Adam Carpenter – Head of Jewish Life Primary

My Israel Video Competition

Earlier this term, Jewish Life Leaders Suzanna Garbuz, Akeisha Kantor and Boaz Simhi created a short video called “מים לחיים Water for Life”, earning them a Certificate of Commendation in the UIA 2020 My Israel Video Competition.

Mazal tov to Kenya Martin in Year 8, who came second in this competition, winning a voucher to use towards her Israel Program. Have a look at her outstanding video.

Below are some extracts from our Primary School video – Water for Life:

Akeisha:

Shalom and welcome to this edition of Mayim LeChayim – Water for Life, where we explore Israel’s water challenges and how this small but resourceful nation is valuing its most precious resource – water. 

Did you know that: More than 60% of Israel is desert. The Negev is Israel’s largest desert, sitting in the southern part of the country. 

Israel has responded to its water challenges in multiple ways – including water conservation campaigns, building water reservoirs throughout the country and using innovative technology for desalination plants, waste water recycling and in agriculture.

Suzi:

When you flush the toilet in Israel, it is amazing to think that that sewage and drain water will be treated and cleaned to a sanitary level for agriculture. Once treated in water recycling plants like the Shafdan near Tel Aviv, the water is transported in purple colour pipes to different parts of the country, including arid desert regions in the south, to grow the cucumbers, tomatoes and capsicums that will be eaten in homes in Israel and around the world. 

In addition to recycling, Israel has invested in desalination technology to provide potable water for its citizens. The five Israeli seawater desalination plants are among the twelve largest plants in the world. Its Sorek plant is the largest in the world, taking salty sea water and turning it into drinking water. By 2050, Israel plans to have 60% of all national potable water demands met by desalination. 

Boaz:

Dreams are created drip… by drip… by drip… Israel’s founding Prime Minister David Ben Gurion had a vision to make the desert bloom. What a meshuggeneh idea, to have farms, orchards and crops growing in arid, desert areas!

Yet through innovative irrigation technology, particularly drip irrigation systems that are highly efficient and high tech, Israel has significantly reduced the amount of water used in agriculture and farmers in Israel have indeed made the desert bloom – planting orchards, crops and farms in desert making Ben Gurion’s dream a living reality.