Sderot mission to NY, for a change

by yaffi spodek

Solidarity with Israel has always been a priority at HAFTR, and now the school is taking its devotion to Zionism to a new level.

In an innovative project spearheaded by principal Rabbi Yotav Eliach, 32 ninth graders from the Kassam-ridden town of Sderot in southern Israel are being brought to America for nearly two weeks.

“This project is already lifting the morale of the city [Sderot], the fact that people care about them and want them here, and will give them the opportunity to share their message and tell their stories,” said Rabbi Eliach, who has visited Sderot numerous times. “This means more to them than you could imagine... I don't think any yeshiva anywhere has done anything like this in the past.”

Arriving on May 25, the group will spend time visiting HAFTR and other yeshivot, speak at community shuls over Shavuot and march in the Salute to Israel Parade. The second part of the trip will allow the Sderot teens and their HAFTR hosts to spend a week in Camp Morasha, capped by a relaxing Shabbaton on the campgrounds.

“These kids don't think of themselves as vicitms,” Rabbi Eliach told The Jewish Star. “They see themselves as vanguards, living on the front lines, not just for themselves, but for us, and their message is that they are not going anywhere and that they can't be driven from the land.”

Rabbi Eliach coordinated the trip together with Ori Schechter, a retired IDF major who devotes his free time to organizing projects with soldiers to connect Jews in America and Israel.

“These kids that are coming are the ‘madrichei tzeirim’ [youth leaders] in Sderot,” said Schechter, speaking by phone, in Hebrew, from his home in Rosh HaTzurim in Gush Etzion. “At the times of the Kassam rockets, they help gather the children into miklatim [shelters] and run activities for the younger kids. They are ‘mitgaber al ha’koshi’ [able to overcome the difficulties]. These kids are the future leaders, and we are giving them a push to go forward and succeed.”

Schechter described the trip as “a chance for the kids to get the feeling that Jews in America love them... They are also representing Sderot, not only as a place that has rockets, but a place where they overcome these difficulties using their ‘koach yehudi chazak,’ [fortified Jewish strength], telling the kids in Long Island about their experiences with Kassams for the last eight years.”

In April, Adam Cohen, a HAFTR parent, traveled to Sderot with his family, where they met with Schechter and some of the children to show a video made by HAFTR students expressing their excitement over the group’s planned arrival. The meeting was held in Mishkan Elah, a youth center built in memory of Elah Abukasis, who was killed by a Kassam rocket three years ago while trying to save her brother. The Kassam-proof community center was furnished with funds donated by HAFTR. A second video is also being created by the people of Sderot, and will be shown at HAFTR in the coming weeks.

The children from Sderot, ages 14 and 15, will be accompanied on the trip by a handful of older Israeli madrichim (counselors), young men and women who have served in the army or are performing their Sheirut Leumi (National Service). They will all be housed in the Five Towns, staying at the homes of HAFTR families, “so they will really feel as if they a part of the community,” explained Rabbi Eliach.

To help defray the costs for the  project, money has been donated by local families, schools and shuls. The students here are also working to raise funds through their own activities. On Motza’ei Shabbat, May 16, HAFTR is competing against Rambam in an ice hockey charity game, where every player is being sponsored.

“We are raising all the money ourselves, but at the same time, people have taken steps in my direction,” said Rabbi Eliach. “El Al has lowered their airfare and Camp Morasha is giving me a tremendously great price.”

During their week in New York the Sderot students are scheduled to speak at several yeshivot, telling their story to students, parents and members of the community. They will be welcomed on Tuesday, May 26 at Rambam, HAFTR and Shalhevet with an assembly and reception. On Wednesday, some will travel to the Yeshivah of Flatbush in Brooklyn, as well as to other area high schools. On Thursday, local hosts will give the group a tour of the the Five Towns.

On Shavuot, the Sderot kids and their chaperones will rotate between community shuls, experiencing davening in different settings and speaking to members of various congregations.

“They will be joining us at our annual Shavuot tea, sponsored by the Sisterhood, being held at the home of Michelle and Ron Edelstein, on Shabbat [May 30], the second day of Shavuot,” said Rabbi Kenneth Hain of Cong. Beth Sholom. “We’ve invited them to join us and speak to us and hopefully tell us about life in Sderot and some of their experiences as young people growing up there. We also hope to hear from their counselors, their madrichim, some of whom participated in the recent Gaza campaign.”

Cong. Sons of Israel in Woodmere will be hosting the group during davening and for a kiddush afterwards, as well.

