Original Article Published On The Jewish Telegraphic Agency

(JTA) — Can Yishai Oliel become Israel’s version of tennis champion Novak Djokovic?

London businessman David Coffer is hoping the Ramle teenager can someday join such heady company — and he’s backing up his dream with the funding to groom the hard-hitting lefty for stardom.

Oliel is the most promising member of the David Squad, a small group of young Israeli tennis players that Coffer finances and manages along with his wife, Ruth, and three children. It picks the nation’s most talented up-and-comers — the five members now range in age from 12 to 16 — who Coffer hopes will soon become household names.

The squad is committed to “developing Israeli tennis players of the highest international standards,” according to its website. Since its launch in 2005, Coffer, the chairman of a real estate advisory firm and owner of the popular Tuttons and Dirty Martini restaurant and bars in London, estimates he has financed 100 children and teenagers.

Coffer, 67, is quick to note that the name “is not a reference to me but to King David, the greatest hero of Israel’s history!”

Djokovic, the Serbian ranked No. 1 in the world, personifies Coffer’s hopes for Israeli tennis: Win lots of Grand Slam titles and woo fans for your country. Coffer dreams of the day when one of his precocious players succeeds on an international level.

“Imagine 8 million Israeli citizens glued to their TV sets and not moving until the final game of Wimbledon is over,” he says. “It would mean so much to have a champion — we will cry with joy.”

Israeli players such as Dudi Sela, Andy Ram, Shahar Peer and Julia Glushko have enjoyed some success on the international level — Ram and Yoni Erlich teamed to win the Australian Open doubles title several years ago — but have never approached the top of the world rankings in singles. Israel was shut out in its latest Davis Cup match this year.

Oliel provides some optimism. The long-haired 15-year-old has made his mark already by twice winning the prestigious Junior Orange Bowl tournament in Florida — only the ninth player in the competition’s 70-year history to accomplish the feat.

“Yishai has amazing grace and timing and hates to lose,” Coffer says.

He recalls when Oliel was 11 and playing a tournament in Andalusia in 110-degree weather. The boy was on the verge of being shut out in straight sets.

“We encouraged him to take a rest,” Coffer says, “but Yishai cried ‘I am staying’ and ended up winning one game in the third set.”

Such tenacity, Coffer hopes, will win a Grand Slam championship — the French Open, U.S. Open, Wimbledon or Australian Open.

Along with developing champions on the court, the David Squad also aims to create a good name for Israel, says its managing director and head coach, Andy Zingman, a former Argentine tennis player, “all without political involvement.”

“This can be an important technique to change perceptions,” Zingman says.

David Coffer, in black hat, at ceremony in Raanana honoring him and son Adam, third from left, for 10 years of service to Israeli tennis, April 2015. (Courtesy of the David Squad)

Coffer’s son Adam points out that countries today curry favor through sports, as they have for many years. He points to Djokovic.

“If you stopped someone in the streets 10 years ago, most people would say that it was a country of wars and murder,” the younger Coffer says. “Today, thanks to Novak, half the people will say that the Serbs are nice, athletic, smiling people.”

David Coffer says Oliel, the son of Moroccan Jews, has similar attributes.

“People may warm to Yishai — to his smile, to his talent,” he said. “We could win friends. So we are here to find talent and nurture it.

The squad mostly trains in Raanana with such top coaches as Tzipora Oblizer, formerly one of the world’s top 75 players, Dedi Jacob and Eyal Omid. Jan Pochter, who has tutored Israeli national teams and is a veteran of international tennis, serves as Oliel’s primary coach.

Oliel is joined on the squad by May Kimhi and Keren Rozen, both 16; Roi Ginat, 14; and Yair Sarouk, 12. They make occasional training trips to such destinations as South Florida and Spain to train with extended members of the David Squad family, including former pros Aaron Krickstein and Manuel Santana.

“My father could afford to put them up in a hotel,” Adam Coffer says, “but we all stay together in our home,” referring to Spain and Florida. “They spend time together, feed off each other, pick each other up and share in the glory — you can’t put a price on that.” And the older athletes, like Oliel, mentor the younger ones.

The David Squad family, as the elder Coffer calls it, “is very warm and supportive.”

