Synagogue members and yeshivah students step up to ensure a proper Jewish burial

Original Article Published in the Chabad

NEW HAVEN, Conn.—The message on our shul’s WhatsApp group announcing, in caps, a MITZVAH OPPORTUNITY caught my attention. I admit to sometimes skimming or even ignoring such messages during a busy week, as they are usually about an upcoming class, a special Kiddush, or a kosher restaurant from out of town making a special delivery this week to our community. But “mitzvah opportunity” sounded important and even a bit time-sensitive.

Nonetheless, I ignored it for a day or two. I was sure one or two of the retirees would find the time for this 10 a.m. erev Shabbat mitzvah—not the best time to do anything but prepare for a Shabbat that comes in at 4:09 pm. But the text of the message kept playing over and over again in my mind:

Hi, all. Help is needed for a minyan for a funeral this Friday morning. Leonard Dipsiner, who was raised here in New Haven, just passed away at age 99 and has no immediate survivors other than his niece in NYC. His great niece is a friend of ours. The family would like to ensure that there is a minyan at his funeral. Can anyone assist?

When: Friday, Dec 10, 10:00 am

Place: B’nai Jacob Memorial Park (near SCSU)

If you can help with the minyan, please let me know

I began to picture this Jewish man—one who graced this earth for nearly a century—going to his final resting place without the proper respect, the kavod hamet, owed to everyone.

At our shul’s daily minyan midweek, I asked Len, a retired journalist and editor whose wife, Sue, had committed him to attend (via her response on the WhatsApp group), if he knew how the minyan was coming along. He had no idea.

Unsure that there would be a quorum at the gravesite, I reposted the “mitzvah opportunity” again on the WhatsApp group. This time, Aniko indicated that her husband, Andy, who survived the Holocaust in Hungary as a child, would be there. No other replies, though a few more details emerged:

…He was raised here in New Haven but spent most of his life in Atlanta, but the family plot is here

David, the friend kind enough to post this request, also wasn’t sure how the minyan was shaping up and suggested I write to the great niece, Rachel.

Reaching out to Yale and yeshivahs

In the meantime, others got on board. Someone from the shul posted a message on the board of another shul. A Yale graduate student, Miriam, shared the request within the Yale community. Ben, a young physician completing a fellowship at Yale quickly replied that he would come. Another wrote, “I will message a few people.”

The niece, Rachel, was relieved when I explained that I work part time at New Haven’s Yeshivas Beis Dovid Shlomo and would be willing to reach out to mesivta’s menahel, Rabbi Yosef Lustig. The busy menahel replied within seconds to my WhatsApp. Without hesitation, he said he’d have three students waiting downstairs at 9:40 a.m. for pick up in my old blue Ford Windstar minivan.

As I was driving to the yeshivah to pick up the students I received a nervous call from the niece, Rachel. She was concerned that we might not have a minyan. Due to a miscommunication, she was under the incorrect assumption that the other Chabad school in town had also been contacted.

As a result, I had told two people that we didn’t need them. Nevertheless, both were willing to be “on call.” Ronnie, the Yale mashgiach (kosher food service kosher supervisor) was willing to come with 10 minutes notice if needed on this busy erev Shabbat on campus. Another Yale student had offered to miss class to attend the funeral of a stranger—I had told him we’d be ok without him. Now I wasn’t so sure.

As Rachel drove up the Merritt Parkway to the cemetery, and as I drove from home to the yeshiva, we both did a quick calculation and realized we may indeed still be short. My first thought was to call the two “standbys”—until I realized that I was two minutes from the Chabad yeshiva!

I suggested to Rachel that I call Rabbi Lustig and ask for “two more.” We quickly did the math again and agreed that six post bar mitzvah males in my car (five students and me) plus the officiating rabbi plus two men from the shul plus a cousin of Rachel’s mother would bring us to 10. Rabbi Lustig agreed—as long as I could give the two additional students five minutes to get ready.

A Meis MItzvah

In the car, while waiting for our final two, I asked the three students—from Baltimore, New Jersey and Florida—if they knew what we were going to be doing. They answered, “A levaya.” A funeral. When I asked if Rabbi Lustig had provided additional details, they said no. “It is a funeral for a 99 year old man with no family.” “A meis mitzvah!” one exclaimed, referring to the Biblical imperative to attend to the remains of a dead person—especially one with no relatives.