“We are anticipating that we will have a handful of of the kids and a member of the staff join us sometime before the mussaf services, where some of them will address our mitpallelim, our congregants,” said Rabbi Bruce Ginsburg, the shul’s rabbi. “This is special because it will give us the opportunity to hear directly from some of the residents of Sderot and its young people, what they have gone through. It will also show them that there are Jews on this side of the ocean that care about them and are committed to them.”

Sons of Israel has been involved in several fundraising projects for Sderot, including raising money to build a bus shelter, as well as donating funds to support the construction of a new recreation center.

Other participating shuls include Young Israel of Woodmere, Young Israel of Lawrence-Cedarhurst and the Edwards Ave Shul, while other congregations are still finalizing their schedules to arrange for the group to visit. After marching with HAFTR students in the Salute to Israel Parade on Sunday, May 31, the group will travel to Camp Morasha in Lake Como, PA, where they will be able to swim, rock climb, play sports and participate in camp activities being organized by Rabbi Steve Moskowitz, HAFTR's Chessed Coordinator. Rabbi Moskowitz, acting as “Camp Director” for the week, will be joined by 50 HAFTR seniors and several staff members who will supervise the activities. On Thursday, 100 HAFTR students from grades nine through 11 will arrive to spend Shabbat together.

Rabbi David Lamm of West Hempstead, Morasha’s Director of Operations, will be at the camp all week to help maintain the facilities and ensure that the program runs smoothly. Morasha’s master chef, Ira Tannenbaum, will be on hand to cook fresh meals for the duration of their stay.

“The thought of being in an American style sleepaway camp for one week is like being in Gan Eden [Garden of Eden] for these kids,” Rabbi Eliach explained. “Even the wealthiest Israelis don't have a sleepaway camp experience, and instead of being in Sderot with rockets and sirens, to be in a place like Morasha is really Gan Eden. This will give them a real break.”

Rabbi Eliach is eagerly anticipating the group's arrival and predicts that the experience will be a meaningful one for everyone involved.

“We truly believe that this project will enhance the lives of the participants from Sderot, and it will be a memorable experience for our students as well,” he wrote in a letter to HAFTR parents. “Through their interactions with their Sderot counterparts, our students will learn more about Medinat Yisrael [State of Israel] and the struggles of its citizens, than they could ever learn from a textbook. These real life lessons will last a lifetime for our students.” HAFTR high school to host Israeli teens from Sderot

By Yaffi Spodek

    Solidarity with Israel has always been a priority at HAFTR, and now the school is taking its devotion to Zionism to a new level.

    In an innovative project spearheaded by principal Rabbi Yotav Eliach, 32 ninth graders from the Kassam-ridden town of Sderot in southern Israel are being brought to America for nearly two weeks.

    “This project is already lifting the morale of the city [Sderot], the fact that people care about them and want them here, and will give them the opportunity to share their message and tell their stories,” said Rabbi Eliach, who has visited Sderot numerous times. “This means more to them than you could imagine... I don't think any yeshiva anywhere has done anything like this in the past.”

     Arriving on May 25, the group will spend time visiting HAFTR and other yeshivot, speak at community shuls over Shavuot and march in the Salute to Israel Parade. The second part of the trip will allow the Sderot teens and their HAFTR hosts to spend a week in Camp Morasha, capped by a relaxing Shabbaton on the campgrounds.

    “These kids don't think of themselves as vicitms,” Rabbi Eliach told The Jewish Star. “They see themselves as vanguards, living on the front lines, not just for themselves, but for us, and their message is that they are not going anywhere and that they can't be driven from the land.”

    Rabbi Eliach coordinated the trip together with Ori Schechter, a retired IDF major who devotes his free time to organizing projects with soldiers to connect Jews in America and Israel.

    “These kids that are coming are the ‘madrichei tzeirim’ [youth leaders] in Sderot,” said Schechter, speaking by phone, in Hebrew, from his home in Rosh HaTzurim in Gush Etzion. “At the times of the Kassam rockets, they help gather the children into miklatim [shelters] and run activities for the younger kids. They are ‘mitgaber al ha’koshi’ [able to overcome the difficulties]. These kids are the future leaders, and we are giving them a push to go forward and succeed.”

    Schechter described the trip as “a chance for the kids to get the feeling that Jews in America love them... They are also representing Sderot, not only as a place that has rockets, but a place where they overcome these difficulties using their ‘koach yehudi chazak,’ [fortified Jewish strength], telling the kids in Long Island about their experiences with Kassams for the last eight years.”

