Original Article Published On The Jerusalem Post, Newspaper Articles

Watching Shahar Pe’er at US Open is a dream come true for the youngsters.

NEW YORK – For Gony Goldstein, Raz Moyal, and Dana Kamyshev, cheering for Shahar Peer on Court Four at her first-round US Open match was only one highlight of their week-long America tennis adventure.

The three young Israel tennis players, ages nine, 11 and 13, in the US as part of an Israel Children’s Centers tennis exhibition, enthusiastically cheered on Peer in her match against Jelena Kostanic Tosic of Croatia.

The three young Israel tennis players, ages nine, 11 and 13, in the US as part of an Israel Children’s Centers tennis exhibition, enthusiastically cheered on Peer in her match against Jelena Kostanic Tosic of Croatia.

Yaalah, Kadima, Shahar, Go Peer! they shouted from the stands on this sunny, 33-degree day.

When Peer was down 3-2 in the second set, a very confident Raz said, Shahar will beat her you will see.

Raz was right.

Despite some early serving difficulties and missed volleys, Peer rallied to beat the slicing Kostantic Tosic 6-4, 7-5.

Shahar is my favorite, reports Dana, who plays in a competitive tennis program at the Tennis Center in Haifa.

I like her strong character she doesn’t give up. I remember once she was down 5-0 and came back to win.

Goni, who lives in Tel Aviv and players regularly at the Israel Tennis Center in South Tel Aviv, is struck by how everything in America is so big.

Goni loves Peer and adds, I also love Roddick, Sharapova, Davydenko and Venus Williams, the knowledgeable nine-year-old reports.

Goni was initially spotted by the same coach who recognized Peer’s potential, and she has even hit tennis balls with Peer.

Raz Moyal, from Ofakim, was jealous of his brother, who got to play tennis. One day, his father offered him the chance to play.

It was very fun, noted Raz, who diplomatically claimed Peer is his favorite player. I just love her, she is a very good player.

But the smiley youngster adds, I also love Nadal, he is short like me, he is a lefty like me, and I look like him. People call me Nadal.

This group of young tennis players, representing three of Israel’s fourteen tennis centers, was accompanied by coach Ron Becker, Israel Children’s Center Executive Director Jeff Dannick, and Israeli Development Associate Yoni Yair.

They returned home to Israel late Monday night and would not be around to cheer on Israel’s Dudi Sela, Andy Ram and Yoni Erlich.

Sela will play singles later in the week, and Ram and Erlich, doubles partners before Erlich’s elbow injury, will play against each other in doubles in the first round of the US Open.

In an interview following a doubles match at last week’s Pilot Pen Tournament in New Haven, Connecticut, Ram shared his thoughts on the future of Israeli tennis.

After Amos Mansdorf, there was a 10-year hole.

Then came Peer, Sela, Erlich and me. We played at the Israel Tennis Centers for many years. I played in Ramat HaSharon. We are in the process of building the next generation of Israeli tennis players. It will come and there will be Israeli tennis.

Dannick points to a number of 7-through-12-year old up and comers in Israel, and he draws special attention to 14 year old Valeria Patiuk, currently ranked 330th in the world for juniors, and to 15-year old Igor Smilansky, ranked No. 747 in the world.

The combination of skills and size is hard to come by these two have both, reports Dannick, who notes, Israel has six or seven of the top 1,000 men in the world and three or four of the top 1,000 women in the world.

Israelis, Jews around the world, and die-hard tennis fans will spend the next two weeks watching Peer, Sela, Ram and Erlich (Noam Okun and Harel Levy played in the qualifiers for the US Open but failed to earn a spot in the main draw) and wonder about the future of Israeli tennis.

Gony, Raz and Dana might represent exactly that.



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Members of Tochnit Avodah, the Vocational Training Program, work in camp for three hours each day. They work in the gan, the mercaz, the dining room, the education department, on the ropes course and in the guest house.

Wednesdays is everyone’s day off.  We take trips which are sometimes fun, sometimes educational and sometimes both.  On the last Wednesday of camp, we had the opportunity to see if the job skills we are learning are preparing us for the world of work.  

Thanks to the generosity of Fairfield Inn by Marriott and Walgreens Distribution Center (both in Windsor, CT), Voc Ed got a taste of two very different work environments.  Both companies are leaders in hiring and training people with disabilities.

At Marriott, we got a back of the house tour, where we got to see rooms being made, and laundry being washed in huge, industrial machines. 

At Walgreens, we was items being scanned, and put in bins for distribution.  What a treat to see one of our Tikvah friends, Aaron Rudolph, working at his detrash station, opening 90 boxes per hour and placing the items in bins!  Walgreens is a true leader they employ approximately 200 people with special needs out of a total of 430 workers. 

We returned to camp tired and inspired about what visionary companies can accomplish.  It is comforting to know that some companies recognize that by thinking out of the box and making accommodations, people with disabilities can be very productive!

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Yehuda Gubani of Beit Shemesh,Israel was just honored for 25 years of service to Camp Ramah in New England. Yehuda is a gifted teacher who brings his love of Israel, Hebrew language and Yemenite culture to Ramah campers and staff.
Bryce Lavalla is a 20 year old man with Down Syndrome who wears hearing aids and can’t speak with words. Bryce also loves Tikvah davening and works each day as a member of the Ramah boating staff.
Yehuda has a gift for connecting with everyone at camp from students in his Hebrew classes, to the Eastern European kitchen workers (he also teaches them Hebrew!) to campers in the Tikvah Program.
On the last day of camp, I learned that the very modest, Yehuda had written a beautiful tribute in the mishlochot (Israeli delegation) end of year newspaper to Bryce. Yehuda described their very special friendship.
L lo Milim, Without Words is written in very poetic Hebrew. Yehuda captures how Bryce speaks to me all the time, with the language of his body, with his eyes, and in other ways. Yehuda writes

about how Bryce speaks to me all the time, tells me of love, and hugs, and about how Bryce connects with people.  Yehuda describes how Bryce is truly created B’tzelem Elokim, In God’s Image.

