First of all, we thank the many very kind people who have been praying for
Jade since we learned that she has cancer.  Please know that your prayers
have been and are a tremendous help.

There have been many frightening and tearful times since Jade's illness
manifested itself, but there is also great love and hope.  That love and
that hope were with us at the hospital while we waited for a word from Jade
after her emergency surgery.  They were with us when Jade was able to come
home to her husband, Ilan, and her three beautiful kids. They have been with
us as we've been checking into her treatment options and working to be sure
we are getting her the best care that we can.  We know that your prayers
help keep love and hope alive, and we are very, very grateful for your
kindness and your humanity.

We are sure that you join us in extending your prayers, and your help, to
the victims of Hurricane Katrina and to the Israeli families who so recently
have had to leave their homes and lives behind.

When we see people terrorized by deliberate actions of hatred and violence
or by the forces of nature, it is truly tzedakah that those who can step
forward and bring their strength and their help to affirm life and hope.
Tzedakah is a word inadequately translated as "charity" in English -- in
Hebrew the root of that word is much more apt -- it is justice, that which
is done because it is right.  And so, as we wish for Jade refuah shlema,
complete recovery, we also wish speedy comfort and healing for the Israeli
families who sorrow now for their uprooted communities and the Louisiana and
Mississippi families torn from their homes.

We've had many kind e-mails asking after Jade.  She is recovering from her
surgery very well.  Again, in addition to her great determination to stay
with her family and continue her work, we see the strength of your prayers
in her rapid improvement.  Though she cannot feel her right side, she can
walk, talk, climb stairs, bake bread (anyone who has visited Jade and Ilan
knows that she bakes really great breads) and has begun once again to read
and respond to e-mails daily.  Her medical records were very recently
reviewed at Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem, and are now with the
Neuro-Oncology Branch of the National Cancer Institute of the National
Institutes of Health for review.

Unless we hear otherwise from the neuro-oncology experts, we anticipate that
Jade's next treatment steps -- radiation and chemotherapy -- will begin
soon.  With Stage III brain cancer, these are both standard of care
treatments.  They are also tough to endure.  Please keep Jade in your
prayers and, if you would like to show support for her return to work with
her beloved Books for Israel Project, please consider making a gift to B4i
through the To Save A Life (TSAL) Foundation, a 501(c)3 recognized tax
deductible nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting grassroots efforts
that help the people of Israel.  You can write to Jerry Klinger, TSAL's
founder, at tosavealife@hotmail.com, visit TSAL's website at www.tsal.org,
or read more about Jerry and TSAL through the Books for Israel's website --
see the YOU CAN HELP section and click on Jerry's picture visiting the KFar
Vradim school -- here's the web address to paste in your web browser:
http://www.edu-negev.gov.il/bs/b4i/donors/JerryKlinger/jerry-klinger1.htm

At this point, Jade is not going to be able to start the year off teaching.
However, it is extremely important that she continue to work at something
she believes in and loves, something which allows her the flexibility to
rest when she needs to and work as she can.  It is also important, at this
stage, that she be paid for her efforts.  This is both to keep her family
from suffering even more due to her illness, as up until now she has worked
very hard to help bring in money though teaching in Israel pays very poorly,
 and because a person engaged in work that they consider of value and which
others also clearly value stands a much better chance of getting well.  We
firmly believe that a person who is sidelined by illness has been placed at
the door of deep depression, and they have a much slimmer chance of
recovering than a person who is actively engaged. Jade has much to give, and
the Books for Israel Project, which she did very so much to build, needs her
continued involvement.  If you can help, whether with your prayers or your
direct support, we are always very thankful.

We also want to take this opportunity to provide a very brief update on
"B4i."  Since the schools in Israel have just opened, we'll have a more
extensive update on the situation in the various schools after Ilan and Jade
have had a chance to communicate with our network of volunteer teachers, but
we do have some early news.

Last year, toward the end of the school year, new "B4i" participating school
clusters opened in IV

For this school year, Jade and Ilan have identified the need to reach some
of the impoverished urban neighborhoods.  Only a couple of days ago, we
welcomed the opening of the first school cluster in Haifa, Israel's third
largest city.  Haifa has some beautiful neighborhoods, and is always full of
life and bustle.  Those who haven't visited, please do when you can.
However, it also has neighborhoods that have been stamped into deep poverty,
especially during the last five years thanks to the combination of the
terror campaign and the economic downturn that followed 9/11 and the
bursting of the tech bubble.  We're glad to report that Haifa already has
one book drive which has expressed interest in helping.  As this year we are
going to try to bring some of Israelis most heavily populated areas into
participation with B4i, we will need to conduct extensive outreach to find
yet more friends to help stock English reading rooms and libraries that have
yet to exist in these sectors of urban poverty.

So, with gratitude, we look forward to the next few weeks acknowledging our
fear, with a great deal to accomplish, and with much love and hope.
  
Thank you for being with us.  - Rena Cohen Jade's sister,
Co-founder of B4I and the international director.