I had the rare and moving experience of visiting a severely wounded Israeli soldier this week at the Samson Assuta Hospital in Ashdod. Y, a Special Forces soldier, was nearly killed when a bomb detonated near him and his unit. A doctor in Gaza determined that Y would not have made it if transported to a more distant trauma center in Israel. Fortunately, the doctors and medical staff at this amazing hospital essentially, in the words of his mother, brought him back from near death.
What makes this story personal is that I have known Y since he was a young child, coming to one of our Ramah camps with his parents who worked on staff and with our Israeli shlichim for many years. As a teenager, Y would train hard at camp in the hopes of being accepted to an elite unit in the IDF. He succeeded and he and his comrades having been doing what is necessary to assure Israel’s survival and safety for years.
Thank God, Y has left the ICU. He has had over 20 surgeries; he is now able to speak and eat regular food and he will soon move to a rehab hospital. He hopes to return to his apartment, girlfriend and a future career, though he notes that “sometimes life takes a different path than planned.” (He wishes he could have served more than four weeks in Gaza, that he can return to Gaza, and that he would do it all over again). Y also joins the expanding ranks of Israelis who are now considered disabled. Y is now an amputee. He feels “lucky” that his leg was lost below the knee and that he will soon be fitted for a prosthetic leg. He is incorporating this new aspect of Y—his disability—into his already multi-faceted character. He is determined NOT to let his disability define him.
Y is not alone. Israel is “welcoming” new members in to the disabilities community almost daily.
According to the Times of Israel, the Health Ministry reports that as of the middle of December, an extraordinary number of Israelis–10,580–have been wounded in the war with Hamas in Gaza, attacks by Hezbollah along the Lebanon border, and terrorist attacks in the West Bank. The latest figures provided by the Defense Ministry indicate that 6,125 of the wounded are IDF soldiers and members of the Israel Police and other security forces. Of these, 2,005 have already been recognized as permanently disabled.
A Jewish News Syndicate report notes that “around 2,000 Israeli civilians, soldiers and police officers have had limbs amputated or become disabled in other ways since Oct. 7.”
Due to previous wars, Israel has some experience in addressing the needs of mainly young people who have become disabled. Israel has a very active NGO, Negishut Israel/Access Israel, which has been advocating for the needs of the elderly and those with disabilities for decades. Organizations like Israel Para Sport Center introduces people with disabilities to sports.
This postage stamp is from 1968
In many ways, Israel is doing a great job addressing the needs of people with disabilities. The current war poses great challenges and opportunities to becoming a world leader in offering services guided by best practices for people with physical disabilities and mental health challenges. I pray Israel will continue to be a pioneer and leader.
As Benjy celebrates 40 years since his aliyah, he remains positive yet realistic.
When Benjy Munitz’s family moved to a “more Jewish neighborhood” of Los Angeles and joined a synagogue in time for his bar mitzvah, his parents issued an ultimatum.
They said, “You have to go to a [Jewish] youth group once. It is your choice after that whether to continue or not.” The experience was so positive that Benjy kept going, got increasingly more involved in Jewish communal life, made aliyah less than a decade later, and spent his life dedicated to tikkun olam (repairing the world).
Growing up in a Reform temple at that time meant two things: community and tikkun olam. He credits his parents and various rabbis for instilling these values in him.
“My parents boycotted grapes [a labor strike in the late 1960s organized by the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee against table grape growers to fight against exploitation of farm workers]. And our shul rabbi, Steven Jacobs, was known as ‘The Boat People Rabbi,’ since he felt it was a Jewish obligation to help resettle refugees from Vietnam,” he recalls.
Benjy was “all in” with his involvement in the Reform movement and tikkun olam. He became a leader in NIFTY (National Federation of Temple of Youth) and attended Jewish summer camp Swig in the Santa Cruz mountains, where they had a model kibbutz.
