Original Article Published on the JNS

When Israeli Guy Niv took his bar mitzvah trip with his father to watch the Tour de France, he never imagined that he would be back 13 years later as a rider. Niv, who is now with Team Israel Start-Up Nation (ISN), is the first Israeli to complete the most well-known cycling race in the world. He recently joined the team in Girona, Spain, for a training camp and returned soon after to Israel just before Ben-Gurion International Airport shut down for a week due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Niv, who started riding as a hobby at age 10, hopes to inspire young children’s interest in biking. Despite some uncertainty about the upcoming racing season due to COVID-19, he notes, “I am really excited for the new season and to see new faces, including big names, and to work with and learn from them. My motivation is very high.”

As for his participation in general, “it was a dream come true,” he says, keeping it all in perspective. “At the end of the day, it is a bike ride. It doesn’t change who you are and what you give to the world.”

Team Israel Start-Up Nation will compete at the World Tour level—the highest level of professional cycling—for just the second season. The team recently signed four-time Tour de France winner Chris Froome, who is currently completing rehabilitation from a serious bike injury in California. Froome, 35 a Kenyan-born British cyclist, made clear in a recent virtual press conference that he is very committed to the team and to Israel.

Guy Niv. Credit: Bettini Photo.

As he reports, “This is very much a long-term commitment for me. I have committed to the end of my career. I’m in to give everything I can to help the team in every way possible, as well as improve myself and get back to the top.”

Froome will now be teammates with fellow star-rider Dan Martin, who finished fourth overall in the 2020 Vuelta a Espana (one of cycling’s three Grand Tours, alongside the Tour de France and Giro d’Italia). Martin notes that he is pleased to be riding with Froome, saying “I am happy to see how the team has been strengthened; it gives me confidence. I know how much I can learn from Chris and the others. We can become a stronger team together. It’s a team effort.”

‘True sportsmanship and determination’

The team owes much of its success to the dedication and passion of team co-owner, Canadian-Israeli billionaire, Sylvan Adams. An avid and accomplished biker who won the 2017 World Masters Championship in Manchester, England, he is co-owner of the Israel Cycling Academy, and the visionary and funder behind the Sylvan Adams Velodrome—the first velodrome in Israel and the Middle East.

The velodrome, a cycle-racing track and a Tel Aviv architectural wonder located near the Hadar Yosef Athletic Stadium, was inaugurated in 2018. That happened just before Israel hosted the 101st Giro d’Italia bike race—the first time it ever took place outside of Europe. Adams reportedly donated $80 million for the race, in which 175 people cycled throughout Israel, including the final leg from Beersheva to Eilat.

Adams, who made aliyah five years ago from Montreal, has been at the forefront of showcasing Israel in a positive light in front of an international audience. In addition to bringing the Giro D’Italia to Israel, Adams brought soccer superstar Lionel Messi, and the national teams of Argentina and Uruguay, to Israel in November 2019 for a friendly soccer exhibition. Adams is proud of Israel and practical, always leveraging the popularity of these high-profile visitors to Israel and the extensive TV viewership around these events. “Messi has 230 million followers on social media,” notes Adams.

Chris Froome and Sylvan Adams. Credit: Brian Hodes/Velo Images.

In 2018, Adams donated $5 million to SpaceIL, the nonprofit that nearly landed the first Israeli spacecraft (“Beresheet”) on the moon. And in 2019, he helped bring Madonna to Israel to perform at the Eurovision Song Contest, noting that she has “300 million music fans.”

Adams likes to say that he is engaged in “diplomacy, not politics.”

He adds, “The camera doesn’t lie. We are reaching out to show the true face of Israel.”

While his generosity is seen across many projects that promote Israel, cycling remains his true passion. And he feels strongly that Israel Start-Up Nation is “not just a cycling team, but a mission.”

In fact, he sees ISN as “the only team in the world which is the Team of the Jewish people.”

Adams adds that the project has two goals—promoting cycling in Israel and “promoting the home country.” As he elaborates, “we are representing our home country around the world with true sportsmanship and determination.”

‘We respect our cultural traditions’

The team members, who come from all over the world and are mainly not Jewish, serve as ambassadors for Israel. Adams strives to bring team members to see Israel, though this year’s January training camp was relocated to Spain due to the pandemic and travel restrictions.

Froome looks forward to his next visit to Israel. “My only experience with Israel was at the Giro d’Italia 2018, and that blew me away. It was not at all what I expected.”

When team members come to Israel, they travel to such important sites as Jerusalem’s Western Wall, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, Yad Vashem and the bars, restaurants and beaches of Tel Aviv. “We let them see Israel, we don’t preach,” says Adams, who is confident that cyclists will speak accurately and positively about Israel as they are interviewed by media around the world.

The riders even get a taste of Israel and Jewish culture on the road; Adams takes pride in having team Shabbat dinners all around the world. “At our training camps, we do Kiddush in front of the whole team. This is in our DNA. We respect our cultural traditions. Even at the Tour de France, Guy made Kiddush, as we have as a people for 3,000 years.”

