Dear Friends,

On Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year, it's customary to say a special blessing thanking God for giving us life, sustaining us, and bringing us to this time. Typically, this blessing is recited while eating the first fruit of the new season, but the ritual was especially meaningful to the Keren Or family this year as we had many "firsts," and things for which to be grateful.

Not only did we celebrate the Jewish New Year, we celebrated the new school year. This year, the Keren Or School - led by principal Ornit Stein - welcomed a HUGE group of 19 incoming students! Thanks to the school staff's professionalism, expertise, caring and dedication, Keren Or continues to build on its reputation of excellence. While we wish that fewer children needed our program, we're proud to provide life-changing services to those who do.

We also celebrated the commencement of our long-awaited and desperately needed renovation! This exciting capital project will improve accessibility, enhance life-safety features, and adapt the building to the visual needs of children with Cortical Visual Impairments (CVI). We look forward to updating you on our progress throughout the year and invite you to contact us for more information about dedication opportunities.

We wish you a very joyous Sukkot and an inspired holiday season. Thank you for sustaining us and bringing us to this time!

Happy New Year,

Shira

Capital Campaign Has Begun!

Stage 1 Demolition Complete!

When the Keren Or campus was built in 1991, there were 40 ambulatory students. Today, there are 100 students, almost all of whom use wheelchairs. In order to meet the growing number of students, and their increasingly complex needs, we are embarking on an urgent campaign to renovate our building. The renovation is focused on 3 major areas:

1) improving accessibility (enlarged classrooms, additional elevator, etc.);

2) upgrading life-safety (sprinklers, bomb shelters, etc.) and

3) meeting the visual needs of our students. 

The building will be the first of its kind: the only CVI (cortical visual impairment) adapted building in Israel. More than 90% of our students have CVI, a brain-based visual impairment, meaning that the eyes can see, but the brain cannot interpret the images. However, research demonstrates that in the right physical environment, and with the right visual stimulation, new neural pathways can be created and a child's vision can be significantly improved.

Every architectural and design feature will help our students improve their mobility, orientation and vision. We're thrilled that our physical facility will contribute to our critical mission of helping our students live their best lives.

New Year = New Tastes, Sounds and Smells

On Rosh Hashana, it is customary to eat symbolic foods. The most common is apple dipped in honey, representing a sweet new year. But the Sephardic Jewish tradition highlights others, including dates, pomegranates, beets, leeks, and even the head of a fish or a ram (all playing on the Hebrew names for these items)!

This month, Gavriel distributed the different symbolic foods to each class so students could experience a "Rosh Hashana seder" using their senses of smell, touch and taste. Students also got to touch, hear, and even blow the shofar, (the ram's horn), reminding us all to "wake up" and focus on what is truly important!

Shana tova, a happy and healthy New Year to all!

Sukkot Holiday "Camp"

Keren Or will remain open throughout the intermediate days of Sukkot. If you are visiting Israel and would like to add the Keren Or Visitor's Center to your itinerary, please contact Shira Reifman at Shira@kerenor.org.il.

A docent-led tour of "Vertigo of Color: Matisse, Derain and the Origins of Fauvism" and a self-guided entry to the acclaimed "Manet/Degas" exhibit!

Click here to register.