(Courtesy of Bruriah) Each year at Bruriah High School, the 11th grade looks forward to their Holocaust Museum history project, which began many years ago with beloved Bruriah history teacher, Joel Glazer, who retired in 2019 after an illustrious career. As part of the project, Glazer would appoint several students to lead a tzedaka project to raise money to commemorate the 1.5 million Jewish children who were killed in the Holocaust. At Glazer’s suggestion, the 11th grade class of 2019 opted to donate money to Yeshivat Beney Rachel, a yeshiva in Beit Lechem, in an effort to build a playground for the children of the community of Beit Lechem, located within the walls of Kever Rachel. Glazer was aware of this situation because his grandson lives and studies at the yeshiva, and he had seen the need with his own eyes. Eleventh grader Eva Gidalowitz led the fundraising effort for the tzedakah collection, which ultimately raised thousands of dollars.

To begin the fundraising process, the girls set up a GoFundMe page and disseminated it to their friends, families and communities. In addition, student Eliana Wasserman started an initiative within Bruriah called “change4achange” which encouraged students to donate any spare change they had to the cause. A substantial amount of money came from this initiative, reinforcing the power of tzedakah and how even the smallest amount of money can make a tremendous difference.

“I remember watching them collect pennies,” recalled Bruriah’s director of programming Dena Lichtman. “It’s amazing to see what they accomplished.”

However, like everything else at the time, this fundraiser was put on hold when the pandemic began in March of 2020. The girls had to dismantle their Holocaust museum, and in-person fundraising for this project came to a halt. They therefore doubled down their efforts with online donations.

This 11th grade class graduated in 2021, and many are now in Israel for the year. They organized a trip to visit the park together, along with Glazer, to see the fruits of their labor. “After working incredibly hard to raise money from the other side of the world, it was a really surreal and emotional moment to see the playground that we worked so hard for with our own eyes just two years later,” said Wasserman. “I’m so thankful to have had the chance to visit the playground in person and see all of our hard work pay off.”

Glazer described the event as “one of the most moving moments of my career, to witness the impact my students and I have had on Kever Rochel.”