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On a recent ten-day Tikvah Ramah Israel trip, twelve participants with disabilities, ages 18-40, were treated to a once-in-a-lifetime visit to a 1,000-soldier army base. Admittedly, other tour groups visit army bases; our group spent three hours at the MAZI/Bar-Lev base near Kiryat Milachi, where soldiers – in full uniform – with Down Syndrome, autism, and other intellectual disabilities are “just soldiers.”

Thanks to the efforts of base commander Yitzchak Akri and to organizations such as AKIM, the army is learning many important lessons: that there are many jobs to be performed on a base, that people with disabilities have many abilities, and that every person on the base benefits from inclusion. We toured their job sites including the print shop, supply rooms, and the dining room; we heard about their jobs with the Military Police; and we had several “getting to know you” sessions. One Tikvah participant, 40-year-old Eric, commented, “It was nice seeing people like us – with disabilities – in the army.” What Eric, the other participants and even staff may not have noticed is HOW they became “just soldiers.” They became “just soldiers” in much the same way that Ramah campers with disabilities became “just campers.”

For more than 44 years, the Ramah Camping Movement has been including campers with disabilities. In 1970, no Jewish summer camps were interested in accepting campers with disabilities – until one lone Ramah director, Donald Adelman (z”l), with the encouragement and support of Tikvah founders Herb and Barbara Greenberg, decided to establish the Tikvah Program at Camp Ramah in Glen Spey, NY. The Greenbergs, who went on to serve as directors of the Ramah New England Tikvah Program for 29 years, write, “He viewed the proposal as a unique opportunity for Ramah to demonstrate its ability to become an ‘outreach’ institution at the same time that it continued to concretize the values it had always espoused. His vision expanded the role of Ramah, as he believed that the institution had the strength and flexibility to serve the Jewish community responsibly with regard to its handicapped members, while simultaneously continuing its mission of preparing youth for roles of Jewish communal leadership. Thus was born the Tikvah Program at Camp Ramah …” (from Forward from 50, published in 1999). Other Ramah camps soon followed suit, opening their doors to campers with disabilities.

We learned a powerful lesson from Mr. Adelman. The lead professional (the boss, the CEO, the director, or the base commander) sets the tone for the organization – from the top. And it filters down and out to every part of the organization. The National Ramah Commission supports each camp in its efforts to become more inclusive, and leads the effort to seek funding for such programs. According to Rabbi Mitchell Cohen, National Ramah Director, “We have recently created the National Ramah Tikvah Network to offer national trainings for the staff of our special needs programs, to seek new ways to offer programming year round, and to explore ways to open new Ramah programs for children, teens, and young adults with disabilities.” And programs nationally and internationally are turning to the Ramah Camping Movement for advice so they, too, can do the same.
Of course parents and community members must continue to be good advocates. And people within the organization are useful partners in including all people. We are proud of the thousands who have come through Ramah camps and who see people with disabilities as “just campers.” Imagine the potential impact on Israeli society when every solider has served side by side with a person with a disability!

In February, the Jewish community marks Jewish Disabilities Awareness Month. We salute these campers, staff members, and soldiers, and call on our organizational leaders to continue to set the organizational tone for inclusiveness – from the top down.

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Survivors, liberators, diplomats and March of the Living alum gather for remembrance event.

Neshama Carlebach and Eli Rubenstein remember exactly where they were standing in 1998 when Judy Weissenberg Cohen uttered a moving address to a large group of teenagers from Canada attending the 11th March of the Living in Poland. A line in Weissenberg Cohen’s speech describing her Nazi experience in Hungary, which poignantly became known as “The Last Time I Saw My Mother,” painfully notes, “I never had a chance to say goodbye to my mother. We didn’t know we had to say goodbye. And I am an old woman today and I have never made peace with the fact I never had that last hug and kiss. They say when you listen to a witness, you become a witness.”

Carlebach and Rubenstein have both become witnesses. Singer Carlebach, about to attend and sing at her second March of the Living, recalls her first visit to Poland and the march from Auschwitz to Birkenau in memory of Nazi victims.

