had the chance to live vicariously, through Facebook videos the group posted and were shown at the Home daily on a large screen. “To learn more about our trip I invite you to come meet these incredible adventurers because they would love to tell you their stories,” said Banoff. Trip highlights, he reports, were also captured on video. “In the coming months, we will create a movie to share with the world so everyone can be inspired by our journey.”