The other two boys boarded the car and we drove to the cemetery, less than 10 minutes from the yeshiva, nestled between buildings of Southern Connecticut State University, and at the foot of West Rock Ridge. On this short Friday, the students would also go out in the community as they do every Friday—on mivtzaim (missions/visits)—to offices, stores, senior citizens housing, offering to wrap tefillin, sharing words of Torah, and wishing fellow Jews they encounter a good Shabbos. And this packed day was after being up until 4:30 am for a farbrengen. They made sure I knew it was the 5th of Tevet.

On this date in 1987, a United States Federal Court judge issued a decision in favor of Agudas Chassidei Chabad (“Union of Chabad Chassidim”) regarding the ownership of the library of the 6th Rebbe of Chabad-Lubavitch, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn. The Rebbe urged that the occasion be marked by purchasing, repairing and studying sefarim, Jewish holy books. For this reason, the yeshiva students were up from 11:30 p.m. to 4:30 a.m. the night before, learning words of Torah from their teacher, Rabbi Yosef Rivkin, the yeshiva mashpia.

When we arrived at the cemetery, the guys surveyed the landscape. We walked past the makeshift podium and under the tent erected by the funeral home. Without being told, they instinctively knew to remain standing, leaving the 7 seats for elderly guests. A local rabbi officiating the funeral chanted some Psalms and shared some details of the long life of the deceased. He noted that the person who knew him best would soon share more details. A 40ish man with a slight Irish accent began his remarks by noting that he referred to Mr. Dipsiner as Uncle Len.

After Yale Law School, Dipsiner served as an aerial combat photographer during World War II before opening antique shops in New Haven and Atlanta. (Credit: Howard Blas)

A Yale Graduate and Military Photographer

“Uncle Len was my godfather. He never married. He never learned to drive. He went to Yale Law School, then opened an antique store in New Haven. My brother and I loved the many cool objects in his store. When we were little, he bought us Legos. When we got older, the gifts became school tuition, car payments, help with houses. Uncle Len moved to Atlanta to be close to his closest friend, our father, Ralph.”

The crowd was intrigued A man with such a rich life story. And few blood relatives. The only non-Jew in the crowd knew the most about the deceased. “He used to tell us Chucky stories when we were growing up, which seemed part fiction and part autobiography. As I got older, I wanted to learn more. And I kept asking.”

Morgan’s persistence paid off. He learned that Mr. Dipsiner had been an aerial photographer during World War II, stationed in Belfast, Ireland—just 100 miles north of Dublin where Morgan now practices law and works as a musician. “He would lean out of the underside of planes and photograph enemy camps.” Morgan sensed there must be more. And he kept asking. Years later, Mr. Dipsiner shared the story of how he and fellow American soldiers went to Dachau after the liberation of the camp on April 29, 1945, by the 42nd and 45th Infantry Divisions and the 20th Armored Division of the US Army. They liberated approximately 32,000 prisoners. Mr. Dipsiner was responsible for chronicling what they saw in both photographs and videos. This was not an easy or pleasant undertaking. According to the US Holocaust Memorial Museum website, “As they neared the camp, they found more than 30 railroad cars filled with bodies brought to Dachau, all in an advanced state of decomposition. In early May 1945, American forces liberated the prisoners who had been sent on the death march.”

Morgan asked Mr. Dipsiner if he still had any photos or video. He did. Morgan suggested he donate them to the Jewish Historical Society of Greater New Haven. He did. Ironically, the museum is no more than half a mile from his final resting place. Morgan looks forward to the day when he can share this important first person account with his now 8 year old daughter.

As the rabbi was concluding, his niece asked to speak. She wished to thank the people who came out today to help a stranger have a proper send off. She thanked the older shul members but especially the yeshiva students. “This is true chesed shel emet, an act for which you can never be repaid,” she said.

The rabbi concluded with the kaddish and explained the custom of beginning to shovel dirt on the coffin to assist in the burial process. After a few minutes, the attendees walked to their cars. But not the yeshiva students, who wanted to finish covering the deceased with dirt.

