Original Article Published On The Jerusalem Post

Yuval Wagner was an IDF pilot who became paralyzed after a helicopter crash. Now he runs the NGO Access Israel with the goal of making the Jewish state more accessible to people with disabilities.

A group of 29 adults with disabilities stood near a Cobra helicopter at Palmahim Airbase in Israel, mesmerized as Yuval Wagner recounted that fateful day in 1987 when the helicopter he was piloting abruptly crashed and left him paralyzed and his commander dead.

Wagner also explained how his new life as a paralyzed man with a desire to embrace life, travel and make his beloved country accessible for all, led to the creation of Access Israel, the Israeli NGO he founded nearly 25 years ago.

The former pilot, used to navigating Israel from the controls of a helicopter, now gets around with the help of a sophisticated electric wheelchair he operates with a joystick. He moves so quickly that it is hard to keep up with him. The community members from Chapel Haven in New Haven, Connecticut, Wagner’s guests at Palmahim, had to work hard to follow the fast-moving Wagner as he showed them the ins and outs of the base.

The group first toured the hangar housing Black Hawk helicopters and listened to mechanic “H” explain how engines are repaired and replaced. When the group later met young pilot “D,” they had a chance to board a Black Hawk and experience what it feels like for 18 people to cram into such a small space usually used to transport crew members, including pilots, mechanics and medics on rescue missions.

Wagner led the group from the Black Hawk hangar to the Cobra helicopter replica, which serves as a memorial to the events of March 18, 1987. Wagner began by giving the group a sense of what it means to be a pilot serving in the Israel Defense Forces and of the centrality of one’s aircraft.

Wagner holds the Access Israel logo. (credit: YUVAL WAGNER)

“It was my dream to fly Israel’s most advanced helicopter,” he told the group. “The time you become a pilot, you learn that you live not only with your wife or girlfriend, but with your aircraft too.”

The group gathered around Wagner in front of the helicopter as he recounted the story of the helicopter’s unexpected crash. 

“We were eight helicopters – four pairs of two. It was a beautiful day, and we took off from Palmahim on a training mission. We flew to the Dead Sea and from there made a turn north. A little before Beit She’an, the helicopter began shaking wildly, and suddenly we crashed in the fields.

“We fell from 400 meters [1,300 feet]. Lt.-Col. Zion Bar was killed immediately. He had a wife and three kids. I could not feel or see anything. There was mud in my eyes and I didn’t know if I was blind. I broke my neck and was taken by rescue helicopter to Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem and was between life and death. I eventually went to a rehabilitation hospital.”

The large group, standing around Wagner on this hot day didn’t make a sound as he recounted the impact of the crash on his life. 

“This is the second that life changes for you and your family. You have options. Where do you take your life from here? I chose to make the most of the situation and become stronger, to take a second that is terrible and make a life that is better, to make the most out of our lives, to enable people with disabilities and their families to live and do. It is tough. You can’t hide it.”

Wagner then recounted the issues he faced day to day in the aftermath of becoming paralyzed. 

The sudden challenges of becoming disabled

“The first challenges are medical. Then, how do I live with myself as a disabled person? How do I live my life with the thoughts, reactions and stigmas of others?” He then began to tell the story of how and why he created Access Israel. 

“I didn’t know about accessibility,” though he acknowledged having some experience, as he spent his life living with a disabled IDF father who also used a wheelchair.

“The next challenge was how to go out of the house. I got married and had three kids and wanted to go to a hotel in the Galilee.”

Yuval begins to tell the well-known story of how Access Israel got its start.

Wagner and family prepared for their first family vacation by taking steps to ensure the accommodations were fully accessible. They were in touch with the guesthouse about elevator size, door sizes of the room and bathroom and more. They were reassured it was accessible. Wagner stops the story mid-sentence and promises to tell the whole story later that evening when the group will gather for dinner in his home.

CHAPEL HAVEN community member Jonah Sabol found Yuval’s talk at Palmahim to be the highlight of a 10-day Israel trip. 

“That was an inspiring story. I can’t imagine what he must have been feeling,” he said.