“I was decimated…I was so completely destroyed by what I was seeing…” In the Rama Synagogue in Krakow, Carlebach “finally understood” and spontaneously stood up to sing the well-known Krakow Niggun, composed by her late father, Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach. The niggun (wordless melody), which moves from slow and mournful to upbeat and celebratory, was inspired by a dream Carlebach had on a visit to Auschwitz. He was reportedly so sad that he fell asleep and had a dream in which naked Jewish prisoners were going to their deaths—and were suddenly transformed into people wearing white clothes, with big smiles on their faces. “Until then, I didn’t take my work as a healer seriously. You become a witness. I was there. I feel it even now speaking to you!”

Rubenstein, National Director of March of the Living Canada, is also co-curator of the March of the Living exhibit which premiered at the United Nations in New York City on January 28 —one day after International Holocaust Remembrance Day, an annual day of commemoration established by the United Nations.

The title of the exhibit, “When you Listen to a Witness, You Become a Witness,” comes from Weissenberg Cohen’s poem of 1998.

Sara Jaskiel, a Brooklyn-based graphic artist and designer, found the work of assembling and curating the exhibit “moving, overwhelming and meaningful.”

She recounts, “You think of each person and what happened, and you want to raise sensitivities.”

Jaskiel is particularly pleased with the “Death March” photograph she was able to assemble, which served as the backdrop for the musical performances and speeches at the January 28 ceremony.

“I did research and found photographs—from the Death March and from a March of the Living—taken at the same angle. It is as if they are parallel—in a row.. I was able to synthesize the photos.”

The moving photo, which all attendees received in the form of poster, depicts a black and white photo of Jews during the Holocaust and a color photo of Jews on the March of the Living walking “together” from Auschwitz to Birkenau.

Rubenstein, Carlebach, survivors, liberators and dignitaries participated in the January 28 premiere. The evening began with guests viewing the exhibit of photos and poems and socializing over wine and kosher hor d’oeuvres.

What initially seemed like an unusual start to an evening devoted to the Holocaust actually nicely fit with both the theme which each speaker echoed—memory and hope. The formal program began with 2012 March of the Living alumna, Sara Diamond, singing “Eli Eli.”

Peter Launsky-Tieffenthal, the UN’s Under Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information welcomed the guests, noting, “We at the United Nations feel privileged to host this exhibit at UN headquarters as part of our Holocaust Remembrance activities.”

The speakers included Ron Prosor, Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, Dr. Shmuel Rosenman, chairman of March of the Living International, Shlomo Grofman, vice chair, Dr. Naomi Azrieli, chair and CEO of the Azrieli Foundation, which publishes survivor memoirs, and Max Glauben, survivor.

Max Glauben tells his story of survival (photo credit: Howard Blas)

The particularly upbeat Glauben, born in Warsaw in 1928, spoke to the Times of Israel before the ceremony, described the exhibit as “a wonderful display” and said he was pleased that it is being housed at the United Nations.

In his public remarks, he recounted his personal story of survival and thanked the liberators in the audience. He also singled out attendee, Israeli Eli Yablonek, and his guide dog, Glen. Yablonek is blind and does not have a left arm. “Eli came on the March of the Living in 2012—with his dog. It shows that the same animals Nazis used to attack people could be used to do good.”

Rick Carrier, liberator 

One liberator of Buchenwald, Army Combat Engineer Frederick (Rick) Carrier, dressed in his World War II uniform, recounted in a pre-ceremony interview, “I saw prisoners trying to squeeze through a small gap at the bottom of a fence and I reached for my wire cutters. I cut a big hole in the barbed wire fence.” Carrier, now 90, notes that he didn’t realize the people were Jewish Holocaust survivors.

“We were fighting a war—they never told us anything. We didn’t have any knowledge. They were just awful looking when we discovered them.” Carrier proudly showed off the medals he received when he attended last year’s March of the Living.

Following the address by Prosor, where he commented that “The March of the Living is to remind us as much about life as about loss, and triumph as much as tragedy,” Carrier’s voice could be heard shouting out, “Yeah!”

In an interview with the Times of Israel following the ceremony, Prosor highlighted the significance of the evening’s event.

“This all takes place at the UN—a place where, most days of the year, people don’t unite. But [International Holocaust Remembrance Day on] January 27 brings people from all counties, backgrounds and religions together in understanding.”

Prosor elaborated, “Education about tolerance and acceptance of others is absolutely crucial to creating a different and better society for the future.” When asked who the ambassador would like to bring to see the exhibit, he replied, “school students, the younger generation — so they can be more tolerant.”

