Reflections!

I am amused in the last few days to be receiving emails wishing me well for 2017. How is that amusing? Well, the 1st January is a regular work day in Israel! It is not a public holiday, neither is it really a significant start to the year. Our year begins at Rosh HaShanah. This point is something that is quite an adjustment for many who move to Israel. In fact, if you go into a stationary store and search for a diary or calendar you will find that the new year or the new diary begins always at the end of Elul leading up to Rosh HaShanah. 

Having said that, it is an important date for accounting purposes and so we look to setting business and accounting goals for the new secular year. At Chessed Ve'Emet we have some exciting developments for the new year. Before we consider our plans for the future, I would like to thank you, our readers and followers for your support over the past number of years. This blog was one of the early developments that we began. It has been up and running for 8 years now and we are happy to say that we have gained 33 followers and regular readers. From time to time we do have readers commenting on a post which is always exciting for us, and to all those who do comment we say a very big thank you. 

We have some interviews that have taken place and been shared on this blog, and plans in place for further interviews. Thus far the interviews have all been in a Q&A format. We do hope to develop to also having interviews either via podcast or video.

We have had some Olim share their story through this blog and we welcome further Olim to be in touch and send in your story. If your story involves preparing for Aliyah, making Aliyah, a success story or a word of encouragement, we want to hear about it and to share it. So please do be in touch.

We have had some other services for Olim specifically. For quite some time we tried to focus on increasing a network among South African Olim. We ran a Ning for quite a number of months before the Ning required that those hosting a forum on the Ning pay a monthly fee. This we covered for the first couple of years but sadly when we requested for members to contribute a nominal monthly membership in order to cover expenses, none of the members were prepared to. Sadly, our Ning came to an end but our blog has continued.

In addition to regular posts on this blog, we have Torah shiurim happening online and in person with our wonderful Torah teacher Rabbi Eliyahu Shear. At this time, shiurim include: 

- Shulchan Aruch HaRav focusing at present on Shabbat, twice a week

- Mishna Brerura happening currently weekly

- Otzrot Haim happening currently twice a week. 

We'd love to add some other online Shiurim, so if you have any questions related to Torah or a book or area of Torah that you would like to learn on a regular basis, do visit our website and sign up for online Torah learning. 

We have tried a number of avenues of selling products online. These products have been both of our own creative skills and items that we had received in order to sell at low cost. Our online selling has been a tremendous learning curve and we are excited to say that we are preparing to launch our own website selling items that we have created online as one of our various avenues to generate funds for our Torah centre. We have tried in the past pricing our items at low cost however, this has not been an effective path for us. Our online creative items are therefore now being created for those who are searching for a unique, hand crafted item or gift and values the fact that it comes from Israel and that their purchase assists Jews in Israel. If you are looking for a unique, hand crafted gift, stay in touch and watch this blog for updates of when we launch our new website.

My occupational therapy services can be viewed on my website. These services form the women's division of Chessed Ve'Emet and are focused on assisting Jewish women in the role of wife and mother. 

Other exciting developments on the creative front have been the publishing of our books. We currently have the following books available for sale:

• "Tuvia Finds His Freedom" by Eliyahu and Shoshanah Shear (The English Version)
• "Tuvia Finds His Freedom" by Eliyahu and Shoshanah Shear (This Hebrew Edition is translated into Hebrew by Dana Baum)
• "Parshah in Just Two Minutes" by Rabbi Eliyahu Shear (This is currently undergoing revision and will be available for sale once more soon)
• "Healing Your Life Through Activity - An Occupational Therapist's Story" by Shoshanah Shear

Our books are available on a number of online bookstores and through us for those who are in Israel.

Our last two developments include:

• Our Torah Lending Library. We currently have about 400 books mostly in English though some are in Hebrew. Due to limited space these books are forming double rows on the shelves of two tall bookshelves. 
• Some time ago we ran a crowd fundraiser in order to obtain and set up our Bridal Gown Gemach. We are happy to say that we have 59 beautiful bridal gowns all set up waiting for a Kallah to come and visit our Bridal Gowns. We have had some Kallot coming to search for and try on gowns in preparation for their big day. On my other blog you will see some posts offering tips to assist the Brides with common issues being raised. 

All in all there has been consistent growth, revision, progress, adjustment, further growth, improvement and we are very happy to say that we are steadily progressing towards the full vision that we have of a Torah Healing Centre.

Thank you to everyone who has been a part of this exciting journey so far. Do be in touch and let us know both which of our services you enjoy and which services you are in need of for the secular year ahead. We look forward to sharing further developments and our plans as they develop and are ready for sharing.

This post is prepared for you by

Shoshanah Shear

Occupational Therapist, healing facilitator, certified infant massage instructor, freelance writer and co-author of "Tuvia Finds His Freedom" and author of "Healing Your Life Through Activity - An Occupational Therapist's Story"

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