Later that evening, at a poolside dinner at Wagner’s fully accessible Hod Hasharon home, Access Israel’s CEO Michal Rimon welcomed the group and told the longer version of the story of Wagner founding Access Israel.

“Twenty four years ago, Yuval went on vacation, and the door of the bathroom was too narrow to get his wheelchair in,” Rimon explained. “He had to make a choice between disappointing his family and going home or staying. The staff told him to go get a cup of coffee and worked to make the door frame bigger. When Yuval went home, he wrote a letter to Israel’s then-president Ezer Weizman.”

Wagner explained to the president and former pilot what had happened and expressed disappointment about Israel’s lack of accessibility. 

“A day later, I got a call back from the President’s Office. They said the President read the letter and wants to speak to me,” Wagner said. “After talking, he gave me the responsibility for starting an organization that would make Israel accessible in every way possible. And he told me to come back in six months to the President’s House with a report on the status of the organization.”

Rimon, who has heard and recounted this moving story dozens of times, succinctly shared Weizman’s message to Wagner with the group. 

“He said, ‘I apologize on behalf of Israel. Do something – establish an NGO and stop kvetching. And you have a six-month time table for the launch!” Access Israel was launched on the lawns of the President’s Residence in June 1999.

Wagner returned to the army to complete his service – now focusing on coding over flying – and worked with friends and colleagues to come up with a business plan to show the president. They began with work on a website to identify accessible and non-accessible places in Israel. They have continued in three areas: awareness, consulting to organizations, and legislation.

While Access Israel’s vision has always been to create a world where people with disabilities can live their lives with respect, equality and independence in all areas of life (including work, education, culture, travel and leisure, commerce, health and transportation,) the scope of their work has expanded over the years.

They work to raise awareness among decision-makers and engage the Knesset to initiate new legislation and regulations regarding accessibility. The organization also manages projects to implement accessibility.

A Feel Accessibility 2023 family event took place May 12 to raise awareness around accessibility, disabilities, sports, and people with disabilities in general. The educational and experiential event included a flotilla of sailboats and yachts, and helicopter and aircraft flights over the beaches of Tel Aviv, Jaffa and Herzliya.

In Israel, Access Israel has hosted international conferences on inclusion and accessibility and has rolled out the Purple Vest Israel initiative, which provides a toolkit for implementing preparations to evacuate and assist individuals with disabilities in emergency situations.

This initiative has expanded beyond Israel and has been implemented effectively at the Ukraine-Poland border. Since February 2022, participants have helped rescue 4,000 people with disabilities and the elderly, while providing support to 10,000 people by providing essential equipment and medications.

Online initiatives with an international focus include webinars on topics around disabilities, access and inclusion. Their May 24 webinar on Accessible Tourism, their 13th such event, attracted more than 200 people from 80 countries.

Despite Wagner’s extremely busy schedule, he finds time to keep up his connection to the air force and flying – and to connections with his comrades. In December 2021, Wagner had the opportunity to return to a helicopter – this time as a passenger – along with Noam Gershony, a fighter pilot and Israeli wheelchair tennis star who was also paralyzed in a helicopter crash.

Each Remembrance Day, Wagner joins the family of Zion Bar, his deceased comrade, on the beach for brunch. Bar left behind his wife, Naomi, and three children – Yaeli, Assaf, and Michali, all in their 20s now. 

“He loved the beach,” Wagner said. Each year on the anniversary of Bar’s death, Wagner visits the cemetery in Tel Aviv where Bar is buried.

Wagner’s professional colleagues are impressed with his drive and dedication. James Lassner, executive director of Accessibility Accelerator, an Access Israel partner, reported, “One who has the opportunity to meet Yuval gets to see the focused and dedicated commander of Access Israel that he is. As his collaborative partner, I get to see the same and I am blessed to see deeper into his golden and very caring heart. This mission we are on with him is to make a focused effort each day better than the day before for people with disabilities and the elderly.”

