The students of Rosenbaum Yeshiva of North Jersey enjoyed a wide variety of entertainment to celebrate Israel’s 66th Independence Day. The eighth graders ran “kef” carnivals for the children of grades 1-5.
Coordinators for the boys’ carnival—Meir Uretsky, Ezra Rotblat, Akiva Reich, Michael Peyser, Shua Weber,and Reuvain Sragow—noted that the highlight was the Tzahal army training booths, which included obstacle courses and target practice. Other popular booths showcased popular Israeli sports and tourist attractions. The girls’ coordinators—Gabbi Benjamin, Chani Israel and Dafna Wiesel—were amazed at how much the younger children enjoyed their home made carnival.
The preschool classes all enjoyed an interactive trip to Israel. With passports and water bottles packed for tiyulim, each class had the opportunity to travel from experience station to station visiting the Kotel, an army base, a kibbutz, and many other sites both inside and outside of the school building.
Two Bnai Akiva Israel Special Programs teams wowed all age groups with enthusiastic, educational multi-media programming.
Grades 1-5 participated in a tekkes celebrating Israel’s 66 years. The tekkes included a slideshow, personal anecdotes, and a visit by a former chayal. The ceremony ended with “Hatikva” and tefillot for the State of Israel’s continued peace and well-being.
The older grades explored a unique side of modern Israel with an interactive program on halacha and technology. Students alternated between six stations, where they learned about Israel’s innovation in the areas of milking cows, running hospitals on Shabbat, discovering tcheilet, construction considerations, and some cool halachic inventions and apps.
In addition, 6-8th graders played an exhilarating version of Israel Panopoly. The three hectic rounds featured a nonstop barrage of questions ranging from “famous Israeli figures” to “name that pasta.” The grand prize winning teams won jackpot money to donate to One Family Fund.
One Family is the family of Israel’s victims of terror attacks—those who have been bereaved, those who have been maimed, and those suffering from post-trauma as a result of terrorist attacks since 2002. The organization empowers victims of terror to rebuild their lives, rehabilitate, and reintegrate through therapeutic assistance programs.
One Family Fund was founded in 2002 by Marc and Chantal Belzberg of Jerusalem after their daughter, Michal, opted to donate the money to be spent on her bat mitzvah party to benefit those affected by terror attacks in Israel. One Family has since grown to become the pre-eminent non-profit organization dedicated to providing short and long-term assistance to the injured and bereaved men, women, and children in Israel. One Family Fund provides direct financial, legal, and emotional support to the thousands of victims of terror in Israel on a daily basis. It is in the forefront in providing long-term support for physical and emotional health, education, housing, income maintenance, and other needs. Through years of experience and strong connections with hospitals, government officials and caring individuals, One Family gives strength to a generation affected by terrorism. Programs and activities include providing financial assistance, psychological counseling through therapy, support groups and retreats; assistance coordinating applications for government benefits and pursuing employment opportunities. Those in need can better move forward in their recovery thanks to ongoing tangible support and relationships formed with our professional staff, volunteers, and lay-leaders.
The One Family vision is to positively affect the rehabilitation of each victim of terror and their family, to empower each victim of terror to achieve their financial and emotional independence, to provide a uniquely comprehensive blend of financial and legal assistance and therapeutic programs tailor-made for each person delivered in a hallmark “family” atmosphere of togetherness that the victims have come to love and trust.
The proceeds of Israel Panopoly were donated with pride to One Family Fund from the RYNJ student council tzedakah fund. In addition to making financial donations, the students had opportunities throughout the day to loom friendship bracelets and write cards of support and affection for distribution at One Family’s children’s summer camp. A short video of the day’s events will accompany this camp care package.
“You could feel the concept of libi b’mizrach v’ani b’sof ma’arav throughout the yeshiva,” remarked Rabbi Daniel Price, Head of School. “Although our children live in North America, you could literally see their love and passion for Eretz Yisrael expressed in every activity today.”
Celebrating Israel while in New Jersey may seem like a long distance connection, but for the students at RYNJ the celebration forged meaningful relationships and memories that truly drove home the significance and joy of the day.