Team Israel Start-Up Nation training in Spain. Credit: Noa Arnon.

When Canadian rider, Guillaume Boivin, told family and friends in 2015 that he was planning to visit Israel, they were nervous. “I was struck by how welcoming and comfortable it was,” reports Boivan, the first rider recruited by Adams. “Tel Aviv is a fantastic city, and everyone was willing to help.”

Boivin continues to be an ambassador for Israel and hopes that his teammates will have the same experience he has had. “I think everyone should witness Israel—not just hear stories—and experience what the team means to the owners and creators.”

Adams hopes to bring new team members to Israel in the next few weeks before traveling to Dubai for the seven-day United Emirates Tour bike race from Feb. 21-27. If the pandemic cooperates, then Froome will make his debut there—in the United Arab Emirates following the recent signing of the Abraham Accords with Israel—on the world stage representing the Blue and White.

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In the summer of 1973, when I was a boy, we towed our 32-foot travel traveler to Stone Mountain, Georgia for a family vacation.  As part of the trip, we would take a detour to Atlanta to see Hank Aaron play.  We had the chance to see Hammerin’ Hank hit his 700th home run.  The radio was going crazy letting it be known that the person who caught the home run ball and returned it would receive 700 silver dollars!  I don’t believe we sat in the bleachers, but I do remember being excited to see my first game in a ballpark other than Baltimore’s Memorial Stadium. It was my first national game and it was against the New York Mets.  It was awesome, except that the Braves chose to rest Hank Aaron that night.  He would hit his 700th homer a day or two later, on July 21, 1973, against the Phillies’ Ken Brett, becoming just the second baseball player to ever hit 700 home runs in a career.

I was disappointed, but I got over it.  I followed the rest of Aaron’s career and managed to collect a few Hank Aaron baseball cards and which may have just gone up in value following his sad passing at age 86 just a few days ago.

In 1974, Aaron hit home run 715, passing Babe Ruth for the all-time lead. He hit his 755th and final home run on July 20, 1976 against the California Angels.  He retired in October of 1976.

I have enjoyed the beautiful tributes to this great man.  Bud Selig, Commissioner Emeritus of Major League Baseball, wrote of the Hall of Famer, “My wife, Sue, and I are terribly saddened and heartbroken by the passing of the great Henry Aaron, a man we truly loved, and we offer our love and our condolences to his wonderful wife, Billye.”  Selig and so many others spoke of his many wonderful qualities, on and off the field.  “Besides being one of the greatest baseball players of all time, Hank was a wonderful and dear person and a wonderful and dear friend. Not long ago, he and I were walking the streets of Washington, D.C. together and talking about how we’ve been the best of friends for more than 60 years. Then Hank said: ‘Who would have ever thought all those years ago that a black kid from Mobile, Alabama would break Babe Ruth’s home run record and a Jewish kid from Milwaukee would become the Commissioner of Baseball?’

In 2008, Aaron, Selig and ESPN’s Michael Wilbon spoke at the Phoenix Art Museum’s Luncheon of Legends to raise money for educational programming.  At the luncheon, they discussed their 60-year friendship, baseball, heroes and their membership in the Hall of Fame.  The Arizona Jewish newspaper reported that Selig is one of four Jewish people to be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame, he visited Israel in 1998, and wrote a foreword to the book “American Jews and America’s Game: Voices of a Growing Legacy in Baseball.”

Aaron spoke of past players he admires, including Jewish legend, Sandy Koufax, known as a star pitcher for the Dodgers, and as a Jew who decided not to pitch Game 1 of the 1965 World Series because it fell on Yom Kippur.  Despite Koufax's amazing ERA and winning three Cy Young Awards, Aaron managed to do well against Koufax.  He hit .362 with seven home runs off the lefty pitcher.

Baseball and the world need more like Hank Aaron.  He was a great ballplayer, a great man and a great fan.  Selig notes, “The thing about Henry, when you are friends with him, he never lets you down.”

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Call me an optimist if you must.  I prefer to think of myself as an optimistic realist.

I recent wrote an article for Respectability entitled “Turning Crisis Into Opportunity” which offers some glimmers of hope around employment for people with disabilities.  I begin by acknowledging the challenges:  “It has been said that ‘A crisis is a terrible thing to waste.’ The COVID pandemic has certainly posed tremendous vocational challenges for people with disabilities, who, despite already experiencing an employment rate less than half of people without disabilities, experienced 40% greater job loss with minimal recovery. It has also provided unprecedented opportunities—to develop skills, to continue working from home and in person (for those who currently have jobs) and to think creatively about new opportunities.” 

I then note that many people with disabilities and organizations working with them have responded swiftly and creatively. Participants and families in our National Ramah Tikvah Network vocational training programs, located in our 10 Ramah camps in the US and Canada, expressed concerns about social isolation and job skills.  In response, we swiftly created TikvahNet, a vocational training and socialization program.  We have run two cycles of programming thusfar and are about to launch our 3rd cycle tomorrow evening.   In this new cycle, we will continue our vocational training and socializing while also be hearing from model employers in the area of disabilities employment.