Catherine Sullivan-DeCarlo, vice president of admissions and marketing at Chapel Haven Schleifer Center, Inc., who got to know Wagner on her group’s recent trip to Israel, added, “I was deeply impressed with Yuval’s story and his determination to make his country more accessible. He turned a personal tragedy into a lifetime of advocacy and it is evident throughout Israel. We saw many historic sites that are being made accessible for people across the globe. I also was impressed that Yuval is still active with the Israel Air Force. Visiting the airbase and his home and experiencing the depth of his commitment was a deeply moving part of the trip for me.”

While Wagner runs a complex and very ambitious organization, it is all pretty simple. 

Wagner noted, “I came to a moment of acknowledgment that my life story, my fortune and luck to stay alive after the accident is for a reason – to make Israel fully accessible and inclusive for people with disabilities and their families and to share knowledge and best practices to the world.” ❖

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Original Article Published On Camp Ramah Wisconsin

Thanks to a special partnership with Camp Ramah in Wisconsin, several Eagle River businesses are helping provide meaningful job training and work experiences for members of Atzmayim. Participants in this vocational program, serving young adults ages 18-22, come to breakfast each day dressed for work. They then head out to their jobs in our local community at Eagle River Roasters, Trigs grocery store and Walgreens pharmacy.

In past years, Atzmayim participants have also worked at a local children’s museum, toy store and resort. Some members of the program work at Camp Ramah. Charlie currently works in the kitchen and does dining room set up between breakfast and lunch. Andre, a graduate of Atzmayim, is a full summer salaried employee in the woodworking and arts departments. He proudly points out Adirondack chairs he has helped build, various things he has sewn, and hand washing signs he has made.

At Eagle River Roasters, Praveena works independent of a job coach.  She starts her day by tidying up the outdoor garden dining area. She then sweeps the floor of the roasting room, places labels on coffee bags and organizes shelves in the café gift shop.  Owner Daniel Beihoff, who has a nephew with autism, is pleased with Praveena’s work and with the long-standing relationship with Camp Ramah.  “We and our customers get a lot out of it.”  He and members of his team have come out to camp for meals and to see plays, his coffee is served in the dining hall and a special Ramah coffee blend is available for purchase at camp. “It takes a village. We are one big circle. We are all in this together and we all have something to offer!”

At Walgreen’s, Elijah and Nathan work with their Ramah job coaches as they sweep, stock, and perform the crucial job of “outdating.” They carefully check the expiration date of such products as candy, batteries and medicine and pull from shelves if they are too close to the date.

Four participants—Sasha, Nathaniel, Lily and Molly—work at Trig’s grocery store where they keep the freezer section clean, make sure “facing” of products on shelves is done properly and keep the dining area clean. Several participants assist cashiers with bagging groceries. Several proud participants were excited when they received tips from satisfied customers!

While learning a job skill is important, the “soft skills” of a job are equally important.  At the various job sites, employees learn to interact appropriately and professionally with customers. They learn to greet customers and answer questions, how to stay on task, sign in, use the break room, ask for assistance and dress professionally.   

It is our hope that the experience from these various work settings will help Atzmayim participants be “employment-ready” when they return home!

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Original Article Published On Ramah Boston

As the director of the National Ramah Tikvah Network, I have the privilege of visiting our Ramah camps and helping directors and Tikvah directors support children and young adults with disabilities as they are included in the camp community. I have visited every overnight camp at least once and am visiting three of our day camps this summer. What a treat to see Ramah Day Camp Greater Boston in action last week — during Yom Sport! 

While the quality of programming, variety of activities, great structure and responsible, enthusiastic staff are all worthy of blog posts, I would like to focus on the seamless and intentional inclusion of campers with support needs that was apparent as I walked the grounds and met with Rabbi Silverman and Tzviyah Kusnitz, the Tikvah (inclusion) director. Most camps are committed to including people with disabilities. New camps often make the understandable decision to get established for a year or two before introducing people with disabilities into the community. At the Boston Day Camp, campers and staff with visible and invisible disabilities have been included and supported from the start; they are contributing a great deal to camp.

Rabbi Silverman received a call from the parents of Binny, a young man in the community in search of a vocational training program. She and her staff developed a plan for Binny: he joins campers on the bus to and from camp each day, sets the Chadar Ochel (dining room) for lunch, distributes snacks, and participates in Jewish learning, chugim (electives) and more. 

