The Golan Heights is a popular travel destination for Israelis who want to spend time up North in the outdoors, with ample opportunities for hiking, camping and a wide range of other sporting activities. However, two 30-something female immigrants have established a brand new type of attraction, which they hope will draw Israelis as well as tourists from abroad to the Golan, providing them with a unique educational outlet to unleash their creativity while obtaining a true appreciation for this part of the country. The name of this venture is “Groovesters,” and it is a Katzrin-based interactive art and design studio which offers groups and families the chance to participate in workshops, programs and other activities. The founders of Groovesters are Katzrin resident Elisheva Ben-Ze'ev and Tova Hametz of Jerusalem. Ben-Ze'ev made aliya from New Jersey in 2002, while Hametz left for Israel in the early hours of September 11, 2001. Her aliya flight was the last plane to take off from New York to Tel Aviv, as the attacks on America unfolded. For the past seven years Ben-Ze'ev has been operating a small clothing business selling high-quality, unique and colorful tie-dyed shirts, head scarves, hats and other items and accessories for all ages, under the Groovesters brand. She sells her wares out of her home, at fairs throughout the country and online, to retail stores and individual customers abroad. Several years ago, Ben-Ze'ev was working at Camp Moshava, a Jewish summer camp in Pennsylvania, running tie-dye workshops for kids and staffers, and after seeing how much they got out of it, decided to bring something similar to the Golan. “I wanted to do something in the Golan, to help bring in more tourists, and at the same time provide the local community of all ages the opportunity to come and do an activity,” she says. “The Golan is so beautiful and has such a great culture; I wanted to change the perception that the only thing we have is hiking.” Hametz explains the concept in more detail. “Groovesters is an all-weather art studio that can accommodate 80 people at a time, of all ages and backgrounds. We are going to be offering groups a two-hour educational workshop in which they will get to hear and learn about the 'colors of Israel' while taking part in an introductory lesson in clothing design, using the technique of their choice: tie-dye, sun-painting [heliographic art], or batik [wax painting].” She says that if a group decides they want to design their own shirts, for example, “we will provide the shirts, which each group member will create and customize with their own logo. Once completed and dried, we will have their finished product packaged and delivered to their door throughout the country.” Hametz explains why Groovesters is unique. “Unlike any other activity in the area, this is about creating something. You are not just walking out of here with a souvenir, or a standard T-shirt which goes to the bottom of a drawer, but you leave with a personal expression of something that was accomplished, something you produced that you want to wear and show off.” Groovesters will allow visitors to experience Katzrin, Hametz stresses, while at the same time “empowering and strengthening the local economy.” The plan is to do this “by showcasing services and products from the area along with local artists, small businesses and merchants, so the groups can get a taste of what Katzrin is all about.” Hametz, who for the past 10 years has been a philanthropic consultant, working with donors and foundations promoting philanthropy to Israel, says that getting involved with Groovesters was “values-driven.” She explains, “This for me is about collaboration and community – building the Golan community globally. It is important to me that the North is economically stable. This is our way of sharing what we love about the North, the Golan, color and clothing, while providing them with a one-of-a-kind experience they won't find anywhere else.” Ben-Ze'ev emphasizes the educational aspect of the workshops, believing Groovesters will allow visitors to learn about Israel through tie-dye – “where the colors are geographically… in the land according to Tanach [the Bible] and the Zohar.” For example, “The Golan is full of browns and reds, because of its volcanic rock. We are going to ask the participants to choose a part of Israel and [explore] the colors, which they are going to put into their shirts. They are going to be creating something meaningful to them.” With the grand opening of Groovesters scheduled for the end of last month, Hametz, who will be focusing on the business and marketing aspect of the venture, says they already have 10 groups from abroad along with local summer camps who have prescheduled their workshops for July. Groovesters will also be offering days for individual families to attend workshops, while Ben-Ze'ev says they will also be organizing afterschool design programs for children in local schools. In addition, they are planning on hosting “mobile” events away from the studio for bar and bat mitzvas, birthdays and other milestones. Ben-Ze'ev, who also has teaching experience and operates a swimming school in the Golan, believes that for children especially, designing clothing can be a rewarding and confidence-building experience. “With tie-dye you can have a kid come into the studio and be very unsure of himself or socially awkward, and say, 'I can't do this.' But you work with this kid and show them they can do it.” Her experience shows that “they come out with a sense of pride. A person can change how he views himself through this [medium] of art. Ben-Ze'ev adds that ultimately, Groovesters enables her “to share my love of Israel and love of tie-dyeing, through an all-inclusive experience which bring people to the Golan, where it is filled with color. This place is bursting with it.”
