Shalom le kulam!

Can you believe that this is our 30th blog post? I can’t. Time flies. Those of you who have been following the International news these last few weeks will know that we are reaching a critical time here in Israel. In 6 days’ time the UN will be debating and voting on the declaration of a Palestinian state in Judea, Samaria and Gaza. There are numerous European countries that have indicated that they will abstain from voting which means that the vote could go either way. In the mean-time all we can do is to wait and pray. The situation doesn’t look much better in Turkey either, with the Israeli Embassy being broken in to in Egypt prior to the Turkish Prime Minister’s visit. Many Israeli’s have travelled to Turkey in recent times for a holiday, although in the current climate Israeli tourism to Turkey has plummeted. Here in Ulpan thankfully things are looking much brighter, with Efrat our new teacher arriving at the end of her training before moving up north for the autumn to teach children on one of our projects, (more about that in Saray’s blog). We are pleased to have her on our staff team and wish her every success. In the count-down to Rosh HaShana, I am currently working on a new advertising campaign that will run for 6 weeks in the Jerusalem post among other places. Don’t forget to watch out for it (and to sign up for Hebrew lessons here at Ulpan Aviv to learn or improve your Hebrew as part of your New Year’s resolutions!!) On a personal note; my little daughter is feeling much better and is back to normal again after her 2nd bout of dehydration. Thanks to those who have been asking about her. Well I wish you all Shabbat Shalom. Until next week….. Gil Pentzak Ulpan Aviv- Director

Shavua tov to you all!

I am sorry that this blog has been posted late, but it is only now that I am catching up with all the things from last week. First and foremost, the Ulpan Aviv team would like to offer their condolences to the family, friends and children of the victims of the Twin Tower attack in New York 10 years ago. Our thoughts also go out to those who survived and are having to live daily with the consequences. Last week was a great week. It saw the start of one of our groups for young people and preparation for the second which starts tomorrow. Last week’s group started in Jerusalem and there was all the bustle and excitement of meeting the new students, doing all the evaluations, assigning groups, ordering materials and putting the finishing touches to the curriculum in order that the courses would better suit each group of students. After that group was launched at the beginning of the week, the rest of the week was spent deciding on the last few details of the course that starts tomorrow in the North of the country. As most of you who have been following my blog know, we launched our new Ulpan Aviv web site a few months ago. Over the next month or two we will be updating our website in order to make it more “user friendly”. Please feel free to send me any comments or ideas that you may have that you feel would improve the site. Along with all the preparations for the new groups, as my course comes to an end, last week I had to give my final presentation. I chose to speak about building an infrastructure for an Ulpan from scratch and then the subsequent P.R. and marketing of that Ulpan. I was really pleased at the positive reception and feed-back that I received from the presentation. PHEW…. On a personal level things too are far from boring. After buying some land to build a house on last year, we are now in the stages of meeting with architects and builders in order to start making decisions about the structure etc., of the house. Well enough from me for now. I wish you all an excellent week and look forward to my next blog.

Shalom! Ma Shlomchem?

I trust this blog post finds you all safe and sound.
What a week! I have already told you in my previous post about the groups from the youth movements and organizations that we will be teaching starting in September. This involved recruiting staff members, (lots of) training, writing curriculums, deciding schedules and heaven knows what else. A lot to do indeed. As I am in based in Tel Aviv and the courses will be taught in Jerusalem, I found myself driving to Jerusalem every day this week. After writing these lines (Thursday 12:23, ) I am off there again today. In addition to that, this week was the last week of the school summer break in Israel, meaning the children, (all 3 of them), are home. Although, my wife stays with the children most of the day, when I come back from work they all expect some sort of an outing; the swimming pool, the beach, ice-cream, the park… you name it. So that's with the family (oh, and by the way my daughter was again dehydrated this week for the second time. I really think she is beginning to like being me being up with her at the hospital all night…)
In addition to that (sorry if it sounds like I am whining, I am not. Writing is my therapy), tonight I have to present my final project in my PR class tonight. The PR plan is a year-long PR plan based on a chosen business. Any guesses about which business I will be writing my project? I know it's a hard one…
This week in Israel, things have become slightly less tense with regards to security, (not counting the terror attack in TA on Sunday night. 8 people were injured, some badly and I send my prayers to the wounded.
The school year has started today, FINALLY. My 3 toddlers will be learning in 3 different pre-school programs, according to their age. Wishing them and all students wherever you happen to be, all the very best!
Have a lovely weekend and Shabbat Shalom,
Gil Pentzak, Ulpan Aviv- director

Shalom! Ma Nishma?