Being part of the squad requires commitment by the players and their parents, who must abide by a strict code of ethics: play to win, play fair, respect yourself — and, most important, Coffer says, “respect your parents,” who don’t join their children on trips around the world.

Coffer attributes his love of Israel and sports to his parents.

“My father was an ardent Zionist,” he says. “I remember him trying to raise money in those days for armaments. He always loved Israel and sports, and he gave his four sons the opportunity to play all sports — I played college level tennis.”

Coffer remembers visiting Israel for the first time at the age of 20. And he has brought his own family to Israel on many occasions. From the first visit, he says, “I loved Israel. It stood for all Jews — for spirit, defiance and progress. It made me feel good.”

Israel does have other tennis programs for young people. The Israel Tennis Center, for one, is a grassroots effort of 14 centers designed to grow the sport in Israel across religious and socioeconomic lines, often working with at-risk youth. The David Squad approach is more targeted.

“We identify the best possible players in Israel, with the greatest potential, at any age,” Adam Coffer says. “Our sole intention is to produce international level players capable of competing for Grand Slams.”

Danny Gelley, CEO of the the Israel Tennis Center, says, “Every center has a competitive tennis program for juniors, but we can’t afford to do individual coaching. Our whole budget is a fraction of what [Coffer] spends.”

Gelley adds that Coffer “is very independent and we have little relationship with him.”

Adam Coffer stresses his organization’s independence and echoes Galley’s assessment.

“We have very little involvement with the Israel Tennis Association or the Israel Tennis Centers,” he said. “We expect our kids, who are the best in Israel, to be entitled to the same contributions, if provided, by the ITA, as other players.

While Israel tennis stakeholders may differ in organizational mandate, approach and funding, all stand united in their desire for the day when Israel will produce world-class tennis talent.

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Original Article Published On The New York Jewish Week

On a recent visit to a Pikud HaOref, Home Front Command base in Ramle, 14 miles southeast of Tel Aviv, a soldier tells me a very animated story about his role in Operation Protective Edge, Israel’s military operation in Gaza: My job was to copy the papers for our soldiers to drop from planes over Gaza this summer! The soldier, in uniform with his bright orange beret on his shoulder, happens to have Down Syndrome.

He is very excited about his job in the base print shop. Another soldier with a visible disability proudly recounts the visit to the base the previous day by IDF Chief of Staff, Benny Ganz. We saluted him and gave him a present olive oil that we made on the base!

Twenty five other soldiers with disabilities perform similarly important jobs each day on the base. If Tiran Attia and other visionaries have their way, Tzahal, or the IDF (Israel Defense Forces), may become a “game changer” in Israel for inclusion and for shaping attitudes about people with disabilities.

Tiran Attia, who served for 30 years in the IDF and was a commander of Sar-El, the IDF National Project for Volunteers, serves as head manager of Yad Layeled HaMeuchad (Lend a Hand to a Special Child), an amuta (non-profit organization) which consists of two programs, Magshimim Chalom Fulfilling a Dream and Shaveh Madim-Equal in Uniform.

I have had the privilege of visiting two such army bases during recent trips to Israel the home front command base in Ramle, and a logistics base near Kiryat Malachi. During our tour, Attia takes me to visit soldiers from the program at various job sites including the supply room, dining room and print shop. Attia emphasizes several times during our visit, It should be noted that in Israel, army service is the gateway to successful integration into society and the work force. The nearby Chevrat Chashmal (electric company) already employs 260 workers with special needs.”

The program is already impacting the other soldiers through what Attia describes as “the ripple effect. Other soldiers on the base think less of their own problems, they think of the soldiers with disabilities as role models, and discipline problems on the base have gone down.

Arianna Goldsmith, an American olah (immigrant to Israel) works with the soldiers with disabilities as her army service: The other soldiers see these soldiers come to work and it teaches them, it changes their attitudes.

Tiran, who admits to being skeptical of the program at first, notes, One mother of a soldier in our program told me, You have made a miracle! Tiran was injured during the Second Lebanon War and was visited in the hospital by people with disabilities. I saw the love and sympathy they gave to the injured soldiers and I realized they have so much to give so I started to advocate for them to join the program.

