October 28, 2022

For the last ten days I've been in Israel traveling with an organized philanthropic team, the Jewish National Fund. Their goal is to bring peace and have a safe world with all people living in harmony.

From: History.com, By: Editors, October 11, 2022

The Day of the Dead (el Día de los Muertos), is a Mexican holiday where families welcome back the souls of their deceased relatives for a brief reunion that includes food, drink and celebration. A blend of Mesoamerican ritual, European religion and Spanish culture, the holiday is celebrated each year from October 31-November 2. While October 31 is Halloween, November 2 is All Souls Day or the Day of the Dead. According to tradition, the gates of heaven are opened at midnight on October 31 and the spirits of children can rejoin their families for 24 hours. The spirits of adults can do the same on November 2.

Celebrate Día de los Muertos with the Tucson Symphony Orchestra!

Matthew Kasper, conductor

Gather family and friends for a truly unique concert experience—the joyous and tender Pixar/Disney film Coco projected on a giant screen while the TSO plays Michael Giacchino’s magnificent score. Despite his family’s baffling generations-old ban on music, Miguel dreams of becoming an accomplished musician like his idol, Ernesto de la Cruz. Desperate to prove his talent, Miguel finds himself in the stunning and colorful Land of the Dead following a mysterious chain of events. Along the way, he meets charming trickster Héctor and together they set off on an extraordinary journey to unlock the real story behind Miguel’s family history.

Courtesy of Laura Ben-David

Been in Israel for 10 days and have been overwhelmed with its high-tech approaches to learning and even developing desert agriculture. The Flock has visited the desolate Atacama Desert and we are based in the relatively lush Sonoran Desert. Now we're visiting the Arava Valley that only gets 2 in of rainfall each year, yet due to a partnership between Israel and the University of Arizona they are becoming one of Israel's most bountiful regions. By using innovative technology and methods they are sustainably growing dragon fruit, squash, watermelon, grapes, beets, and many more vegetables in a hot, dry desert environment. This agriculture project is huge, it is in the direction the whole world is starting to take, the work it will return will help all countries feed themselves.

FROM: Jewish Phoenix, By: Abigail Klein Leichman, August 2, 2022

Maayan Kitron hands me a weird-looking yellow fruit wrapped in a cocoon.

Gently, I open the papery husk and take a sweet bite of this golden berry (also called a groundcherry or strawberry tomato), whose flavor has been compared to pineapple with hints of cherry tomato and vanilla.

Kitron, coordinator of flower and herb research at Arava R&D, also provided visiting reporters with tastes of cherry tomatoes, peppers and strawberries raised in this strip of the Negev Desert stretching down Israel’s eastern border from the Dead Sea to Eilat.

photo: Beth Kasser

Date harvesting in the Arava Valley.

ADI Negev-Nahalat Eran is a 40-acre rehabilitation village serving children and adults and their families in a live-in campus environment. ADI Negev is more than a health care center, it's a village providing medical, education, vocational, employment, and social services to its community.

The Jewel of the Negev

The ADI Negev-Nahalat Eran Rehabilitation Village was named in memory of Eran Almog, the late son of Didi and Major General (Res.) Doron Almog. Fueled by his love for Eran, who was born with severe autism and intellectual disabilities, Doron Almog guided the creation of an expansive residential and rehabilitative complex in Israel’s south that has become a home and family for more than 150 children and young adults with severe disabilities and complex medical conditions, and provides a host of rehabilitative solutions for individuals from all backgrounds and levels of need. 

ADI Negev-Nahalat Eran provides a wide range of services, including residential care for people with multiple disabilities and complex medical conditions, an intensive care hospital wing for babies and adults, a para-medical center, hydrotherapy pool, special education school, green care farm, and a therapeutic horse stable and petting zoo.

When I visited Red Mountain Therapeutic Riding Center I felt like I was home in Tucson. Just like we have at Tucson's TROT campus, Israel has a strong therapeutic riding school for children with disabilities. This is a very effective form of therapy that is spreading around the world. The children participating get benefit from their time outdoors, low impact physical exercise, and form emotional bonds with the horses they ride. It's a beautiful thing.

For over 20 years, Red Mountain Therapeutic Riding Center has provided top quality care to the most vulnerable residents of Israel’s South. Red Mountain is committed to the principles of inclusivity in Israeli society, providing services to all who need, and helping each individual realize their own potential. Therapeutic horseback riding helps improve the lives of people with a range of cognitive, physical, and emotional disabilities, and Red Mountain ensures this level of care to anyone who makes the Arava their home.

Avraham Kadar. (Photo: Amit Shaal)

From: CTech, By: Sophie Shulman, October 18, 2022

Israeli Avraham Kadar, a former pediatrician and immunologist, will receive $875 million for the sale of BrainPop, the educational technology company he founded, to KIRKBI A/S, the family-owned holding and investment company of the Lego brand. 

Pomegranates at the Mahane Yehuda market in Jerusalem on August 25, 2016. (Nati Shohat/Flash90)

From: The Times of Israel, By: Shoshanna Solomon, September 18, 2017

As Jewish families across the world reach for the pomegranate that they customarily eat on Rosh Hashanah, they may not realize that the fruit, with its juicy red seeds and crown-like crest, could hold a key to graceful aging.

King Solomon is said to have designed his crown based on that of the pomegranate, and the image of the fruit often appears on ancient coins of Judea. The pomegranate is said to have 613 seeds, which correspond with the 613 Jewish precepts or commandments set out by the Torah regulating the Jewish way of life. For this reason, and because it represents fruitfulness, knowledge, learning and wisdom, and is seasonal in Israel, it customarily appears on Jewish New Year dinner tables.

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. In honor of this, The Flock would like to highlight the Susan G. Komen organization. Susan G. Komen provides support and advocacy for breast cancer patients and raises money for breast cancer research by sponsoring their nationwide Race For The Cure events. Whether you Run, Walk, or sponsor a participant, you can help fight breast cancer. 

Fun Halloween events at Reid Park Zoo for young and old alike. Get your tickets today!

Wicked Fun For Conservation

Wear your best haunt couture and fly out to Spirits At The Zoo, presented by Casino del Sol! Revel with your pack while supporting the Zoo’s conservation fund at this adults only Halloween celebration. Will we see you for this chilling and thrilling night? This is an ages 21+ only event and you won’t want to ghost! Proceeds from this party with a purpose benefit Reid Park Zoo’s conservation fund. Each ticket helps scare up crucial funds to assist field programs the Zoo supports to help save African elephants, lions, Chilean flamingos, and other species. 

Enjoy A Bewitching Evening!

Dig up your zombies, and grab your ghouls! Show off your boo-tiful costumes at Reid Park Zoo for a delightful, not too frightful, family friendly evening at Boo at the Zoo! You’ll have an enchanting time with the whole family at this Tucson Halloween tradition. Proceeds benefit Zoo animal care, operations, and education programs.

You know I was recently asked how the Flock became the Flock Newsletter. I created the Flock to keep in touch and share the things that interest me with my friends old and new, from home and abroad. It’s my way of paying back the friendships and love I’ve received.

courtesy of a great friend

Why are ghosts so bad at telling lies?

Because you can see right through them!

Holualoa Ed Fit Wellness & Culture 2

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