Hoping you all had a wonderful week.
For me, this week was a week of catching up after the holidays but I am glad to say that I am now totally back in the game…☺ Here at Ulpan, after a break, we are setting up some courses for groups of young people coming to Israel for a year. Ulpan Aviv has been nominated to provide the Hebrew lessons. We have been involved in these programs for the past 2 years and I must say that there is something very different about working with these kids. They have a strong sense of patriotism and a high motivation to learn the language and about the culture. Definitely an experience…
In order to be able to run these courses we have been recruiting new staff members, and most of my time these last 2 days and next week has and will be dedicated to training.
I wrote last week about my daughter being admitted to the hospital suffering from dehydration. I am pleased to say that over the last week she has gradually recovered and gained most of her strength back (and believe me, at 18 months old she has plenty of strength…)
I was hoping to be able to tell you all of an improvement in the tense security situation here in Israel; unfortunately, this is simply not the case. Rockets are still being fired on settlements in the south and last Shabbat a man was killed as a result of the bombings. Let us all hope and pray for better days and SHALOM.
I hope that you have had a great weekend. Shavua Tov.
Gil Pentzak, Ulpan Aviv- director

Shalom! Ma Shlomchem?

I was hoping to start this blog post by telling you about all about my vacation and how great it was. Sadly, in the light of today’s tragic incidents, (Thursday) I just feel I should start with that.
As I believe most of you have now heard on the news, there were today, a number of terror attacks next on the Egyptian/Israeli border. A large enough number of terrorists were managed to cross the border and entered Israel with one purpose in mind; hurting Israeli citizens and soldiers. Unfortunately, one soldier and seven civilians’ died during these attacks. Both myself and Ulpan Aviv, along with the entire nation of Israel, are today taking time to remember those who died under these terrible circumstances and of course the families that they have left behind.
Every time something like this happens, it feels like the first time. It is really hard to gather up the pieces and move on. I guess that is all just part of this terrible situation that we find ourselvesin.
I am so sorry that this post isn’t more up-beat, but I do want to tell you that I had a wonderful time with my family on our vacation. We went up to the north to a Moshav called Kalanit which was quiet and relaxing. Today is my first day back at work and I was welcomed by at least 40 e-mails that needed urgent attention and a million of things to take care of! No complaints there though, it is definitely good to be back even though I have been a bit distracted by our 18 month old baby who spent the last day of our holiday in hospital with dehydration and still isn’t fully recovered!!
Despite the rough news I wish you all a happy weekend and Shabbat Shalom,
Gil Pentzak

Shalom! Ma Nishma?

Another week over and I hope everything is OK and that you are well. I know that I sure am now that I am officially on holiday. Even though we are not leaving to go on holiday until Sunday, by Thursday morning we had already started doing the things that we have been planning to do for ages such as horse riding, (the children have been asking to do this for the past 6 months), spending time on the beach, etc.
Needless to say that Wednesday, the day before my holiday began, was pretty intensive. I didn’t want to leave any loose ends before I left and it took quite a lot of time and effort to cram everything in. The one break I did take that day was to have a drink at lunchtime with a student-friend, Toda.
Tuesday was Tisha B'Av – which is a fast day in the Jewish calendar. The Ulpan was closed on that day and I was at home with the children all day. With fasting, I think I would have preferred being at work… ☺
I am pleased to congratulate two of my oldest students (actually, I think I mean most long-standing students, oops! Sorry ladies…) who are celebrating their birthdays. Tamara from Geneva, who had her birthday last week and to whom I wish best wishes and lots of success in all of her endeavors, and Ruth from Canada whom I wish Mazal Tov and "Good luck" with everything! Both Tamara and Ruth will be coming back to Israel in the very near future and I wish them both the maximum benefit of their staying. May you find much satisfaction in what you do. ☺
Well, I can’t hang around today; I’m off to pack my bag. Wishing you all Shabbat shalom and a pleasant week!
Shabbat Shalom,
Gil Pentzak, Ulpan Aviv- director

Shalom! Ma Shlomchem?

I trust this blog-post finds you all well.
I have quite a bit to tell you all and am not sure where to start! This week was the beginning of the “nine day period”, which is the nine days between Rosh Chodesh Av and Tisha B'Av, (1st day of Av and 9th day of Av). My mum, (and many other Jews with her), says that it is not recommended to start a project, or in fact to start any sort of a process during these days. As our Temple was destroyed at this time of the year, it is widely believed that anything that is started at this time will not succeed, in other words, there is no blessing in anything that one does. I must say that this year, more than ever before, I am starting to believe that my mum is right. All students that were supposed to start their studies at Ulpan this week all had suddenly had various reasons that they had to cancel or postpone. Two from France were hospitalized; two from the UK now living in Netanya couldn’t come, as well as various Skype courses being cancelled at the last minute. Our newsletter that was supposed to be mailed to more than 500 subscribers only got through to 100 for some unknown reason, and G-d only knows what else. I have got to the point where I am saying; "everything is from now on in your hands. Just remember that I love you…☺"
In addition to all the hiccups that we have had, I have loads to do and get finished in the next week before going on a family holiday next Thursday. With Tuesday being Tisha B'Av, Ulpan will be closed for the day. As I said, lots to do in a short time……
BUT, who’s complaining? With everything that is going on in Israel at the moment, I am so thankful to be working and to be working in a field that I love!
I hope that you all have a great weekend!
Shabbat Shalom,
Gil Pentzak