Move over Kyle MacLachlan–our favorite fictional mayor from TV show “Portlandia”–and make room for Jerusalem’s Mayor Nir Barkat. Here’s proof that Barkat is the most kid-friendly and child-centric mayor ever: He went to the southern neighborhood of Gonenim to establish the city’s first “pacifier tree.”
Wait, so what exactly is a pacifier tree? Is it some new fangled, genetically modified tree or something that sprouts pacifiers?
Just before the new school year began, a tree outside a well-baby clinic was decorated on August 24th as a way to celebrate and soothe weaning children from their pacifiers. Think of this as a way for children to learn how to say goodbye, in a small way, and positively enter into a new phase of life.
About 60 toddlers ages 2-5, with their parents, hung their pacifiers on beaded strings to the tree’s branches—moving from babyhood to childhood. A nurse at the clinic also read a story called “Naama and the Pacifier” by children’s author Shlomo Abas.
Hanan Rubin, City Councilman, told ISRAEL21c, “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.”
We hope the project will continue, too, around the world.