BENJY HARVESTS onions on a tractor at Kibbutz Lotan, 1980s. (credit: Maor family)
In high school, Benjy secured prison uniforms and organized a demonstration outside of NBC in 1978 to spotlight the plight of Soviet Jews; he and fellow protesters wanted the studio to show the state of Soviet Jews and refuseniks during their coverage of the upcoming 1980 Olympics. Benjy also organized a demonstration to bring attention to apartheid in South Africa.
One of the founders of Kibbutz Yahel encouraged Benjy to go to Israel after high school. He spent the year on the Machon l’Madrichei Chutz L’Aretz Jewish Agency Leadership Program, which “led to a very high aliyah rate” among the Reform movement participants.
He credits three experiences from that year in Israel with contributing to his desire to make aliyah: 1) meeting relatives from Argentina from the same shtetl as his family, who came to Israel on aliyah after the Six Day War; 2) in 1979 experiencing a pipe bomb go off a block away from his home in Jerusalem and seeing “how Israel turns from a country into a community, with people caring for each other and helping each other out;” and 3) while living on Kibbutz Yahel, learning about the founding of a new Reform Kibbutz Lotan, in the Arava. (“It checked all the boxes, community, being active and Jewish history and tikun olam.“)
After spending that formative year in Israel, Benjy returned to the US for three years to attempt to get his college degree. He spent just over a year at UCLA before transferring to a junior college. “They had agricultural fields. I learned how to drive a tractor and learned about soil,” he says.
He also was a Zionist youth leader, spoke about Israel on college campuses, and continued the process of preparing to make aliyah, including saying goodbye to family, which he stresses is “an important part of the process. “
Making aliyah and moving to Israel
IN OCTOBER 1983, Benjy made aliyah to Kibbutz Lotan, six months after its founding. “I was gung-ho about the kibbutz, since it brought together several of the ideologies I believed in, and it had a great group of young and very talented people,” he explains.
After a year and a half in Israel, he and other olim (new immigrants) from the kibbutz enlisted in the army together. “Wearing an army uniform on a bus was the first time I felt really Israeli – until I opened my mouth [to speak Hebrew]!” Benjy playfully adds that he learned a great deal in the army, including “all about Hebrew initials and the best places around the country to get food.” He was flattered when offered to become an IDF officer, but he felt that “making the desert green was my contribution” and focused his energies on his kibbutz work.
In addition to being in charge of field crops such as melons, tomatoes, and onions, and later serving as general secretary of the kibbutz, he met his future wife, Nicole (Nicky), who arrived on the kibbutz from the suburbs of Sydney, Australia, a few years after Benjy arrived.
“Meeting Nicky was the best thing that happened to me on kibbutz,” reports Benjy, who changed his last name to Maor after getting married in December 1992. They combined the M from Munitz’s name, and the R from Nicky’s last name (Center) and came up with Maor.
Nicky has worked as a lawyer for the Israel Religious Action Center of the Reform Movement (IRAC) since 1992. In 1996, she became director of IRAC’s Legal Center for Olim, which has represented more than 100,000 new immigrants, particularly regarding issues relating to the Interior Ministry and conversion. She has spearheaded conversion cases before the Supreme Court and recently won the landmark decision recognizing Reform and Conservative conversions performed in Israel.
DESPITE BENJY’S professional successes and his fluency in Hebrew, he began to realize that he still had some language gaps, especially given his work in the area of Jewish identity. When colleagues at Oranim College of Education realized he was American-born and therefore fluent in English, they asked him to help with fundraising.
Benjy’s fundraising role was eye-opening and career-altering. “You can do tikkun olam through fundraising. You help bridge the gap between doing partners and fundraising partners,” he says.
Benjy has since spent almost his entire professional career in the Israel fundraising sphere, always combining his love for the fundraising and tikkun olam. He’s worked for Hamidrasha Center for Study and Fellowship (educational programs for new immigrants from the Former Soviet Union) and TAKAM (the United Kibbutz Movement), establishing the first secular yeshiva in Israel, and running programs for Russian and Ethiopian immigrants.
