Rallies, solidarity missions, Tehillim among efforts to aid Israel at war

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By Mayer Fertig
Issue of Jan. 9, 2009 / 13 Teves 5769
Yehoshua, a Rambam Mesivta graduate who once served as a sharpshooter in the IDF, hopped a flight to Israel Monday night, intending to volunteer to rejoin his unit. Four other Rambam alumni and several DRS graduates are also currently serving in the Israel Defense Force. At least one homegrown paratrooper, a former DRS student, is now in Gaza battling Hamas, according to the rav of his shul; another left Far Rockaway two weeks ago in order to enlist. Age, family commitments and those 20 extra pounds will keep most of us from physically joining Israel’s current battle against terrorism. But there are other things we can do to lend moral and material support, with prayer foremost among them. A “Tehillim Solidarity Rally” took place at the Young Israel of Woodmere Thursday night, Jan. 8. You can also have an individual solider “in mind” when you daven. At the National Council of Young Israel, the phones and fax machine have been ringing off the hook as people seek information about “Operation Tefillah, Torah & Troops,” launched by Rabbi Simcha HaCohen Kook, the Chief Rabbi of Rehovot, Israel, and the Bostoner Rebbe, Rabbi Levi Yitzchak Horowitz, of Har Nof, Israel. Their concept is simple and dates back in Jewish history to wars fought in the times of Moses and King David: each person going into battle is paired with another who is designated to pray, learn Torah, and perform acts of chesed (kindness) in the soldier’s merit. “It is heartwarming to see and to speak to so many Jews who care and want to do something positive,” said Rabbi Pesach Lerner, Young Israel’s executive vice president. To receive the name of an Israeli soldier who needs your prayers call (212) 929-1525 ext. 100, or fax a request to (212) 727-9526. Requests can also be e-mailed to execvp@youngisrael.org or cleibtag@youngisrael.org. For as long as rockets fired from Gaza continue falling on southern Israel, you can receive text message alerts to say Tehillim. Go to www.youngisrael.org and sign up to commit to say Psalm 130 each time there’s a launch. In a similar vein, you might want to put a Kassam counter on your Facebook page. That and other high-tech tools to help fight the public relations war from your home or office are online at www.helpuswin.org. Volunteers are monitoring social networking sites like Facebook, YouTube and Twitter for discussions of the war in Gaza and weighing in with comments in support of Israel’s point of view. Helpuswin.com is a project of the campus education group Stand With US (www.standwithus.com), co-founded by Rambam Mesivta alumni. For those who prefer their social action live and in person, Stand With Us sponsored a rally outside Israel’s Consulate in Manhattan Tuesday at 5:00 p.m., press time for The Jewish Star. A number of local yeshivot were scheduled to attend. A day earlier, 160 Rambam Mesivta students took time away from studying for finals and drew international media coverage with their own rally at Dag Hammarskjold Plaza, near the United Nations. Reporters from various newspapers were there as well as camera crews from the local CBS, NBC, FOX and ABC affiliates, plus Channel 11, CNN, Reuters, The Associated Press, the Spanish language Telemundo, two stations in Japan, another from Italy and the Arab world’s English language propaganda channel, Al Jazeera, said Rabbi Zev Friedman, who heads Rambam Mesivta. “Millions of people now heard the Israeli side of the story,” he told The Jewish Star Monday night. “The kids were fantastic. Very passionate, very knowledgeable –– they got the point across. It was about Israel today. There were no Palestinians, no Neturei Karta. [The message was] Hamas is Al Qaeda. It’s a terrorist organization and Israel has to finish the job –– cease terror, don’t cease fire.” Local politicians who attended the Monday rally included Congressman Anthony Weiner, Councilman David Weprin and Assemblyman Dov Hikind. For those who have the available funds and the vacation days to spare, you can be a man or woman on a mission. A group of rabbis affiliated with the Rabbinical Council of America plans a mission to Israel next week. This week, Rabbi Sam Klibanoff is in Israel with members of his shul, the Jewish Center of Atlantic Beach. Flying on just a few days notice, the group traveled with military escort “south to a staging area for soldiers going in and coming out of battle” in Gaza, he wrote in an e-mail to home, where they distributed packages paid for through donations by members of the congregation and prepared by Yad Eliezer, an Israeli charity. “We greeted soldiers just returning from battle on their tanks and apv’s, giving them these packages. They were overcome by the fact that we came so far to be so close. The ability to clean up with baby wipes when no shower is available is priceless. To give them sweets and a prayer of chizuk [strengthening] lifted us all. It also gave a boost to those heading into battle. Even