The program was founded to enable youth with disabilities to realize their dream and serve in the IDF like most young Israelis, for whom service in the IDF is a normal part of life in the years between high school and college. At the same time, the program promotes a more inclusive society and fosters the attitude that people with disabilities can more fully participate in and contribute to society.

I share with Attia our 45 years of experience successfully including campers with disabilities in our eight Ramah overnight camps and three day camps in the United States and Canada. And I stress how both anecdotally and through research, we know that inclusion benefits everyone. For example, a 2013 study, The Impact of Ramah Programs for Children, Teens, and Young Adults with Disabilities: A Strategic Planning Survey of Special Needs Education Professionals, Ramah Special Needs Staff, Staff Alumni and Parents, conducted by Dr. Ezra Kopelowitz, shows quite clearly that “Staff and camper alumni who had contact with a Ramah special needs program report major impact on their personal and professional lives. At Ramah, this happens on a massive scale, as each summer, 7,500 campers-some in each camp with both visible and invisible disabilities–and over 2,500 university aged staff members, populate our camps.

Attia and his colleagues don’t need to be convince and they see the potential for inclusion and shaping of attitudes on a massive scale. Yossi Kahana, Director of Development for Aleh Negev-USA and co-founder of the program, believes strongly that If every soldier in the IDF has the opportunity to work side by side with people with disabilities, the potential to change attitudes in Israeli society is tremendous. Kahana now has a personal as well as a professional connection to disabilities. “I’m the father of a child with special needs. My older son is serving in the army and my younger son, Gershon, who is nine years old, is autistic. My dream is that my younger son will one day join his brother in the army.

As the IDF continues to include soldiers with disabilities on an even larger scale, they will no doubt shape the attitudes of an entire society!

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Original Article in Washington Jewish Week 

by Suzanne Pollak

“Having kids with disabilities is just as normal as having sports at Camp Ramah. It’s what we do,” said Howard Blas, director of the Tikvah Program at Camp Ramah.

That is great news for 18-year old Uriel Levitt of Silver Spring, who has Down syndrome, a genetic condition in which a person has 47 chromosomes instead of the usual 46. This summer will be his fourth one at the camp. “He’s got this amazing opportunity for growth and independence. He’s away from home for two months,” said his mother, Dina Levitt.

She also is thrilled with her son’s summer filled with all-things Jewish. He attends a public school where there are not a lot of Jewish students. But, she said, at Camp Ramah, “he’s got the 24-7 opportunity to hang out with Jewish kids, to learn Jewish stuff.”

“All year long he talk about Camp Ramah. Often, we can’t find his underwear. He’s packed it. Every now and then we have to go and unpack his duffle back,” Dina Levitt said.

When at camp, her son lives in a bunk with other teens to 21-year-olds who are in the Tikvah Program and spends his day engaged in regular camp activities, often with his bunkmates but also with the rest of the campers as well. The Hebrew word tikvah means hope.

The entire camp eats together and celebrates Shabbat as a group. Uriel Levitt also enjoys singing and dancing rehearsals with everyone involved in the camp play, his mother said.

Being included in camp life is so important, because her son learns to model his behavior, she said. “That’s the whole point of inclusion.”

Uriel Levitt also learns responsibility and vocational skills. Two summers ago, he worked at the lake helping the youngest campers learn to swim. “They apparently loved him,” his mother said. Last summer, he helped out in the art room two or three days a week.

Josh Sachs, 21, of Rockville, also attends the Tikvah Program. He has been enjoying his summers at the camp for more than five years. Sachs also has Down syndrome.

As part of his camp life, Sachs has helped make the pizzas the counselors eat after hours. “Basically I chop up stuff. I sauté them and then we put them in the oven,” he explained. “Then we serve them.”

By enabling Sachs to be involved in Ramah’s daily life and work in the kitchen performing repetitive skills, the camp is providing the training to help the young man get a job, Blas explained.

Camp as a whole, but his kitchen work in particular, has “been a great experience” for Sachs, said his father, Steven Sachs. “His maturity and his ability to stay on task” has greatly improved.

The young man also has grown through his positive experiences in Temple Beth Ami’s special needs program and his current work at MOST, the Jewish Foundation for Group Homes’ Meaningful Opportunities for Successful Transitions program. There he is learning employment and social skills, his father said.