They were told that they needed to wait until the tent and chairs were broken down, all cars were moved and the cemetery crew could come to hoist the very heavy cover on the gravesite. They waited patiently. One quietly asked if I could call the yeshiva to make sure there was water to wash their hands upon return to school. Two others sensitively asked the niece for the Hebrew name of the deceased. “He has no family to say kaddish. We will arrange for kaddish to be said at the yeshiva.” She promised to get it to me. The boys now know that Leibel Moshe ben Ephraim Fishel will never be forgotten.

The cemetery crew delivered two additional shovels. The five boys and I stayed another half hour. We shoveled and shoveled. The boys discussed the halacha (Jewish laws) of burial. “Which direction is the head? We need to make a mound with the dirt so it is high in the middle and slopes down. We need to use every bit of dirt. Let’s pick up the boards to make sure all of it goes in the grave.”

As we left the cemetery, I expressed my gratitude. They were already on to the next important mitzvah—fanning out around New Haven with pre-Shabbat business to conduct. One is a regular on my street. I will never forget these boys. These teenagers and their teachers have a lot to teach the community through their actions—about the importance of showing up and answering with a quiet and unhesitating “yes.” Thanks to them, I am sure 99 year old Mr. Dipsiner can rest in peace.

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“Our original goal was to get JUUL off the market since nearly all teens were using it. Through testifying in Congress, and local laws and pushback, JUUL stock has plunged significantly, and it is a lot more regulated before,” says Brown University student Caleb Mintz.

Original Article Published in the JNS

When Caleb Mintz came home from his Manhattan high school in April of 2018, he was confused. He said to his mother, Meredith Berkman, “I want to tell you about a mixed message they gave out at the addiction talk.”

He was referring to a presentation made by an outside speaker to the ninth graders at his new school. Teachers and administrators had been asked to leave the room so students would have a safe place to share their feelings. Many students spoke about their use of JUUL and other e-cigarettes. He and some friends had a feeling these products might be dangerous. Yet the presenter, who entered the school through an outside anti-addiction group, told the students that JUUL was “totally safe” and would receive FDA approval “any day.”

“For my classmates who were already vaping, there was a sigh of relief,” reports Caleb, who still had a sense that something wasn’t quite right. Caleb, classmates and parents later learned more about the speaker—he never disclosed his connection to the JUUL Company.

“We were shocked and horrified at the duplicity of the company,” recounts Berkman. “We knew we had to do something!” She and some friends began by starting a website, designed with the help of a recent Heschel School graduate. “We got a flood of letters from across the country from parents who were in so much pain; their kids were addicted to nicotine,” adds Berkman.

In 2018, Berkman and two other New York City mothers, Dina Alessi and Dorian Fuhrman, officially had enough of what they found to be JUUL’s confusing messages, and what they thought were deceptive practices and of what was now a youth vaping epidemic. They formed PAVe—Parents Against Vaping eCigarettes, a national grassroots organization. Berkman quips: “We were the necessary idiots who had to create it.”

“We are accidental activists,” she adds. “All of this was completely unexpected.”

‘It is a lot more regulated before’

For Berkman, it was not really unexpected. Co-founding PAVe was an extension of her deep-rooted Jewish values and commitments. “I thought that I would hand it off to someone; it was all-consuming. Then I said, ‘No, it is what I have tried to teach my four kids. For [as Hillel said in [Pirkei Avot 1:14]: If I am not for myself, who will be for me? If not now, when?”

“If as parents, we discovered the real duplicity of a company, how can we look away when we see people preying on our children?” she posed. “An entire generation will be addicted to nicotine!”

One year after Caleb shared news of the problematic school speaker with his mom, he found himself testifying before a congressional hearing on e-cigarettes and teen usage. Caleb, a classmate, their mothers, child advocates and medical professionals testified before Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.) and his committee on the impact of e-cigarettes on youth nicotine addiction and on how the marketing of these devices often disproportionately targets members of minority communities.

According to Dr. Barry Stein, an Upper East Side New York pediatrician, assistant clinical professor at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and a member of the PAVe advisory board, JUUL and newer products like Puff Bar continue to be serious cause for alarm. “There is no question that the whole JUUL marketing campaign was geared to young people. They have become the tobacco of 2021,” he says.