When I contacted Rabbi Silverman about a 54-year-old former camper of mine from the Tikvah Program at Camp Ramah New England who was hoping to work for a week or two at camp while on vacation from his job at a Boston supermarket (yes – we have been in touch all these years!), she reminded me that she did not formally offer a job training or supported employment program, but she would be happy to interview him and see if he might be a good fit for an open position. Matthew had expressed interest in so many areas of camp. He will soon arrive to work as an assistant on the sports staff. 

While the program that supports people with disabilities at the Boston Day Camp is in its infancy, Tzviyah has provided training and tools to enable staff to support their campers with various disabilities and support needs. For example, Tzviyah recognized that some campers need a quieter space for lunch and a quieter space was found. A sensory space has been established for campers who might need a break from their regular routine. In addition to working with the staff, Tzviyah communicates with parents and professionals as well.

The campers with disabilities clearly benefit from the support that camp provides. One thing I have learned in my nearly 40 years connected to the Tikvah Program at Ramah is that everyone benefits by having this at camp. Ramah Boston is on the road to changing attitudes through its inclusion of campers and staff with different abilities. I can’t wait to see how these efforts at Ramah Boston will continue to grow!

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Original Article Published On The Chabad.org

Player shares what he discovered at Chabad of Coronado

When Adam Fishman heard that the 2023 World Men’s Lacrosse Championship was coming to San Diego, he saw an opportunity to bring together three of his great loves: lacrosse, Israel and Chabad.

The former Ivy League lacrosse player, member of Israel’s National Lacrosse Team and an active member of Chabad-Lubavitch of Coronado worked tirelessly to bring 180 people to Chabad for a rousing Friday-night prayer service and a beautiful Shabbat dinner that included the entire team, coaches, relatives and community members.

Fishman’s desire to share Friday night at Chabad with the team comes from his own positive experiences there. Although he attended a Jewish day school as a child, “I had never gone to Friday-night services as a kid,” he told Chabad.org. “Here, this magical thing happens.”

Fishman detailed Chabad’s role in bringing Kabbalat Shabbat (“welcoming the Shabbat”) into his life, and the life of his wife, Allie and young child, Aiden—and his desire to share it with his fellow Jewish athletes. “The rabbi used to host dinner in his home every Friday night. The crowd got so big that they began hosting dinners at the shul. For me, Shabbat dinner was my re-entry point. It got me reconnected, and I wanted to share it with the team.”

Fishman overcame logistical challenges in planning the evening. “I knew the team had 60 guys and staff. I also knew our shul’s size. But I knew that with the rabbi’s help, we would make this happen,” he said.

Rabbi Eliezer and Zeldi Fradkin, co-directors of Chabad of Coronado, a California resort city on a peninsula in San Diego Bay, say they admire Fishman’s dedication and refer to him as the shadchan (“matchmaker”)—the driving force bringing Team Israel to Chabad during the quadrennial event featuring the top men’s field lacrosse teams.

“When he heard the team was coming to San Diego, he was very focused on bringing them here,” reported the rabbi. “Adam felt strongly that part of coming here needed to be coming to Chabad of Coronado for Shabbat. He did not want them to miss out on Lecha Dodi or the rest of the davening experience. No one questioned it.”

Outdoor Shabbat dinner for 180 at Coronado's histroic Abadi Residence@The Baby Del - Photo courtesy Chabad of Coronado

Outdoor Shabbat dinner for 180 at Coronado’s histroic Abadi Residence@The Baby Del

Photo courtesy Chabad of Coronado

A Heartfelt Speech to the Team

Fradkin, who served as mesader kedushin (“officiating rabbi”) at the Fishmans’ wedding and has enjoyed watching them welcome their first child, recounts Fishman’s heartfelt address to the players at dinner. He pointed out that playing lacrosse for Israel was “one of those pivotal moments when you get to represent Israel,” and implored his fellow lacrosse players to deepen their connection to Israel and Judaism as soon as possible.