In recent years, he’s also spent time as director of global resource development at Beit Issie Shapiro, a Ra’anana-based leader in the disability field, as well as fundraising at the Leo Baeck Education Center, Hillel Israel, and at his current position, Tsad Kadima (A Step Forward), a program for people with cerebral palsy that operates in six cities in Israel.
As Benjy celebrates 40 years since his aliyah, he remains positive yet realistic. “On October 6, now 40 years ago, I packed my bags, got on a plane, and made aliyah. If you are not happy day to day, it will never stick.” Benjy is generally very happy with his decisions and with life in Israel.
“After 40 years, I want to be optimistic about how Israel has changed for the better, though sometimes it is hard to see the positives.” He jokes, “I can’t say ‘Ein li eretz acheret (I don’t have another country),” noting that he has two passports, and his children each have three.
He is proud of his three children, Sagi, Eden, and Tamar. All serve in the IDF, and two sons returned from overseas for the recent IDF call-up. Benjy adds, “I was young and idealistic when I made aliyah; now I am a little older and still idealistic!”
However, he cautions that anyone considering making aliyah should be aware of just how hard it is to leave family behind. “What I miss most about LA is Mexican food and my family. The family piece starts off difficult, then gets worse. Having family halfway around world – both Nicky and I – made us jealous of olim from the UK (with family closer by).
“You don’t think of the ages of your parents (now and in the future) when you make aliyah at 23. Everything has a price,” he says.
Former Yesh Atid MK Aliza Lavie sets out a range of possibilities for today’s bat mitzvah girl.
In the interactive book Iconic Jewish Women: Fifty-Nine Inspiring, Courageous, Revolutionary Role Models for Young Girls (A Perfect Bat Mitzvah Gift), recently translated from Hebrew, former Yesh Atid MK Aliza Lavie sets out a range of possibilities for today’s bat mitzvah girl.
A former senior lecturer at Bar-Ilan University on gender and women’s studies, Lavie explains that “girls have had no specific ritual” to mark the watershed. To that end, she offers a range of creative and meaningful bat mitzvah options.
In the book, Lavie describes the bat mitzvah celebrations of her three daughters, as well as her own experience. Her research had led her to what she believes were the first bat mitzvah ceremonies in Italy a century and a half ago: “Dressed in white and surrounded by their community, the girls would recite the 10 Commandments and read ‘The Song of Deborah’ together before the opening of the ark in the synagogue,” she says.
Iconic Jewish women throughout history
Each chapter of Iconic Jewish Women offers an opportunity to “meet Jewish women who added something significant to the Jewish people and the world, epitomizing the words of tikkun olam, repairing the world.”
The short bio of each woman is followed by suggested study topics and activities such as a hessed (lovingkindness) for family, community, or society; a location to visit that is connected to the woman in the chapter. The section titled “Get Out of Your Comfort Zone,” Lavie notes, is “a little different or challenging” and may include a writing activity; making a patchwork quilt; or creating a hackathon [a social coding event that brings computer programmers and other interested people together to improve upon or build a new software program].
Sarah Aaronsohn (credit: WIKIPEDIA)
Lavie’s chapters, spanning biblical and Talmudic times to the present, are presented alphabetically – from Sarah Aaronsohn (heroine of the Nili spy network) and Bella Abzug (social activist and member of the US House of Representatives) to Stefa (Stefania) Wilczynska (mother to Jewish orphans during the Holocaust) and Zelda (the poet).
Most chapters are refreshers on some of the most famous women in Jewish history, such as Anne Frank; Glikl of Hameln; Golda Meir; Dona Gracia Mendes Nasi; and Henrietta Szold. Other chapters introduce Jewish women the reader may not have encountered, such as Bracha Habas, the Land of Israel’s first female field reporter; Selma Mayer, aka Schwester Selma, founder of Israel’s first nursing school; and Elynor “Johnnie” Rudnick, trainer of Israel’s first Air Force pilots.