As Stein explains, “children and adolescents have an immature prefrontal cortex, where nicotine has a major effect. [These products] are highly concentrated, and enter the brain rapidly and change the way the receptors work. They affect executive function in the brain, can cause ADD, affect memory and such bodily systems as the lungs. And the effects can be long term.”

In addition, Stein stresses how difficult it is to wean from e-cigarettes, saying some studies have shown that it can be “even stronger than addiction to cigarettes.”

PAVe was at the table in the White House as then-President Donald Trump held a listening session on vaping on Nov. 22, 2019; has testified before U.S. Congress; and, most recently, testified in January at a New York City Council Health Committee hearing. Its members were also present in July 2020 as New York City’s mayor, Bill de Blasio, signed into law a complete flavor ban on e-cigarette and vaping products.

Caleb, now a student at Brown University, looks back with pride on what his peers, the three mothers and the organization have accomplished. But he points out that there is still work to do. “Our original goal was to get JUUL off the market since nearly all teens were using it. Through testifying in Congress, and local laws and pushback, JUUL stock has plunged significantly, and it is a lot more regulated before.”

Still, he notes the ongoing uses of unregulated disposable vaping devices, which often come from China and are readily available at “any New York corner store.”

His experience with friends who were addicted to e-cigarettes has helped him recognize these types of social problems at college. When he observes students overdoing it with alcohol, he says he is reminded of his friends and their use of vaping devices. “Binge drinking reminds of people who would use a disposable vaping device Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. Because of my experience with vaping, I see binge drinking a little differently from others.”

Caleb, who intends to pursue his interest in political science, has already been interviewed for a Netflix documentary about vaping, which is scheduled for release in 2023. He continues to follow and speak out on the e-cigarette issue.

“To me, it is a very clear problem,” he says, after seeing and trying to help “friends severally addicted.”

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The idea for an observant team came about when tristate-area youth grew tired of hearing stories from their parents of their own hockey-playing childhood.

Original Article Published in the JNS

At 9:30 p.m. on a recent Saturday night, players from the North Jersey Avalanche hockey league finished their game and walked off Rink 3 at the Ice House in Hackensack, N.J. They were tired and a bit dejected, after losing 4-1 to the Bandits hockey team, as well as mindful that in a little less than 10 hours, they would be back on the ice for a Sunday-morning game against the Devils—at 7:30 a.m.

The players—by then, ravished—took off their helmets, masks and pads, put down their sticks, and quickly devoured slices of pizza. Kosher pizza. Helmets were replaced with kipahs, and the lone girl on the team, Elly Younger, changed from her yellow Avalanche hockey uniform into a denim skirt and a blue long sleeve shirt.

The New Jersey Avalanche is a team of skilled skaters and stick-handlers, but it’s not your typical hockey club—the Avalanche are four Shomer Shabbat (Shabbat-observant) youth hockey teams of players ages 9 to 16.

Playing competitive hockey involves participating in four practices a week and competing in tournaments throughout the Northeast; and tournaments usually involve playing four games in a weekend. Scheduling is complicated for organizers who need to work around teams who cannot play from sundown on Friday until three stars appear 25 hours later on Saturday nights. Players and parents also have to make arrangements for kosher food, prayer services and Sabbath-friendly activities.

‘It was a good start’

The idea for an observant team came about when tristate-area youth grew tired of hearing stories from their parents of their own hockey-playing childhood. The parents wanted to provide their kids with the opportunity to try the sport on their own.

According to founder Tzvi Rudman, he and several parents approached the Englewood Field Club in 2001. “The rink was accommodating,” recounts Rudman, “even though the players could not play on Shabbat and Jewish holidays.”

North Jersey Avalanche hockey league member Elly Younger. Photo by Howard Blas.

And so, the team played most of their games on Saturday nights. “It was a good start,” says Rudman. “But the rink was outdoors, and it was small.”

They then approached one of the premier leagues in the area with four indoor rinks. The North Jersey Avalanche is a nationally ranked hockey organization under the guidance of Daniel May, Ice House hockey director and president who has more than 40 years of experience in youth hockey.

