A pacifier tree grows in Jerusalem?
l As if we needed any further proof that Israel is an unusually child-centered society, last month Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat inaugurated the city’s first “pacifier tree.”
The festively decorated tree, which grows just outside a well-baby clinic in the southern neighborhood of Gonenim, is meant as a positive aid for weaning children from their pacifiers. As Mr. Barkat looked on, about 60 tots were encouraged by their parents to hang their soothers on beaded strings attached to the tree’s branches, and to celebrate their “graduation” from babyhood.
Yehudit Segev, a nurse at the clinic, joined Mr. Barkat in reading the gathered kids “Naama and the Pacifier” by children’s author Shlomo Abas.
The initiative came from neighborhood parents and the timing was set deliberately for a week before the opening of the new school year. A poster publicizing the event invited parents of children between 2 and 5 years old to join in.
City Councilman Hanan Rubin said, “Although I am a father of children with pacifiers, I admit that I was surprised when residents first came to me with the idea. The beauty of the project is that it was instigated by the people and received the full support of the city. It incorporates an element of community and the environment, and I hope that in this spirit of cooperation the project will continue.”
Israel21c.org
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