Temple Beth Am of South Florida, led by Rabbi Paul Plotkin, kicked off the summer by experiencing Ron Nachman’s legacy on June 20, 2013. The Temple last visited Ariel only a few years ago, and the group was able to witness the growth of Ariel since then.
The charismatic and eloquent Billye Brim is one of the foremost ambassadors of Ariel in the Christian world, ensuring that all her groups come and experience the revival of the Land of Joshua through the City of Samaria. Billye was joined by Pastor Lynne Hammond of Living Word Christian Center in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, and by Ariel’s longtime friend and supporter, Victoria Hearst.
Orthodox Union (O.U.) leaders, Paul Glasser, Senior Director of Institutional Advancement, and Stanley Weinstein, Chair of the Self Jewish Learning Initiative on Campus, visited Ariel from the US, joining Rabbi Avi Berman of O.U. Israel.
The Faith Bible Chapel International “Singers & Dancers” (FBC Internationals) of Arvada, Colorado made its annual visit to Ariel with its crew of young performers, who were both newcomers and veteran guests. The FBC Internationals perform in Israel at IDF bases throughout the country for one month each summer in a tradition that has been going on for over 20 years.
Dani Menkin, one of the biggest names in Israeli documentary films, paid a visit to Ariel University as a guest of Eyal Boers, head of the University’s Film/TV track and filmmaker in his own right (Live or Die in Entebbe).
“And people call Ariel a ‘settlement’?” remarked Frank Dimant, the CEO of B’nai Brith Canada while leading the B’nai Brith delegation into Ariel’s Center for the Performing Arts. So impressed was he by the beauty of the facility, he gathered the delegation of the dozen B’nai Brith visitors for a group portrait in the velvet chairs to challenge their international constituents with the question: “Where was this picture taken?”
Maranatha Chapel in San Diego deepened its long-standing friendship with the City of Ariel through an afternoon tour of church leaders and congregants on Monday, May 5, 2013.
A group of English speakers who made aliyah and now reside in the Sharon Region of Israel visited Ariel on May 11th. They enjoyed an extensive and intensive daylong tour of the city.
Moved by the group’s visit to Ariel last year, tour leader Marda Heymann made Ariel the first stop for the “Hem of His Garment” South African delegation to Israel on May 10, 2013.
A group of 50 Australian Jewish high school graduates participating in “Israel By Choice” for their gap year in Israel visited the City of Ariel on May 5, 2013 to move beyond the realm of rumors and see Samaria firsthand.
A delegation of 25 German educators and journalists toured Ariel to round out their picture of Israel and particularly of Judea and Samaria (the West Bank) as part of a tour entitled “Center and Periphery – Two Faces of Israel.” The delegation was part of a mission partially funded by the German government to give German educators and journalists a firsthand look into Israel.
American Friends of Ariel and the Film/TV track of Ariel University (AU) welcomed Ruth Brandt from Los Angeles on Tuesday, May 6, 2013 so that she could meet the people she’s touched and taste the creativity she’s nurtured.