May and the Avalanche were willing to work with and accommodate the various needs of the young players. “The biggest and hardest part was explaining how the Shabbat start times and end times changed throughout the year. At first, they didn’t believe us,” recalls Rudman playfully. “They had to look it up! This is something we always took for granted. It was one of the most fascinating things.”

For his part, May says “we knew we could make the schedule work on our end but, we were concerned about league members’ cooperation with the schedule on their end. Fast-forward to today, we now have an observant team at almost every level. It takes a lot of extra administrative work—mostly by my wife, Monica, who schedules around 1,500 games combined for all 34 Avalanche teams, but she makes it work.”

The Avalanche started with one Sabbath-observant team in 2014—a number that has grown to four teams of 15 players: Squirts (ages 9-10), Peewees (ages 11-12), Bantams (ages 13-14) and Midgets (ages 15-16).

Rudman also notes that “there are no tryouts; you just have to say you want to be part of the team. That’s really nice.”

In spite of the commitment of time required for practices, games and travel, coupled with the sometimes challenging logistics of observing Sabbath on the road, the players and parents say they could not be happier with the results.

In fact, the big news is in late October, the oldest group won its division (Under-16, AA American) in the statewide 2021-22 New Jersey Youth Hockey League.

‘Prayer books, Torah scroll and meals together’

Michael Massel, who lives in Manhattan and attends the Shefa School, enjoys being part of a team and spending time with a diverse group of friends, both on and off the ice. “You get to play a sport. It is fun to play hockey with them, and also to chill with them and play mini-hockey at the tournaments.”

He admits, however, that “it’s also a little tiring.”

While the families seem pleased with the level of hockey, they are delighted with what their children have learned about being observant Jews and members of the Jewish community. Michael’s father, Morris, reports: “Our kids can be part of a team that is high-level hockey without compromise. They can live religious lives; there’s no such thing as a Shabbat problem.”

Massel also likes the fact that players and parents spend Shabbat together at tournaments. They bring prayer books and a Torah scroll, and eat Shabbat meals together. “We are all in it together, and the memories are unbelievable!”

Aaron Younger’s daughter, Elly, is the only girl on the team.” She attends YBH yeshivah in Passaic. “She loves skating, and she loves playing with the guys.”

Melanie Sosland of Englewood, N.J., has two boys in the league. Gabriel, age 11, plays on the Peewees, and Noah, age 14, plays on the Bantam. “They saw that other Englewood kids were playing, and they wanted to play as well,” she says.

Sosland concedes that playing four times a week is a big commitment but sees the benefits that go beyond sports. “It teaches a great work ethic and how to balance schoolwork with hockey. And the tournaments are amazing—with the Torah scroll and the kosher food. They will always remember it.”

North Jersey Avalanche hockey league member Michael Massel. Photo by Howard Blas.

Bringing Jewish observance “on the road” teaches the players to navigate sometimes complex real-life situations. They also have opportunities to serve as ambassadors for Judaism. Michael Massel recalls an incident where “one team had Shabbat issues in Delaware a couple of years ago, and the local Chabad pitched in.”

Rudman, the organization’s founder, recalls: “Seven years ago, the other teams on the road looked at us like we were from another planet when they saw our kipahs and tzitzit. Then we kicked butt during the games! Now, they all know our teams, and we are accepted.”

He also recalls a moving incident from a tournament in Providence, R.I. “We played a team with players from Colorado and Kansas. One kid came over and said, ‘I had two firsts this weekend—I saw the ocean for the first time, and I met a Jewish person for the first time.’ ”

“There is respect out there,” acknowledges Rudman, who takes the Jewish values and menschlichkeit piece very seriously, and encourages his players to remember that. In fact, he quips: “We sometimes send out reminders that we are being judged on a higher level.”

Rick Pomerantz of Englewood looks back with pride on what the league has accomplished over the years and on what it has meant for his family. His son, Alex Pomerantz, 13, is a second-year Bantam and attends the Moriah School. His father recalls that “the first year at the Ice House, Alex was one of three frum kids who played when there wasn’t a Jewish team. He loves the game and has since the first time he put on skates at 3 years old. What it has done is given him a chance to pursue his passion with high-level coaching, all without compromising our Judaic values. I know it sounds trite, but it’s true.”