ACKNOWLEDGING THAT it was difficult to limit the candidates to 59, Lavie includes a list of an additional 35 “More Inspiring Jewish Women” at the end of the book, such as religious Israeli marathoner Beatie Bracha Deutsch; psychologist Carol Gilligan; first female rabbi ordained in the US Sally Priesand; and singer Barbra Streisand.
The chapter on US Supreme Court justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg (RBG) encourages girls to learn about the US Supreme Court, compare it to Israel’s Supreme Court, and suggests a visit to a local courthouse.
It notes RBG’s first leadership role as a summer camp counselor and encourages readers to find ways to contribute to their own summer camp or youth movements and/or consider holding the bat mitzvah in that context.
Chapter 8 concludes with quotes on gender equality by Supreme Court justices Miriam Ben-Porat, the first woman in the Supreme Court; and Esther Hayut, the recently retired former chief justice of the Supreme Court. Girls preparing for their bat mitzvah are asked whether RBG would agree or disagree with the quote and are encouraged to write their own legal statement on the topic.
The chapter on biblical matriarch Sarah introduces readers to Yad Sarah, the free lending organization which provides medical equipment to those in need and encourages them to visit or organize a fundraiser. A visit to the Cave of Machpelah (Sarah’s burial place) and Beit Hadassah (visitor’s center) in Hebron is also suggested. According to Lavie, Sarah is credited with “bringing laughter into the world” when she laughed at the news of her upcoming birth to Isaac at an old age. Girls may consider leading a laughter (or yoga laughter) workshop to teach participants relaxing and breathing techniques.
The chapter on Mossad agent Yehudit Nisayho, who was instrumental in the capture of Adolph Eichmann, encourages learning about the Mossad. Bat mitzvah girls can pay tribute to Nisayho’s observant Jewish lifestyle by creating a kosher recipe book in her honor; visit the Israel Intelligence Heritage and Commemoration Center in Glilot; or create an entire bat mitzvah celebration around the theme of codes.
With many suggested sites to visit in Israel, for those living abroad a family bat mitzvah trip could bring even deeper meaning to the occasion.
The history chapter, “The Wide World of Bat Mitzvah Ceremonies: a Journey through Time and around the Globe,” provides information about the first Italian bat mitzvah performed by Rabbi Isaac Pardo on a Sunday near Shavuot 150 years ago. It also includes the blessing recited by the bat mitzvah girls at that ceremony – as well as a prayer for the bat mitzvah girl. Additional chapters at the end of the book provide a more detailed history of the bat mitzvah ritual, as well as a useful time line and glossary.
LAVIE WROTE her 2002 doctoral dissertation on “Israel Radio and Gender”; has taught gender and mass communication at Bar-Ilan; and is author of several books on women and Judaism. When the former Yesh Atid MK served as chairwoman of the Committee on the Status of Women and Gender Equality, she opened each committee meeting with the description of an important woman in Jewish history: “I asked all the participants to tell us about a woman who impressed them, a role model in their life, an untold story.”
Lavie encourages the adults in the lives of bat mitzvah girls to “work with your bat mitzvah girl not only to tell one story and hold one event but to add to the rich Jewish tapestry of culture, values, study, and community.”
ICONIC JEWISH WOMEN: Fifty-Nine Inspiring, Courageous, Revolutionary Role Models for Young Girls (A Perfect Bat Mitzvah Gift)
A major men’s tournament set to attract top players to Tel Aviv as well as six lower-level professional tournaments were canceled, a high-profile women’s tennis player offered negative comments about Israel, Israel Tennis Education Centers were unable to offer programs to hundreds of children, and Israel’s come-from-behind Davis Cup victory over favored Japan on September 17, just three weeks before the war, seemed a distant memory.
But thanks to the quick action and commitment of the Israeli tennis community, Israeli tennis is up and running, in the Holy Land and around the world, albeit with some caution and modifications.
The indoor hard-court Tel Aviv Watergen Open, scheduled for November 5-11 at the Expo Tel Aviv was abruptly called off due to the war. In a supportive statement, Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) Chairman Andrea Gaudenzi said: “The violence and acts of terror witnessed in Israel are beyond comprehension. We strongly condemn any form of terrorism and mourn the loss of innocent lives across this conflict. We hope and pray for peace in the region.”
