The Bergen County yeshivas are well known for instilling Zionism and a love of Am Yisroel and Eretz Yisroel. However, we don’t always see the profound impact the rabanim and teachers have on their students.
Daniel Gross, a native of Teaneck, attended RYNJ and TABC before studying at KBY and Landers. Now living in Houston, he is a doctor of physical therapy. Like many of us, he has been following the news from Israel and considering how he could support our brothers and sisters. “I felt I was in a unique position to help soldiers return to their best possible lives,” Gross told The Jewish Link. “With my orthopedic background, I knew I had something to offer. It just took me a while to get there—literally and figuratively.”
His decision to volunteer in Israel was deeply rooted in his background and values. He recalls one of his rebbeim at TABC, Rabbi Zvi Grumet, telling his class during the Second Intifada that if Israel needed volunteers, he would go. “My love for Eretz Yisroel comes from my family,” Daniel shared, “but the idea of volunteering in Israel came from my senior year at TABC.”
In 2023, when Israel’s Ministry of Health called for medical practitioners, including physical therapists, to assist, Gross applied. Though he didn’t go at that time, he later connected with a volunteer organization that helped coordinate the stops on his recent trip.
In November 2024, Gross took five days off from work and traveled to Israel, volunteering at an army respite base in the north, where soldiers could rest and recover. Since he isn’t licensed in Israel, he provided massage therapy instead of physical therapy.
At the base, he treated approximately 20 Golani soldiers over a day and a half. These soldiers have faced unimaginable stress and trauma. “These were soldiers who had been in Gaza and Nova after October 7,” Gross explained. “They really needed to decompress, and I was grateful to help.”
He also treated another group of nine to 10 soldiers during a day of R&R at a hotel spa, where they swam, played games and enjoyed good food. “They needed some TLC to unwind from the tension and stress they’d been dealing with,” Gross said.
In addition to massages, he brought chizuk to the soldiers, distributing dozens of handwritten cards and notes from students at his children’s school, YTE, Yeshivat Torat Emet. “The soldiers loved them. At one outpost, they even taped the cards to the fridge,” he shared. He also raised money from friends and family in Houston and Teaneck to treat soldiers to shawarma at one base and pizza at the outpost. Thanks to the generosity of the donors, there is still money left over, which will go towards providing hot Shabbat meals for the soldiers and bringing shawarma and pizza again if that’s what the soldiers want.
“I feel I cheated them,” Gross said. “I feel I got more out of it than they did. For me, it was important to show my support and to help and be able to give back to them for being away from their families for 200-plus days.”
But the soldiers expressed deep gratitude for his support. “They told me how much it meant to see someone come on their own to volunteer. It reinvigorated them and reminded them they’re not alone,” Gross reflected. “More than the shawarma, it was the thought that people in Houston and Teaneck are thinking about them.”
His children were proud of their father’s mission. His 5-year-old son encouraged everyone in shul to make cards, and his daughter and her classmates enthusiastically did so. “It was important for them to see that being connected to Eretz Yisroel is not just about tefillah but also about action,” Gross said. “I’m so appreciative of my wife, Amy, who understood the importance of this personal mission and held down the fort so I could assist our extended Am Yisroel family.”
Even airport security recognized the beauty of his mission. “When they asked about the purpose of my trip and I explained I was volunteering to help, they thanked me. The appreciation was overwhelming.”
