My wife Batya and I go to Israel every year, partly to visit family and partly to visit the wineries. Now there are more than 150 wineries. It is a joy to see the new wineries springing up all over the country and tasting some of the fine wines they produce. Many of them are only available in Israel because most of the importers in the USA aren’t willing to bring them to us.

The major reason is that these are small “boutique wineries”. Most of them do not produce a large enough amount of bottles each year to attract the importers. However, many of them produce very fine wines, some among the best in Israel. My wife and I enjoy visiting these wineries and tasting their wines. Very seldom are we disappointed and most of the time we are delighted.

My wife is an active member of Hadassah as well and so we also try to visit some of the Hadassah affiliated organizations in Israel. This year we visited a well known school called Meir Shfeyah, in a major wine producing area, and we had a wonderful surprise.

Meir Shfeyah was originally founded in the 1880s by the Baron Edmund Rothschild as an agricultural settlement for growing grapes for the local wineries in and around Zichron Yaakov. In 1923 Shfeyah became a school for orphans and refugees and today continues to absorb and educate the children of new immigrants and young Israelis in need of special, residential placement. It does such a good job that many of the well off families in Zichron Yaakov pay tuition and also send their children there.

During 1925 until 1958 Junior Hadassah assumed responsibility for the village and today the Hadassah Women’s Zionist Organization continues to invest in and support their work. Shfeyah is a residential, agricultural, regional, comprehensive high school which specializes in the sciences, music and agriculture.

A few years ago the staff of Meir Shfeyah asked themselves a question, “Why can’t our students learn to make wines?” The answer was “Why not?” So they started on the project. During September 2005, the Shfeyah Winery began operation and produced its first vintage of 5000 bottles of premium wine in February 2007. It was rated excellent by wine experts. The winery is run by a staff of 11th and 12th grade students under the supervision of the village agricultural director and a local wine maker.

The students who work in the winery are now experienced winemakers after completing two year’s cycle of experience. When I asked some of them why they are so devoted to their voluntary work in the winery, they told me,” because I am trusted and have responsibility here”, “because I love the other kids who work with me and I love working with Micki” (the supervisor), “because it’s fun and I know what to do“ and “because we are the first kids to do this and it’s great to see the results.”

My wife and I were thrilled to see all of this and we believe many of our readers will feel the same. Meir Shfeyah is near Zichron Yaakov in the Carmel Mountain area. It is one of the most beautiful places in Israel. For information contact Lauren Stern Kedem at laurensk@zahav.net.il or Miki Lipschitz at miki@shfeyah.org.il  or phone Meir Shfeyah at 011-972-4-6390750 Meir Shfeyah wine is available at the James Richardson Duty Free Shop at Ben Gurion Airport