“Don’t wait as long as I did for a connection,” Fishman said. He shared that, despite attending a Jewish day school, he never understood the reasons behind many Jewish rituals but began getting answers through classes offered by Chabad.

Fishman attended the Phoenix Hebrew Academy, an Orthodox Jewish day school in north central Phoenix, Ariz., and first discovered lacrosse at the JCC in Scottsdale. He played lacrosse in high school and at Dartmouth, where he led the Ivy League in shooting percentage before graduating in 2015. Fishman went to Israel in 2017 to try out for Israel’s national lacrosse team. While he didn’t make the squad in 2018, his persistence paid off and he made the 2019 World Championship box (indoor) lacrosse team.

The Phoenix native came to Coronado with his wife during the coronavirus pandemic. It was a homecoming of sorts. Fishman spent summers of his youth in Coronado, where both sets of grandparents had vacation homes. Coronado is located on a peninsula near San Diego, and is bordered by the Pacific Ocean and the San Diego Bay. It hosts such U.S. Naval institutions as the Naval Amphibious Base, Naval Air Station North Island and Navy Lodge North Island.

Fishman, now 30, has worked for a strategy-consulting firm and various entrepreneurial ventures. He is now in the field of gratitude-based leadership development and is an active member of Chabad or Coronado.

The Israel National Lacrosse team, coaches, relatives and community members spent Friday night at Chabad - Photo courtesy Israel National Lacrosse

The Israel National Lacrosse team, coaches, relatives and community members spent Friday night at Chabad

Photo courtesy Israel National Lacrosse

Playing and Praying Together

Solomon Krevsky of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania came to San Diego with his wife, Katy, to watch their son, Max—who plays lacrosse at Yale University and is part of Team Israel—play lacrosse. Krevsky enjoyed watching the players come together at Chabad much as they had done on the playing field all week. “Seeing everyone cheering together for the boys for a week, then davening together in unity was meaningful.”

“Seeing these guys talking about the intricate details of lacrosse, and then all of a sudden walk into the Chabad House and sing “Shalom Aleichem” at the Shabbat table with their arms around each other with so much ruach and passion … This is what it is all about, says Solomon Krevsky”

While he is used to spending time with lacrosse players at Yale, Max Krevsky notes that the Team Israel experience was unique: “I got to interact with 22 other Jewish guys who were similar but different. They were interesting and awesome!”

He said he enjoyed getting to know two of his Israeli teammates, Ori and Ronen, and eating Shabbat dinner “right on the beach.” The Jewishly connected Krevsky has studied Yiddish for three semesters at Yale (“It was my grandfather’s first language”), and he and a fellow lacrosse teammate attend Chabad activities and services, where “there is always great food and energy.”

Dan Kraft, father of team member Joey Kraft and board chair of Israel Lacrosse, described the dinner as “a beautiful evening.” He appreciated that it was the first opportunity for extended family members to get together, meet and bond. Kraft passionately shared the three pillars of Israel Lacrosse: growing the game in Israel, connecting Diaspora Jews to Israel in unique ways, and competing on the international stage. He noted that this was not Team Israel’s first experience with Chabad. While they were competing in Ireland, Chabad of Dublin helped Team Israel secure kosher food at a tournament in Limerick, an Irish city 124 miles southwest of Dublin with no Jewish infrastructure.

Players, coaches and members of the Chabad community were pleased with Team Israel’s success at the 2023 World Lacrosse Championship. They won their first four games against Sweden, the Philippines, Puerto Rico and the Czech Republic. Team Israel held on for a 6-5 win against Ireland in the first round of the playoffs; its first loss came at the hands of the United States team. Israel came in an impressive seventh out of 30 teams.

There were other victories along the way: The team’s requests and prayers were answered as no games were scheduled for Shabbat, and their Friday-afternoon game ended with plenty of time to get to the Chabad House for Shabbat dinner. The rabbi and members of the Chabad community cheered on the team at several lacrosse games. One parent even noted, perhaps playfully and perhaps seriously, “If we continue winning, it can be attributed to the big ruach [“spirit”] of Friday night!”

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