Asked which world leaders and countries should attend the exhibit, Prosor noted proudly, “Several ambassadors — perhaps four or five — have come so far. They were touched and will educate others.” He concluded, “It is no coincidence that the Hungarian ambassador attended. He came out publicly to take responsibility for what Hungary did to Jews during the Holocaust.”

On January 23, several days after the Hungarian Jewish community accused the government of Hungary of engaging in Holocaust revisionism, Hungary’s United Nations Ambassador Csaba Korosi, at an event sponsored by the UN Department of Public Information for NGOs, reported, “We owe an apology to the victims because the Hungarian state was guilty for the Holocaust.”

Hungary has come a long way since the day one Hungarian Jew, Judy Weissenberg Cohen, last saw her mother.

(Source: http://www.timesofisrael.com)

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For Boyd “Rainmaker” Melson, life at the United States Military Academy at West Point was not easy. West Point demands physical and academic discipline, and even periodic “white glove” room inspections. Lucky for Melson, it also requires a semester-long class in boxing.

“The goal of the course is to teach you to face your fears with no one to lean on. It teaches you to stand up for yourself. You are really exposed and naked when alone in the ring,” says Melson, 32, now a professional light middleweight boxer with a career record of 12 wins, one loss and one draw with four knockouts. He is a 2013 inductee to the Jewish Sports Hall of Fame

“I started to knock out opponents. And I won the school championship as a freshman,” says Melson, who soon found himself practicing at both 5:30 am and 4:30 pm, while carrying a difficult academic load.

“If you are not an engineering major, you must have an engineering minor. I majored in psychology and minored in nuclear engineering,” says Melson.

An army brat, Melson was born in Brooklyn, New York to a Creole father, Nolan, born in Louisiana, and a Jewish mother, Annette, born in Israel to Polish Holocaust survivors.

“Her mother fled to Uzbekistan and spent a year in prison; her father was conscripted by the Russian army, and their four children were all born in different places — Uzbekistan, Austria, Canada and Israel,” says Melson.

How did Annette and Nolan Melson decide to bring up the children Jewish?

“There was no negotiation,” says Boyd laughing, “You know Jewish moms. She said, ‘I am Jewish and our household is Jewish!’”

Boyd attended yeshiva for kindergarten (“I hated it”) and Hebrew school three days a week at Temple Beth El in Manhattan Beach, Brooklyn. Melson celebrated his bar mitzvah in Brooklyn and “was taken to Israel as a bar mitzvah present.”

West Point was his father’s choice of school, but one night during his junior year, Melson’s sense of purpose and mission in life changed abruptly. He was visiting his folks in White Plains, NY, and went out with friends to The Thirsty Turtle, a dance club and lounge.

“I saw a girl who was out with her friends, dancing and a little tipsy,” he recalls. Melson was immediately interested in her and started dancing with Christan Zaccagnino — who was in a wheelchair.

“I crouched down low and we danced,” says Melson, matter of factly. The two began dating soon after.

Boyd Melson and Christan Zaccagnino, currently not dating, but still great friends. (photo credit: courtesy)

Zaccagnino had broken her neck and become a quadriplegic in 1993 at the age of ten after jumping in to a pool. She became Melson’s inspiration, in and out of the ring.

Melson continued to study (he graduated West Point in 2003 and earned an MBA at Touro College) and box — he was a three time All American, a four time West Point Brigade Open Boxing champion, and earned a spot as an alternate on the 2008 US Olympic boxing team.

Before going pro in 2010, Melson worked as a medical devices representative for Johnson and Johnson.

Since 2010, when Melson and Zaccagnino, still great friends, though no longer dating, founded Team Fight to Walk to raise awareness of spinal cord injuries, he has devoted his time to training full-time as a boxer for charity. He donates every penny of his boxing earnings tojustadollarplease.org, in support of a clinical trial to test promising treatments for spinal cord injuries.

Zaccagnino says, “I knew Boyd loved boxing and he loved to help people, so I helped him find his passion.”

“In the US alone, where a spinal cord injury occurs every 43 minutes, there are 300,000 people living with the tragic after-effects. And 40,000 of them are US Armed forces Veterans,” says Melson.

“The field of regenerative medicine is exploding and holds great promise for the treatment of these injuries,” says Melson.

JustADollarPlease.org is the fundraising project of SCINetUSA, the clinical trial network launched to test promising treatments for spinal cord injury in the United States. SCINetUSA is a partner with ChinaSCINet, the 25 center clinical trial network in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, where clinical trials have already started.

