Coming Soon

There are two ways to describe our day in the Tel Aviv area yesterday - the day began as simple, basic and low tech and ended as very high tech! The second aspect of our day was living the value of Tikun Olam or saving the world.

After a fantastic breakfast at the Carlton Tel Aviv, our hotel which was beautifully situated on the Mediterranean Sea, we set out bright and early toward Rehovot to the fields of an organization called Leket. Leket’s mission is to help feed the hungry throughout Israel using a technique they call “food rescue.”  The goal of food rescue is to use perfectly good produce and other foods destined to go to waste to feed people who would otherwise be hungry.  So, you may wonder how did Team CBO play a role in this wonderful endeavor?  The simple answer is we got down and dirty in a field picking radishes!!  I have included a picture showing the “fruits” of our labors yesterday - I was very pleased and proud to be part of helping the needy in Israel.

We left Leket and headed off to the Weizmann Institute of Science which is one of the world's leading multidisciplinary basic research institutions in the natural and exact sciences. It was very close to Leket and we brought the dust of the fields with us.  Weizmann researchers have been responsible for some of the world’s most amazing scientific breakthroughs - truly living the mission of Tikun Olam through science.

Next, we made our way to old Jaffa where we had time for lunch, shopping and soaking up some of the beautiful Tel Aviv sunshine. We regrouped a couple of hours later to visit Independence Hall where David Ben Gurion announced the formation of the Jewish State of Israel on May 14, 1948.  I cannot describe how it felt to sit where Ben Gurion made his momentous declaration and to realize that I would not be experiencing this phenomenal trip if that had never occurred!

Our final stop of the day catapulted us forward into the high tech world of 2018 and beyond in Israel!  In mid-2016, Taglit, the organization which sponsors Birthright, created a fantastic exhibition to showcase the accomplishments of high tech entrepreneurship in Israel through start up companies.  The facility shows the importance of technology and creativity in the state of Israel.  I’m sure many of you have used Waze, the navigation app.  Waze was developed in Israel along with a slew of other technological wonders! My personal favorite was the Genny which can draw humidity out of the air to produce potable drinking water! Anyone out there seeing a use for this in a desert country? Truly Tikun Olam in action!

Well, it was a long and fulfilling day but all our efforts to help save the world have made me very sleepy 😴- Laila Tov - Good night from Israel!

Tina Baron