Cooking with Love

Once a week the small kitchen of the "Nitzanim" group home is filled with heady smells coming from the baking oven. Waiting for the final product is accompanied by tension and curiosity that immediately turn the resulting meal into a fun filled, satisfying experience. 
 
It is not surprising that one of our most powerful childhood memories is generally related with the home made food smells. Since, unfortunately, such memories are not to be found among children from dysfunctional families, El Al Aviation Company, encouraged by "Fair Chance for Children", starting this unique project called "El Al and the Community".
 
In the framework of this project, volunteers' workers from El Al are coming once week to "Nitzanim" group home, located near Lod, cooking and baking together with the children all kinds of recipes. The activities take about an hour and a half, and by the end all food are eaten together as a banquet for kings.
 
The project was initiated six years ago by Aviva Lavi, an El Al worker, a volunteer for many years at "Fair Chance for Children". Aviva knows very well the sad life stories of so many thousands children in residential group care. It was Aviva's idea to create the connection between El Al and the residential group home in nearby Lod. Aviva, daughter-in-law of Esther Lubochinsky, co-founder of "Fair Chance for Children", believes that voluntarism is one of the most important contributions that can be made mutually for the volunteers and for the children in group homes. With the help of Shula Dibker, an El Al worker whose hobby is cooking, the idea of a cooking club was created receiving the name of "BiShula".
 
One of the most exciting volunteers stories belongs to Magda Choresh, an  El Al worker for 26 years in the accounting department. Magda began to volunteer in the cooking club three years ago. "I heard they were looking for volunteers to organize clubs in the afternoon", she reflects, "and it was important that this would be a permanent commitment. I consulted my family, and since I love to bake I decided that this would be an interesting challenge".
 
Therefore, until half a year ago, Magda came regularly when it was her turn every three weeks. She brought with her an easy recipe to prepare together with the children. "It is important to me to give each child a task", she says, "One puts in the flour, the second the oil, the third makes the mixing and the fourth pours the mix into the pan. The time that we are waiting for the cake to bake we talk about anything, and when the time comes to take the cake out and eat it, there is no end to their happiness. Before the first meeting I was afraid I would not find a common language with them, but all my fears were dissolved as soon as we started to work together. These are very warm children who accept the activity with much love. All the nice words are correct", says Magda, when she was asked to describe what her volunteer activity does for her. "I forget that I have just finished a day's work and that I have not yet seen my own children. All of this becomes insignificant compared with the wonderful feeling that I get from this activity".
 
However, half a year ago something happened and cut off this beloved activity. Magda Choresh suffered a stroke. "On Shabbat morning when I was at home I suddenly felt a strong headache. This was not a regular pain, and I understood that something else had occurred. I asked my husband to take me to the hospital. I don't remember any more, but I woke up a month and a half later in the hospital". She heard from others what happened during this period. She was in the Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital in Jerusalem where she underwent an operation which implanted a drain in her artery, which helped release the fluid from her brain. When she recovered from surgery she was released to her home, where she gradually returned to normal functioning.
 
Magda's recovery has amazed those who come to visit her, and they have been seeking for explanations even among the mystical ones. She received much advice on how to appreciate the fact that she was saved. But, she says, one of her thoughts has been that perhaps she was spared because she had to her credit the volunteer work she had done for the children. After her rehabilitation Magda returned to half-time work and she will soon start to take her turn at the group home kitchen. "After my stroke I have not yet returned to volunteering. However, as soon as I return to full time work I will also return to the cooking club. I miss the children".