SCINetUSA supports the work of Dr. Wise Young, the director of the W.M. Keck Center for Collaborative Neuroscience at Rutgers University in New Jersey.

Young’s clinical trials in China have already begun to show promise, says Melson, who has observed successes there after umbilical cells are injected to the spinal cord, and a patient is given six months of walking therapy. Young hopes to bring similar clinical trials to 40 patients in the US by 2014.

‘If five million people each give $1, then we will have a cure. We potentially have the winning lottery ticket without the money to buy a ticket!’

“If five million people each give $1, then we will have a cure. We potentially have the winning lottery ticket without the money to buy a ticket!” says Melson.

Melson reports, “I have experienced firsthand how adult stem cells can improve quality of life. I live to help Christan and others like her.”

The two have traveled the world together in search of an intervention which will get Zaccagnino up and walking.

“Boyd and I are relentless,” says Zaccagnino. “And he takes relentless to a whole new level.”

Melson is currently deep in training for his December 4 bout at BB King Blues Club and Grill where he faces Gundrick King in the eight round main event.

In and out of the ring, Melson is committed to “the cause.” Even his jewelry, clothing and nickname tell the story of his current passions, commitments and causes.

A black bracelet on his left wrist with gold writing says “Team Fight to Walk.” A blue bracelet on his right wrist says “Clinical Trials Now.” He wears a necklace with both a chai pendant and boxing gloves. And his boxing trunks feature symbols he chose in the summer of 2010, leading up to his professional career: a Star of David and a camoflauged wheelchair and West Point ’03 (his graduating class).

The Star of David, says Melson, is to honor his Holocaust survivor grandparents.

“Judaism influences my choices by reminding me of the hardships that our people endure as a race in order to merely survive, and how the idea of loving humanity is the backbone of our religion,” says Melson.

The camouflage wheelchair, he says, is for wounded warriors, Fight To Walk, for Team Fight To Walk, and “Christan’s battle along with the rest of the spinal cord injured world’s battles to get up out of their chairs.”

In the ring, Melson is known as “Rainmaker,” a name is taken from the movie, “The Power of One.”

“The Rainmaker was the nickname given to the main character because he brings hope. The Rainmaker brings hope and that’s my goal for a cure for spinal cure injuries,” says Melson.

A win for Boyd Melson means a purse for Team Fight to Walk. (photo credit: courtesy)

(Source: http://www.timesofisrael.com)

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SECAUCUS, N.J. – This year, even the ticket agent in Manhattan’s Port Authority Bus Terminal knew about Kosherfest – and that the 320 bus, leaving from gate 231, takes visitors to the annual kosher food trade show at the Meadowlands Exposition Center in Secaucus, N.J. Attendees at the world’s largest kosher-certified products show, now in its 25th year, include restaurant owners and caterers, ingredient buyers, representatives of specialty stores and supermarket chains, chefs, hashgacha agencies – even the secretary general of Parma, promoting Italian companies with kosher certification. And they come from such countries as Argentina, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, Thailand and Israel.

Kosher has no doubt come a very long way. There are now more than 200,000 kosher certified products, and mashgichim (kosher supervisors) routinely travel to such places as Thailand, China, India and Costa Rica to provide certification to fish, spices, raw ingredients and more. Menachem Lubinsky, the founder of Kosherfest, who co-produces the show with Diversified Business Communications, reports, “There was somewhat of a vision back then that perhaps kosher could be more than a certification; that it would emerge as a cuisine. Incredibly, kosher has reached that level and it is still rising.”

The large exhibition hall at the two-day event, held at the end of October, is always bustling – from shacharit through closing. It is the sight and sound of kosher in action, including caterers in search of a new dessert or pareve gelato, new products in search of a distributor, buyers seeking the best price, nearly ongoing mincha services, and an abundance of new and old, milchig (dairy) and fleishig (meat), “healthy” and “less healthy” products to sample. While the show is limited to those “in the trade,” and while samples are only supposed to be consumed on the premises, more than a few visitors were observed bringing samples home.

“Who would have believed that sushi would become a basic staple in restaurant, pizza parlors, and at catered events, or for that matter that nearly 20% of the show would tout gluten-free products?” says Lubinsky.