    In April, Adam Cohen, a HAFTR parent, traveled to Sderot with his family, where they met with Schechter and some of the children to show a video made by HAFTR students expressing their excitement over the group’s planned arrival. The meeting was held in Mishkan Elah, a youth center built in memory of Elah Abukasis, who was killed by a Kassam rocket three years ago while trying to save her brother. The Kassam-proof community center was furnished with funds donated by HAFTR. A second video is also being created by the people of Sderot, and will be shown at HAFTR in the coming weeks.

    The children from Sderot, ages 14 and 15, will be accompanied on the trip by a handful of older Israeli madrichim (counselors), young men and women who have served in the army or are performing their Sheirut Leumi (National Service). They will all be housed in the Five Towns, staying at the homes of HAFTR families, “so they will really feel as if they a part of the community,” explained Rabbi Eliach.

    To help defray the costs for the  project, money has been donated by local families, schools and shuls. The students here are also working to raise funds through their own activities. On Motza’ei Shabbat, May 16, HAFTR is competing against Rambam in an ice hockey charity game, where every player is being sponsored.

    “We are raising all the money ourselves, but at the same time, people have taken steps in my direction,” said Rabbi Eliach. “El Al has lowered their airfare and Camp Morasha is giving me a tremendously great price.”

    During their week in New York the Sderot students are scheduled to speak at several yeshivot, telling their story to students, parents and members of the community. They will be welcomed on Tuesday, May 26 at Rambam, HAFTR and Shalhevet with an assembly and reception. On Wednesday, some will travel to the Yeshivah of Flatbush in Brooklyn, as well as to other area high schools. On Thursday, local hosts will give the group a tour of the the Five Towns.

    On Shavuot, the Sderot kids and their chaperones will rotate between community shuls, experiencing davening in different settings and speaking to members of various congregations.

    “They will be joining us at our annual Shavuot tea, sponsored by the Sisterhood, being held at the home of Michelle and Ron Edelstein, on Shabbat [May 30], the second day of Shavuot,” said Rabbi Kenneth Hain of Cong. Beth Sholom. “We’ve invited them to join us and speak to us and hopefully tell us about life in Sderot and some of their experiences as young people growing up there. We also hope to hear from their counselors, their madrichim, some of whom participated in the recent Gaza campaign.”

    Cong. Sons of Israel in Woodmere will be hosting the group during davening and for a kiddush afterwards, as well. 

    “We are anticipating that we will have a handful of of the kids and a member of the staff join us sometime before the mussaf services, where some of them will address our mitpallelim, our congregants,” said Rabbi Bruce Ginsburg, the shul’s rabbi. “This is special because it will give us the opportunity to hear directly from some of the residents of Sderot and its young people, what they have gone through. It will also show them that there are Jews on this side of the ocean that care about them and are committed to them.”

    Sons of Israel has been involved in several fundraising projects for Sderot, including raising money to build a bus shelter, as well as donating funds to support the construction of a new recreation center.

    Other participating shuls include Young Israel of Woodmere, Young Israel of Lawrence-Cedarhurst and the Edwards Ave Shul, while other congregations are still finalizing their schedules to arrange for the group to visit.

    After marching with HAFTR students in the Salute to Israel Parade on Sunday, May 31, the group will travel to Camp Morasha in Lake Como, PA, where they will be able to swim, rock climb, play sports and participate in camp activities being organized by Rabbi Steve Moskowitz, HAFTR's Chessed Coordinator. Rabbi Moskowitz, acting as “Camp Director” for the week, will be joined by 50 HAFTR seniors and several staff members who will supervise the activities. On Thursday, 100 HAFTR students from grades nine through 11 will arrive to spend Shabbat together.

    Rabbi David Lamm of West Hempstead, Morasha’s Director of Operations, will be at the camp all week to help maintain the facilities and ensure that the program runs smoothly. Morasha’s master chef, Ira Tannenbaum, will be on hand to cook fresh meals for the duration of their stay.

    “The thought of being in an American style sleepaway camp for one week is like being in Gan Eden [Garden of Eden] for these kids,” Rabbi Eliach explained. “Even the wealthiest Israelis don't have a sleepaway camp experience, and instead of being in Sderot with rockets and sirens, to be in a place like Morasha is really Gan Eden. This will give them a real break.”

    Rabbi Eliach is eagerly anticipating the group's arrival and predicts that the experience will be a meaningful one for everyone involved.

    “We truly believe that this project will enhance the lives of the participants from Sderot, and it will be a memorable experience for our students as well,” he wrote in a letter to HAFTR parents. “Through their interactions with their Sderot counterparts, our students will learn more about Medinat Yisrael [State of Israel] and the struggles of its citizens, than they could ever learn from a textbook. These real life lessons will last a lifetime for our students.”