2008 Woodie Awards
YU Students Spend Winter Break in Israel
Elyasaf Schwartz
Issue date: 2/15/05 Section: News
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The program commenced on Tuesday, January 18, when about 25 students interested in making aliyah participated in a session at the Nefesh B'Nefesh Office. A panel of recent Yeshiva graduates who had moved to Israel was there to greet the group, and speak to them about the different challenges and opportunities they faced. Hindy Poupko, co-President of YUIC explained that "the panel provided a meaningful way for students to become familiar with the process of aliyah."
That afternoon, Yeshiva student volunteers were placed in three different soup kitchens/warehouses in an effort to help feed Israel's hungry. Poupko noted, "the organizations were moved and inspired by the commitment demonstrated by our students." Her co-President, Dovid Wildman, was equally impressed. "There is no better reflection on Yeshiva students than when a large number of them dedicate fleeting vacation time to helping their brethren in need."
TAC President Aliza Abrams insisted that the help was not merely ephemeral. "Everyone who attended and saw first hand what it is to be in a soup kitchen was really blown away by the reality that there are 1.4 million people living in Israel below the poverty line. I think that everyone who was there that day will be the best advocates for those whom they served lunch to."
Tuesday evening, 200 students gathered at a gala banquet to honor the Koby Mandell Foundation, an organization that deals with families of terror victims. Seth and Sherry Mandell, founders of the organization, both spoke, at times through tears, about their son Koby, a terror victim at 14, and the importance of the organization.
Yeshiva President Richard M. Joel emphasized, "though victimized, it is important not to be victims," and pointed to Yeshiva students stepping up to that challenge.
President Joel then introduced the guest speaker, Natan Sharansky, Minister for Jerusalem and Diaspora Affairs. Minister Sharansky challenged the Yeshiva students to be resilient in the face of anti-Semitism. He argued that "the war on anti-Semitism is no less difficult and no less important than the war on terror," and that "the biggest victory of our enemies is apathy of college students." He warned the college students present not to let those enemies "turn American Jews into the Jews of Silence."
Sharansky concluded his speech with words of encouragement. "We have every reason to be proud of our people, our history, our army, and our mission in the world."
Two days later, 200 Yeshiva students boarded four buses and ventured into Hebron. Although the Cave of Machpela happened to be closed, Yeshiva students got a firsthand look at the community, and its inhabitants, as well as the life and history of a religiously saturated city.
"The trip to Hebron sent a message to the world that no Jew is alone, and that the students of YU stand in solidarity with the people of Israel," Poupko explained, recalling Sharansky's challenge from two nights earlier.
Abrams echoed that message in summing up the entire trip. "The main thing that I want people to walk away with from all of our programs is that even though we are living in chutz la'aretz, we have a tremendous responsibility to our brethren in Israel to do whatever we can to help them."