Attendees with Connecticut connections included Sherrie Krupnick of Danbury, founder and CEO of Sherrie’s Specialties (all natural gluten free and sugar-free baked goods for Passover and all year), Scott Gantwerker of Ridgefield, executive vice president at Foodman, LLC, makers of Matzolah, “The Trail Mix of the Exodus,” and food developer and blogger (MuchAdoAboutStuffing.com), Elise Meyer.

Each year, Kosherfest features such familiar companies as Gold’s, Osem, Kedem, Manischewitz, Empire and Dr. Praeger’s – who each year manage to introduce new products. Empire, for example, offered Buffalo style wings, while Dr. Praeger featured Asian veggie burgers, kale and Tex Mex burgers.

Even meats and poultry offer fresh approaches, including Rachel’s Organic Kosher Poultry, Jack’s Gourmet (handcrafted deli meats and sausages) and Hickory Smoked Beef Brisket from Premier Tasty Meats, voted best new meat/seafood/poultry item in the show.

At least two Greek yogurt companies were in attendance: Norman’s Chalav Yisrael and Mehadrin All Natural Nonfat yogurt. Atlantic Natural Foods of Nashville, N.C. displayed “out of the can” vegetarian products with a three-year shelf life, including fishless tuna, five bean chili, vegetarian taco filling and chik’n sliders and patties – with the slogan “lean, green protein – vegetarian food for meat lovers, tree huggers and everyone else.” Although these products are not yet available in this region.

Another healthy product on display was Tivall (“It looks like meat, it tastes like meat, but it’s healthier and it’s pareve”), distributed by Bagel Bites. Their booth offered an abundance of samples of veggie schnitzel, corn bites, grilled filet, empanadas, felafel balls, and hot dogs.

Syndian Natural Foods looked just as tasty and healthy, but arrived with empty hands. Business development manager, Karen D’Angola of Australia said she hopes to come next year with samples of her dual certified kosher/halal all natural, gluten-free, vegan, products which include lentil burgers, brown rice and vegetable burgers and curried pumpkin bites.

Taft Foodmasters was back for a second year, promoting vegetarian seitan gyros and vegetarian seitan sausage. Their seitan product is fully cooked, vegan and heats in seconds.

New hot drinks of interest included Cuppa J, with its line of pareve hot chocolates. Their three flavors include double dark, mystic mint and Mayan mist. “I like hot chocolate, and there are none which are pareve – and I have a niece and nephew who are lactose intolerant,” says owner Jay Hill, explaining the genesis of the company he launched a year and a half ago. Hill plans to introduce a sugarless line next year.

Danny Ilgiyayev of Café Tastle USA was happy to give a thorough explanation of each of his instant coffees, including the difference between spray dried and freeze dried beans. One passerby, sampling his platinum espresso, commented, “You make it better than my wife!”

Yochanon Kitnick from Fallsburg Bagels and Bakery was on hand, offering samples of his delicious “thaw and serve” donuts. Simply 7 had a big display of its many chips including quinoa, bbq, cheddar, and pomegranate chips. Gourmet to Go of Ramat Gan, Israel displayed a wide range of long shelf-stable meals, including Bukhkara Stew, Mediterranean Shakshuka, Veggie Sichuan, Homemade Couscous and more. And Pizza cones consistently featured the longest lines at the show. Pizza cones are just as the name suggests – pizza (with various toppings!) – served in a cone that closely resembles an ice cream cone.

The most intriguing product of the show, by far, was Kosher Diapers, which feature Velcro over tape and are intended for Sabbath observers.

There was no shortage of baked goods at Kosherfest. Leah Hadad, president of Voila Hallah, wants her customers to “reconnect with the art of baking bread at home.” Toward that end, she offers Wholey Wheat, Traditional and Simply Spelt mixes which taste “just like from scratch.”

Busy with a book tour, pastry chef Paula Shoyer and author of The Holiday Kosher Baker, stopped by the show for a day. Shoyer continues to give baking demonstrations around the world – one recent show was in Hong Kong – as well as across the United States. Shoyer is also a favorite at Camp Ramah in Palmer, Mass. According to Camp Ramah’s assistant director, Josh Edelglass, “Paula Shoyer is a spectacular chef and one of our most popular visiting specialists. Each summer, she spends a week at camp, working intensely with a group of our older campers who sign up for her kosher cooking course. After a week working with her, our kids become amazing chefs in their own right!”

(Source: http://www.jewishledger.com)

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