Youngstown one stop on global trip for Israeli family

Staff report

youngstown

Community members will have the opportunity to meet members of the Israeli Family Project, Oksana and Chami Zemach, along with their three daughters, Gali, 13, Tamar, 11, and Michal, 4, beginning Dec. 17 as they tour the Mahoning Valley.

The Zemach family left Israel on Aug. 1 to embark on a yearlong journey through 27 countries over four continents and will be in the area for six days visiting schools and participating in holiday activities.

They will share stories of life in the desert and of international travel.

In summer 2002, the family moved from a big urban environment in the center of Israel to a small, undeveloped southern farming village in the Negev Desert.

They built a home and food factory that produces jams and chutneys from fresh fruit and vegetables grown by their neighbors. As emerging leaders in the community, the Zemachs joined the social, cultural, musical and educational activities in the village.

As tourists from throughout Israel and abroad visited the family’s village and factory, the Zemachs decided they wanted to share with people around the world, through the Israeli Family Project, their experiences as pioneers who helped build a community and made a desert bloom, according to a press release from the Jewish Community Relations Council of the Youngstown Area Jewish Federation.

The family will visit and share programs with students from Akiva Academy at the Jewish Community Center, 505 Gypsy Lane, on Dec. 20, and with students from Chaney Middle School/Rayen Early College at Chaney, 731 S. Hazelwood Ave., from 8:45 to 10 a.m. Dec. 21.