the military police were moved by the pure chesed [kindness] and ahavas yisrael [brotherly love]. The common thread we heard from all the chayalim [soldiers] is to please continue to pray for their safety during this dangerous time.” Short videos of the Jewish Center of Atlantic Beach group’s activities are online at youtube/jcabvideos. If you happen to own your own plane, you can go on your mission in style, like New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg did. He flew to Israel last weekend to lend his public support for Israel’s operation in Gaza. “I thought it was time to stand up and say to the Israelis that we –– not just Jews –– but we, people who value our freedoms, are behind you, and your battle is our battle,” he told JM in the AM radio host Nachum Segal (91.1 FM / www.jmintheam.org) Monday morning. Bloomberg was accompanied by his police commissioner, Ray Kelly, Congressman Gary Ackerman of Queens, who heads a key congressional subcommittee dealing with the Middle East, and by Michael Miller of the Jewish Community Relations Council. Bloomberg offered a clear message to critics of Israel’s Gaza operation: “These people that scream about proportional response. I said to one reporter, ‘If a crazy person was banging at the door to your apartment and screaming, ‘I’m going to come in and kill you,’ would you want us to have a proportional response and send one cop?’ I don’t think so.” For those without a private plane, a quick trip to Israel is still possible. The most important factor is probably that one person in a shul or organization who decides to make it happen. For information and guidance about arranging a mission to Israel e-mail missions2israel@gmail.com. For those who can’t travel to Israel just now, it is still possible to send packages to soldiers containing food, candy or important personal supplies. One option is a shluker. A what? A shluker. It’s a three-liter canteen with a sipper straw that a soldier laden with 80 lbs. or more of weapons and equipment can easily drink from, preventing dehydration. The IDF has been issuing them but didn’t finish the job before the operation in Gaza began. Many are being donated through the Hewlett-based One Israel Fund, which provided shlukers to units currently in Gaza. They cost $36 each; $3,000 will buy the easy-to-use canteens for an entire company of soldiers. For more information go to www.oneisraelfund.org. For just $10 per soldier you can provide packages of soup and candy, or warm socks and toothbrushes. “We have orders for 300 that we’re going to pack today,” said Shafrira Wiener of www.dashcham.com, a Jerusalem-based gift basket company whose name is Hebrew slang for ‘warm regards.’ “We’ve already sent out 150, since I started last Thursday. It’s really a drop in the bucket.” Wiener and her husband, Ben, made aliyah in 1998. “During the intifada we started running serious soldier campaigns,” she recalled Tuesday. “We’d been contacted by people in the army and then they asked us to ramp up. During the height of the intifada there were trucks pulling up every day.” She changes the contents of the packages based on requests from the military and sometimes invites youth group volunteers to package the goods to keep costs down. “Today they called me and said they need toothbrushes, toothpaste, soap and socks, but they like the candy better. They said the toothbrushes don’t put a smile on their faces the same way, but they feel they need these things now,” Wiener said. “They also asked for Cup ‘o soups, because it’s cold, but those will go to the people on the border, on our side, where they have hot water.” To order, go to www.dashcham.com and click on ‘soldier campaign.’ It’s also possible to send money to be directly distributed to families of soldiers who have been killed or injured during the Gaza operation. Yudi Zuller, a Brooklyn-based commercial printer, heads the Jerusalem United organization on a volunteer basis and flies to Israel several times a year to distribute money –– generally totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars at a time –– to victims of terrorism. He planned to be in Israel before the weekend, he said Tuesday, to visit injured soldiers and offer financial assistance to their families provided by American donors. Contributions can be made via PayPal. Go to www.paypal.com and select ‘send money.’ Enter jerunited@gmail.com and select the amount you’d like to send. “It’s never been so easy to give tzedakah,” said Zuller. One of the Five Town community members currently wearing the uniform of the State of Israel was discussed during the rabbi’s speech last Shabbos at Congregation Beth Sholom in Lawrence. Rabbi Kenneth Hain said he was “uplifted” to visit with him recently in Jerusalem. “I was extraordinary proud of his courage, commitment and sense of confidence about the future,” Rabbi Hain said. “I was uplifted by meeting with him and seeing his desire to serve the Jewish people. And he’s inspiring others because when an American comes and serves in the Israeli army, the Israelis are amazed that he has made the choice.”