He continues, saying “the teams have won tournaments, but if you speak to the parents, the most gratifying thing is that we have a beautiful minyan every day, and the entire group will eat together. The fact that we have been on tournaments with minyans of 40 men and had catered Shabbat dinners in [places like] Hershey, Pa., is unbelievable. It’s important for the kids to see that as religious Jews, you don’t have to compromise to do what you love.”

“There is no sport like hockey,” attests Pomerantz. “That’s why everyone who plays is passionate about it. The camaraderie and bonds that are made are priceless. Alex has made friends for life.”

Players on the Shomer Shabbat North Jersey Avalanche hockey league. Photo by Howard Blas.

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Professor Yaniv Poria’s recent master’s degree course is giving future travel industry leaders the tools to improve travel and recreational experiences for people with a wide range of disabilities.

At first glance, Professor Yaniv Poria doesn’t appear to be the most traditional Jew on the planet. He regularly wears a hat, but it is more Leonard Cohen than traditional Jewish; he sports a goatee beard and he wears earrings. Yet, the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev professor at the Department of Hotel and Tourism Management, Guilford Glazer Faculty of Business and Management would proudly argue that his entire career is informed by Jewish values and outlook. 

Through his teaching and writing, Poria works hard to bring the unique needs of often marginalized populations – including LGBTQ, people who are obese, and people with disabilities – to the forefront. His recent course for undergraduate and graduate students from the Beersheba and Eilat campuses, “Impacting Accessible Tourism: Impact Entrepreneurship as a Tool for Making Tourism Accessible for All” is giving future travel industry leaders the tools to improve travel and recreational experiences for people with a wide range of disabilities. 

Poria traces his interest in people with disabilities to a formative experience that happened when he was a young soldier. 

“I was a soldier on Arlozoroff Street with all the real man symbols – a gun, a red kumta [beret], red shoes…” recounts Poria. “I looked up and I saw some young religious Sherut Leumi girls around my age. My first reaction was, ‘Why don’t they go into the real army?” He then recalls observing the girls helping a group of children with disabilities saying goodbye to their parents for the weekend. The curious Poria engaged one young woman in conversation. 

“What if on Shabbat, you need to buy diapers?” he asked. “I will go to SuperPharm and run faster than you!” one replied. Poria was shocked and began to wonder, “What is more difficult – to be on the borders, or to take care of these kids?” Poria was a changed man. 

PROF. YANIV PORIA (credit: BGU)
PROF. YANIV PORIA (credit: BGU)

“I decided that, in my own way, I will make their life better. I will do research and focus on the travel experience and will assist wherever I can.” Now, as a professor, writer, editorial board member and reviewer for many tourism and hospitality journals, he is living up to his word.

Poria has pursued many areas of interest on the way to his very successful accessible travel course. Earlier in his academic career, he researched visitors’ experiences at heritage tourist sites. 

“I focused on management of Jewish heritage sites because people were losing Jewish heritage and Jewish identity.” He proudly reports, “I am a Jewish researcher. I look at Jewish heritage. It is the way I interpret Judaism.” 

He concedes that this and his subsequent areas of academic research could have harmed his academic career. 

“This could have put my academic career in danger!” as they were “of no interest to the mainstream.” He playfully refers to himself as “the rasha  [evil child] of the Passover Haggadah. 

After doing PhD work in the UK and returning to Israel, Poria conducted research on what he describes as “special segments often ignored in the tourism literature,” including gays and lesbians and people with disabilities. He also studied people who are obese. A 2017 paper published in the Journal of Travel Research is titled, “An exploratory study about obese people’s flight experience.” 

“I did a study on obesity which is the new form of disability. Due to their appearance, people suffer from racism. I call it a social disability.” 

WHEN PORIA decided to devote his attention to teaching a course on accessible tourism, he figured literature and course material would be readily available. 

“I made an assumption I‘d find another course,” reports Poria, who planned to adapt and expand material for his proposed course. “I wasn’t looking for a course on technical issues like measurements (i.e. of an accessible bathroom). I wanted a course about dilemmas, a course with a body of knowledge for those who want to manage.” He and a teaching assistant got to work in designing a three credit graduate course—with a five-page syllabus, nine required readings, 14 recommended readings, and 13 sessions. 

