As many Orthodox Union-associated summer programs in Israel began last week, there were location changes made for students due to security concerns. Due to the rapidly changing situation, various program alterations were happening as JLBC went to press.
Though the group directors assured parents that northern Israel was a quiet location to move all the programs, they were surprised by sirens and reports of rockets falling in the area on Monday, July 14th. “We have discussed with the Cheder Matzav (situation room) and want to make you aware that this activity did not take place near any of our groups in the region. They continue to advise us that our programs are free to continue their regular scheduled activities,” according to an official NCSY security blog posting.
The NCSY Summer Kollel, an intensive learning program for 150 high school boys, was moved late last week from its home in Beit Meir, approximately nine miles from Jerusalem, to the north, to the yeshiva in Chispin, in the southern Golan Heights. Approximately 20 high school boys from Bergen County are participating in the kollel. Two community rabbeim, Rabbi Zvi Sobolofsky and Rabbi Tanchum Cohen, both of Bergenfield, are rebbeim as part of that program.
“Sirens were sounded in Beit Meir, due to missiles being fired from Gaza. Some of the missiles were intercepted by the Iron Dome system, while others fell in open areas near Yerushalayim,” wrote director Moshe Benovitz in a letter to parents.
“In Beit Meir, we were on our sports break when the alarms were sounded. Our emergency procedures were followed, and all NCSYers are accounted for,” he wrote. Benovitz said that the group was confident in their emergency procedures and protocols, and almost immediately after accounting for everyone’s safety, the boys resumed their regular schedule.
However, after the events on Thursday afternoon, the decision was made to move the group north Friday morning, where they were to stay at least until Wednesday, July 16th. Now, all the other NCSY programs currently in Israel are spending time in the Galil.
College students in Israel with the Counterpoint Israel program, an immersive service-learning initiative of Yeshiva University’s Center for the Jewish Future (CJF), were working up until last Monday, July 7th, in two locations in southern Israel: Kiryat Gat, 27 miles north of Beersheba, and Kiryat Malachi, approximately 11 miles from Ashkelon. As sirens sounded in that region, they made plans to move back to Jerusalem that day.
“As of this evening, the municipalities have canceled summer programming for children in certain regions of the south of Israel. Therefore, we have decided that we are moving our students, your children, back to Jerusalem. They are already on their way back to YU’s Israel campus in Jerusalem. We will evaluate next steps based on conversations with the municipalities and security experts. Hopefully summer camps will resume shortly as the situation stabilizes,” said CJF Dean Rabbi Kenneth Brander, in an email to parents.
Students on NCSY Give (Girls Israel Volunteer Experience) landed in Israel July 9th and were immediately greeted with a host of changes. “Due to the current situation in Israel…we have chosen to completely change our itinerary and take the girls up north for the next few days until things quiet down. We are headed to Tiferia (Tiberias) right now…and will then be spending the next few days in the Sevyonei Hagalil in the Hula Valley,” wrote Erin Stiebel, the program’s director.
TJJ, the Jerusalem Journey, another NCSY summer program, had been scheduled to leave July 16th, and were undecided as to whether they would delay flights for one week, or cancel the program, at presstime. Some students in that program had already cancelled their participation. Yad B’Yad/Yachad’s second summer trip also delayed their leaving by a week—they were scheduled to depart July 13th.
By Elizabeth Kratz