This week (tomorrow, Jan 19th), my friend and colleague, Bill Morris of Blue Star Recyclers—with 3 computer and electronic recycling locations in Colorado and one in Chicago—will be participating in) our TikvahNet Tuesday Speaker Series.  It will be broadcast on Facebook Live from 735-8 pm ET

We will be showcasing 4 employers which are committed to employing people with disabilities. In the case of Blue Star, people with disabilities are the “secret ingredient” in the success of the business!  They have learned that some people with autism can stick with a repetitive task for incredibly long periods of time—in doing so, they are solving a society problem of what to do with old computers, as well as the problem of how to retain workers in this industry with high turnover.  

As readers and colleagues know, I am passionate about identifying businesses large and small which train and hire people with disabilities. In my RespectAbility article, I mention two businesses started by Ramah Tikvah participants—Shred Support and Truly Scrumptious by Alexa.  My website has a list in progress of all types of businesses across the US which employ people with disabilities. I am learning about new businesses by the day and can’t wait for COVID to end so I can get on the road and see more!  Please continue to send more my way!   Just yesterday, I learned two cool places in Colorado: 

Jackie’s Bar and Grill and Steamer’s Coffee House (Arvada) https://steamerscoffeeshop.com/

Joy House Project (Longmont and Estes Park) https://www.joyhouseproject.com/the-joy

 

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Original Article Published On The Respectability.org

It has been said that “A crisis is a terrible thing to waste.” The COVID pandemic has certainly posed tremendous vocational challenges for people with disabilities, who, despite already experiencing an employment rate less than half of people without disabilities, experienced 40% greater job loss with minimal recovery. It has also provided unprecedented opportunities—to develop skills, to continue working from home and in person (for those who currently have jobs) and to think creatively about new opportunities.

Many people with disabilities and organizations working with them have responded swiftly and creatively. Participants and families in our National Ramah Tikvah Network vocational training programs, located in our 10 Ramah camps in the US and Canada, expressed concerns about social isolation and job skills. In response, we swiftly created TikvahNET, a vocational training and socialization program.

We recently completed our second 8-week program and will soon begin our third. We offer facilitated socialization time and work in small breakout rooms, using PowerPoint slides and discussions, to address such topics as physical and mental wellness, money and budgeting, laundry and booking skills, resumes and interviews and social media skills and etiquette. In our third cycle, we will bring employers with impressive records of hiring people with disabilities to share what they are looking for in potential employees, and we will use our breakout room time to work on those skills.

Alumni of our programs—some in their 40s and 50s—have shared their journeys from camp and high school graduation to the present, focusing on their employment, social lives and level of inclusion and participation in the Jewish community. There have been heartwarming moments. Austin, who works in a hospital in St. Louis, and Tiffany, who works in a grocery store in Los Angeles, spoke of being essential workers. They and other Tikvah alum feel valued when thanked for performing these essential duties.

Other members of the Tikvah community have productively used their time at home during the pandemic to focus on start-up businesses. Uriel and Jacob, two young Washington, DC-area men with Down Syndrome, have created Shred Support, a shredding business. Alexa, a Long Island, NY-based young woman, also with Down Syndrome, has created Truly Scrumptious by Alexa, selling custom chocolate-covered cookies. Yum!

Beyond our program, Chapel Haven Schleifer Center, a residential school and independent living program in New Haven, CT, runs a program called CareerAbility, founded to meet the need for meaningful employment among its participants. During this time, CareerAbility focused all of their energy on keeping job seekers and working adults engaged in the workforce. They immediately launched virtual offerings while simultaneously providing safe community-based work experiences for adults to perform their career explorations, internships, and jobs. This resulted in clients engaged in 67 community-based job skill development experiences.

It is hard to conceptualize what this will mean post Covid-19. But these tough times demand out-of-the-box thinking, creativity, flexibility and taking calculated risks. There may be an ongoing need for more cleaning and sanitizing at businesses or hospitals. If people remain reluctant to travel to stores, it could be useful to start a delivery or courier business modeled after Good Foot Delivery in Toronto, Canada, which provides personalized point-to-point delivery on foot and public transit, creating employment opportunities for people with disabilities.

As we emerge from the pandemic, what is clear is that we NEED a range of employment options for people with disabilities including small businesses and big companies, on-site and remote options, flexible and varying hours each week–5 hours, 15 hours, 40 hours or more. And these jobs need to exist across a wide range of industries. I have been working to map the landscape of creative places of employment for people with disabilities. I have discovered magicians, IKEA furniture assemblers, bike mechanics, car restorers, high-end cabinet makers, vertical farmers, coders, cybersecurity specialists, mammogram readers and more.

Our tradition tells us that we may sow in tears and reap in joy. Let us not waste the crisis of this pandemic, but reap creative gains in the post-pandemic employment for people with disabilities!

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