“This was different from all of my other courses,” concedes Poria. “Each session started with a meeting with a person in management of disabilities tourism, or a person with a disability – a person who is blind, or deaf, or who has a child who is autistic.” He adds, “The students learned how people are treated in the hospitality and tourism industry. They imagined what it would be like to travel with a disability.” 

One presenter, Omer Zur, knows a great deal about accessible travel. Many years ago, Zur wanted his father, paralyzed during the Yom Kippur War, to join him for the final month of his three-year post-army trip. They jointly designed Paratrek Trekker, a device that can handle off-road hiking without taking away his father’s independence. Zur is founder and CEO of Paratrek and has used the Trekker to successfully help people with paraplegia navigate 19,341-foot Mount Kilimanjaro. 

Zur appreciated the opportunity to speak to the class as “until recently, it was thought that people with disabilities should stay home or go out only to specific places.” He has seen a change in recent years but feels the travel industry still has more to learn. “When people who provide the tourism experience know more, and better understand the needs of people with disabilities, they will be able to provide better service.”

Fred Maahs Jr, a wheelchair user who is also chief operations officer for Travel for All and editor of Melange, Accessibility for All magazine, wasn’t able to speak to Poria’s students, but he is delighted to learn about the course. Maahs, who recently returned to the United States after attending Expo2020 in Dubai, notes the many challenges that still exist for travelers with disabilities including lack of adequate accessible transportation. 

“The mere fact that people with disabilities still have to do their own research in order to ensure that their travel destination is adapted and accessible tells you that we still have a lot of work to do.”

Poria’s students found the course, sponsored by the Rothschild Foundation, to be challenging and demanding yet rewarding. The final project involved students speaking with people with disabilities, identifying problems and suggesting a solution that would be affordable and ultimately lead to profits for those who implement it. Poria didn’t want his students to lose sight of the fact that while they are learning to be sensitive practitioners, they are graduate students in a school of business and management. 

ELI LEVY has a close relationship to disabilities and took his final assignment very seriously. 

“I am the son of a disabled father who grew up when there was a very low awareness of the subject.” Levy reports, “My partner and I have chosen to develop a technological aid that will allow the blind to dive and experience an accessible and as close experience as possible to the experience of a sighted diver. As part of the work we were exposed to many stakeholders in the field, diving clubs, product engineers, blind organizations and of course the blind themselves. 

“The experience was challenging and the results were interesting and surprising. It was evident that there was a huge need to make tourism accessible to this population and the enthusiasm as well as the cooperation on their part was immense. It was an experience to be part of a unique and first-of-its-kind course and the feeling was of pioneering in a field that requires a lot of investment and research in the future as well.” 

Levy adds, “Professor Yaniv Poria is an impressive and interesting man and I really wanted to take a course under his guidance!”

Or Dvir felt the course was “unique” and that it exposed her and her classmates to “the gaps that exist between the demands and needs of those we so desperately want to host and the situation and infrastructure that exists in Israel. We have been exposed to the day-to-day challenges of those who want to enjoy leisure and tourism services like everyone else.” 

She reports learning a very valuable practical lesson which will help in her career. 

“I learned that the most important thing is the ability to ask, knowing that the first and most important step on the path to full accessibility for all is an understanding of the real needs of those in front of us. If we do not look our guests in the eye, without shame, and ask them how we can make this vacation fun and easy for them, we are not doing our job as service providers.”

Eli Meiri is no stranger to the disabilities travel industry. The 67-year-old graduate student, Pardes Hanna resident, tour operator and tour guide who specializes in tours for people with disabilities (and founder of Israel4All, an accessible travel company in Israel), enjoyed the course and continues to internalize its message. 

“Accessibility for all is a way of life. I think everybody must have a way to get everywhere. People with disabilities have the right and need appropriate opportunities to get out of their homes for fun and recreation and to participate in all parts of communal life.”

Poria is delighted with the feedback he has received for the course and continues to dream big. 

“I think the course is only a first step. I would like to develop a center focusing on conducting the best research about people with disabilities and travel, tourism, recreation and leisure experiences. Our findings would not be just in academic journals but would be available to all. This can be done easily. This is being an or l’goyim – a light to the nations – and it should be done in Israel, and at Ben-Gurion University, which has a spirit of innovation.”

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