Camp Ramah, which is part of the Conservative movement, runs eight overnight camps and each has a program for children with special needs. The programs vary from being totally inclusive in camp life to some combination of inclusiveness and special programming, Blas said. All the programs feature Jewish life, he said, adding, “Everybody benefits form Jewish overnight camping.”

Not only do children with special needs have a true camping experience, but they also help other campers they interact with gain a sensitivity toward anyone who is different than them, Blas said.

Many campers continue on for years, eventually becoming counselors. Older children in the Tikvah Program stay on to learn vocation skills, Blas said, pointing out Josh Sachs. “He can sit for two hours and sauté vegetables that go on the pizza. There are a lot of jobs out there in the world – they might not be too exciting for you and me,” like bagging groceries and making pizzas, but these campers “can do it for hours and hours with a smile on their face.”

spollak@washingtonjewishweek.com
@SuzannePollak

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Original Article Published on The Washington Jewish Week

“Having kids with disabilities is just as normal as having sports at Camp Ramah. It’s what we do,” said Howard Blas, director of the Tikvah Program at Camp Ramah.

That is great news for 18-year old Uriel Levitt of Silver Spring, who has Down syndrome, a genetic condition in which a person has 47 chromosomes instead of the usual 46. This summer will be his fourth one at the camp. “He’s got this amazing opportunity for growth and independence. He’s away from home for two months,” said his mother, Dina Levitt.

She also is thrilled with her son’s summer filled with all-things Jewish. He attends a public school where there are not a lot of Jewish students. But, she said, at Camp Ramah, “he’s got the 24-7 opportunity to hang out with Jewish kids, to learn Jewish stuff.”

“All year long he talk about Camp Ramah. Often, we can’t find his underwear. He’s packed it. Every now and then we have to go and unpack his duffle back,” Dina Levitt said.

When at camp, her son lives in a bunk with other teens to 21-year-olds who are in the Tikvah Program and spends his day engaged in regular camp activities, often with his bunkmates but also with the rest of the campers as well. The Hebrew word tikvah means hope.

The entire camp eats together and celebrates Shabbat as a group. Uriel Levitt also enjoys singing and dancing rehearsals with everyone involved in the camp play, his mother said.

Being included in camp life is so important, because her son learns to model his behavior, she said. “That’s the whole point of inclusion.”

Uriel Levitt also learns responsibility and vocational skills. Two summers ago, he worked at the lake helping the youngest campers learn to swim. “They apparently loved him,” his mother said. Last summer, he helped out in the art room two or three days a week.

Josh Sachs, 21, of Rockville, also attends the Tikvah Program. He has been enjoying his summers at the camp for more than five years. Sachs also has Down syndrome.

As part of his camp life, Sachs has helped make the pizzas the counselors eat after hours. “Basically I chop up stuff. I saut them and then we put them in the oven,” he explained. “Then we serve them.”

By enabling Sachs to be involved in Ramah’s daily life and work in the kitchen performing repetitive skills, the camp is providing the training to help the young man get a job, Blas explained.

Camp as a whole, but his kitchen work in particular, has “been a great experience” for Sachs, said his father, Steven Sachs. “His maturity and his ability to stay on task” has greatly improved.

The young man also has grown through his positive experiences in Temple Beth Ami’s special needs program and his current work at MOST, the Jewish Foundation for Group Homes’ Meaningful Opportunities for Successful Transitions program. There he is learning employment and social skills, his father said.

Camp Ramah, which is part of the Conservative movement, runs eight overnight camps and each has a program for children with special needs. The programs vary from being totally inclusive in camp life to some combination of inclusiveness and special programming, Blas said. All the programs feature Jewish life, he said, adding, “Everybody benefits form Jewish overnight camping.”

Not only do children with special needs have a true camping experience, but they also help other campers they interact with gain a sensitivity toward anyone who is different than them, Blas said.

Many campers continue on for years, eventually becoming counselors. Older children in the Tikvah Program stay on to learn vocation skills, Blas said, pointing out Josh Sachs. “He can sit for two hours and sauté vegetables that go on the pizza. There are a lot of jobs out there in the world “they might not be too exciting for you and me,” like bagging groceries and making pizzas, but these campers “can do it for hours and hours with a smile on their face.”

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