David’s Harp
The “Children of King David” is a children’s chorus made up of young new immigrants from Russia. Most of them from single parent families who immigrated during the last few years and are struggling with the economic and social complexities of adjusting to their new home. The Raz-Ram Foundation has integrated the chorus, with musical arrangement by Irna Kogan, into the series of musical events it has held during the last two years, including a performance the Foundation sponsored at the Enav Center for the Arts in Tel Aviv.
The Foundation is currently assisting the chorus in preparing a musical on the subject of coexistence, and is supporting them in their multi-lingual musical efforts, which also include Yiddish and Ladino.
“Dear Darkness” Children of King David (MP3)
Jewish and Arab orphaned children at the Agial Experimental School in Jaffo participated in a Marionette building project conducted by the Raz-Ram Foundation. During this annual project, the activities centered around the creation and operation of marionette puppets. In addition to creating the puppets, each child built his own personal story, and together with other members of the group, conducted their own puppet theater.
In cooperation with the Department for Social Action at the University of Tel-Aviv, the Raz-Ram Foundation made special meetings between orphaned children from Jaffa and students from the Faculty of Arts, in the joint research of subjects that have both scientific and artistic importance. The activity included visits to the zoo, planetarium, preparation of a movie, and tours of Jaffa and the University. This joint activity of the Raz-Ram Foundation and students from Tel-Aviv University is expanding to form the infrastructure for social involvement in Tel-Aviv-Jaffa, according to the “Seeds of Creation and Memory” model which the Raz-Ram Foundation is developing.
Other Activities of this Seeds of Creation:
Sciences and the Arts
Designing a New Life – A project for renewing old furniture and objects
Arts Market
Photo Archives
“The Substance of Memories”- Background
The Hecht Museum at the University of Haifa is one of the country’s foremost museums, which combines permanent exhibitions from the fields of archaeology with a distinguished art collection. In July 2002, the museum staff hosted a group of children through the Raz Ram Fund for a full day of activities, which included a musical performance in the museum’s auditorium presented by the musicians and children of the Fund. In light of the great success of this one-day event, it was decided to build on the connection with the University of Haifa in general, and the Hecht Museum in particular, and make them the focal point for the Haifa Seeds of Creation. Within this context, the Haifa Seeds of Creation will develop a program, entitled “The Substance of Memories” based on artistic creation and study of art theory, with an emphasis on art history and archaeology. Alongside the art/archaeology connection, the theme of memory will be explored, from a historical perspective and through the individual perspective of each of the participants.
Art in Time
Summer Program at the Hecht Museum
The Raz-Ram Fund will be hosting groups of children at the Hecht Museum for a Summer Program during the months of July and August. The program will include one-day activities featuring creative art projects and archaeological research. The program will be staffed by students from the University of Haifa and Hecht Museum staff and artists from Raz-Ram, and will incorporate work with materials including paper, clay, glass, copper and wood, relating to different historical periods. Emphasis will be placed on inter-cultural influences which are evidenced in these materials.
As part of the “Perach” program, a group of orphaned new immigrant children from Russia, brought to Israel through the efforts of the Communications Division of the Prime Minister’s Office, live and go to school in the town of Kfar Hassidim. Over the past year, the Raz Ram Foundation has conducted an arts project with these children, and has also integrated the Kfar Hassidim orchestra, conducted by Barak Mendel, into its different activities around the country.
Garden of the Spring- Background
In the ancient Druse village of Hurfeish, located in the Western Galilee, the Raz-Ram Foundation established a joint project for orphaned children from Hurfeish and the Druse villages of Cisra, Bet-Jan and Usafiya. The project took place in a local community center in Hurfeish and also included children from a boarding school in the village, as well as other orphaned Druse children and children who were removed from dysfunctional homes.
As part of the project, the participants learned and carried out the entire process of building marionette puppets – preparing plaster models, sculpting, assembling the different pieces, painting the facial features, sewing the costumes, and more. The children also participated in a wide range of other creative activities, attended a special musical performance, and participated in a rhythm/musical activity. A group of Conservative rabbis from New York visited one of the activities, at the initiative of the Jewish Agency, which also supports the project. The rabbis, together with the children, created a commemorative statue and also visited the memorial for fallen Druse soldiers in the village.
The final exhibition for the project included a ceremony marking the laying of the cornerstone for the “Garden of the Spring” park. During the celebration, which was sponsored by the Minister of Culture, children from the Foundation’s Seeds of Creation activities around the country came to Hurfeish to see the exhibition of marionettes and take part in a wide variety of creative projects. Among the visitors were Beduin children from Rahat, Arab children from Jaffa, new immigrant children from Rehovoth and Rishon le Zion, Ethiopian children from Absorption Centers in Safed, and children from boarding schools in Jerusalem and Tel-Aviv. In an activity designed to give free reign to their creativity and imaginations, the children faced the Wadi where the village’s historic spring is set, and each one drew his own personal vision and designed the landscape of his spirit.
The Garden of the Spring site, which is part of the local Druse heritage, will be incorporated into the design of the future project, as a memorial park in memory of the fallen Druse soldiers. The park will comprise the materials inherent to the site: water, wood, earth, stone, etc., and will serve as a center for activities related to creativity and the local heritage. It will be a meeting place for inter-cultural gatherings, based on the values of peace and co-existence, and honoring individual and collective memory.
Other activities of this Seeds of Creation:
“Orphans without Borders”
The Babushkas of Bet Jan, Maghar, Hurfeish and Cisra Seminar:
The Galilee – A Culture of Memory and Peace
Garden of the Spring
Bells of Hurfeish