I was delighted when Yehuda offered to read his poem to me, translating his sophisticated piece, line by line.  How I wished I could share it with Bryce’s mother!

A few hours later, Bryce’s mom, Terry, came to pick him up Bryce.  Just as I was telling her about Yehuda, his relationship with Bryce and his poem, as if by magic, Yehuda peeked out of his house.  I tried unsuccessfully to shout to Yehuda. I tried again. Finally, he heard me and shyly came over to speak with Terry and me. Yehuda read and translated the poem (see the photo, above).  Terry was truly moved by this very special man, and his love for her son who proves that one can truly communicate without speaking.

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Original Article Published on The Jerusalem Post

With the exception of King David, Samson and members of the Israel Defense Forces, Jews have not historically been viewed as great fighters. Enter Yuri Foreman – a Russian-born, Israeli boxer who is also studying to become an Orthodox rabbi!

The 29-year-old professional Jewish boxer recently spent Shabbat in New York City. As soon as he made havdalah and ended Shabbat, he was quickly driven to the world famous Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, where he was scheduled to take on Miguel Cotto in a 12 round, super welterweight championship fight. The fight was scheduled to start at the unusually late time of 10:15p.m – to accommodate his Sabbath observance.

In an HBO interview, Foreman, dressed casually and sporting one of his trademark cool hats, said, I am the first Jewish world champion to also be connected to religion, and to be studying to be a rabbi. The rabbinical student was thinking of yet another Jewish fighter. On my way to a fight, I always have in mind that Jewish history produced a lot of fighters, perhaps not prize fighters, but throughout the Bible there were a lot of tremendous fighters. For example, Abraham was spiritual, but at the same time was no stranger to the sword.

Foreman was born in the town of Gomel in Belarus. He lived in a very small apartment with his parents, grandmother, uncle, aunt and cousin. He started off as a swimmer, and the thin, not-particularly-muscular Foreman used to get picked on daily.

One day, after getting beaten up badly by bullies, his mother walked in to a boxing gym and demanded that the teacher make a man out of her seven-year-old son. At age nine, Yuri and his family moved to Israel, where the new immigrants were quite poor. At first, Yuri had a hard time fitting in – he was learning a new language, he had an accent, and he was self-conscious about how little his family had in his new country.

Yuri started boxing at a predominantly Arab gym. The facilities weren’t great, and there wasn’t a lot of equipment.

Yuri began to wonder if he would ever make it as a boxer. His life was taking a downward turn; his mother died, and he figured he would end up working with his father doing odd jobs or on a factory line. However, Yuri persevered, and managed to win three national boxing championships in Israel. He then decided that if he ever wanted to have a shot at making it big, he would need to leave Israel and train elsewhere.

Yuri moved to Brooklyn, New York and stayed with one of his former Israeli trainers. By day he worked in the garment district of Manhattan as a delivery boy and store cleaner. He trained each night at Gleason’s Gym in Brooklyn, where he eventually met his wife, Leyla Leidecker, a former model and amateur boxer herself! The two were searching for meaning and decided to check out a Kabbalah class. By total coincidence, the rabbi at the class suggested that life is like a boxing match! He went on to explain, As long as you are upright and breathing, there is still a chance to win! Yuri was inspired, and made a strong connection with the rabbi; so strong, in fact, that Foreman decided to embark on the long journey to become an Orthodox rabbi.

How does Foreman reconcile being both a yeshiva student and a boxer? In an interview with a local daily paper, Foreman said, Boxing is sometimes spiritual in its own way. You have physical and mental challenges in boxing, just like you have lots of challenges in exploring the different levels of Judaism. They are different but the same. Many who have seen the 66 kilo, clean shaven, handsome Foreman in person, or on one of the many American TV shows on which he has appeared, find it hard to believe that this slight, soft-spoken gentleman is also a boxer.

Foreman certainly is a champion and quite tough in the ring. He is often described as a perimeter boxer. As an amateur boxer, Foreman had an impressive 75-5 record and in 2001 won the New York Golden Gloves competition. He turned pro in 2002 and, prior to the Cotto fight, was undefeated in 29 matches. Foreman insists all the success and attention has not changed who he is. Listen, everything stays the same. When I come home and my wife tells me to do the chores, I do them. I still have the same friends, I still take out the garbage, and I still ride my bicycle to the gym for my workouts.

In the days and weeks leading up to the fight, Foreman attended a Yankees game, appeared in several TV shows and served as Grand Marshall for New York City’s Salute to Israel Parade.

On the night of the big Miguel Cotto fight, Foreman entered the ring wearing his traditional Star of David boxing trunks. Following Hatikvah, Hava Nagilah and the sounding of the shofar, Foreman entered. He fought hard but sadly, he tripped in the seventh round, injuring his ankle and knee. Foreman wasn’t the same after that. In the ninth round, he went down and the referees stopped the fight and awarded a TKO, a technical knock out, to Cotto.

Foreman may have lost his first professional fight but, keep an eye out, as the 29-1 raging rabbinical student is sure to be back!

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