Two-time Wimbledon finalist and current world No. 6 women’s tennis player, Ons Jabeur, was less sympathetic.
Tunisian tennis star Ons Jabeur has condemned acts of violence on social media, but also included the hashtag #FreePalestine in her post. (credit: REUTERS)
The 29-year-old Tunisian Muslim wrote on Instagram: “What Palestinians have been going through during the last 75 years is indescribable. What innocent civilians are going through is indescribable; no matter what their religion is, or what their origin is. Violence will never bring peace; I cannot stand with violence but I also cannot stand with people having their lands taken.” She ended her post with the #FreePalestine hashtag.
Israel Tennis Association registers a complaint
The ITA (Israel Tennis Association), via the ITF (International Tennis Federation), approached the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA), the main organizing body of professional women’s tennis to complain about Jabeur’s post. Following a win at the WTA finals in Mexico in November, Jabeur continued to comment on the war.
“It’s very tough seeing children, babies dying every day,” she said. “It’s heartbreaking, so I have decided to donate part of my prize money to help the Palestinians.”
Avi Peretz, ITA chairperson, wrote in an ITA Facebook post: “This tennis player fights, incites and supports a murderous terrorist Nazi organization. We’re glad she’s in the minority…”
ITF President David Haggerty shared heartfelt condolences for the plight of Israel and Israelis.
“We are deeply shocked and saddened by the loss of life. Our hearts go out to all those affected by the violence in Israel in recent days.”
Haggerty also thanked the ITA for the help and quick actions it took regarding the evacuation of the dozens of players, coaches and judges who were present in Israel ahead of international tournaments that were to take place in Israel. He added that the ITF “strongly condemns the violence we have witnessed in Israel. It is our fervent hope that peace and security in the region can be found.”
When the Watergen Tel Aviv Open was relocated to Sofia, Bulgaria, on short notice, Peretz played an important role in the tournament.
“My father is from Bulgaria,” he noted. “This is his hometown, and for me this is a very emotional moment.
“I hope that the situation in Israel will normalize and next year we will be able to invite Stefan Tsvetkov [President of the Bulgarian Tennis Federation] to the tournament with us.”
Tsvetkov offered support for Israel.
“We sympathize with our friends from Israel who at the moment cannot have a normal life and sports calendar. I hope that there will be peace in the region again soon.”
At the Sofia Open, Adriana Mannarino of France defeated Jack Draper of England in the Finals, 7-6, 2-6, 6-3.
Back home, meanwhile, former Israel tennis great, Jonathan (Yoni) Erlich, current director of the high-performance program at ITEC, reports on their countrywide efforts to meet the needs of children in need throughout Israel during these difficult times.
“For the first 10 days, the whole country was in shock and all of the tennis centers were shut down,” Erlich said. “But right away, we were in communication with our kids – through chat, Zoom and WhatsApp. Since there was no school, we gave them videos for homework, and encouraged them to keep active and exercise.”
ITEC has helped over 500,000 children, many of whom live in underserved towns throughout Israel, since opening its first center in 1976. ITEC currently serves nearly 7,000 children weekly throughout 24 Israeli communities.
Erlich recounted ways in which ITEC families and staff have been pitching in during the war.
“When people were evacuated from the south and from the north, families in Tel Aviv, Ramat Hasharon, Jerusalem, Haifa, and other places opened their homes to players and their families. We really used our great and strong organization to take care of all of our kids.”
He noted that within two or three weeks, tennis centers with bomb shelters resumed tennis operations and children were welcomed to play in any open center.
ITEC has also hosted soldiers from Special Forces in their Ramat Hasharon center for what Erlich described as a day of “fun, tennis, lessons and lectures about motivation” by himself and his former longtime doubles partner, Andy Ram.
Erlich, who is also captain of Israel’s Davis Cup team, recently learned that his team will be playing its next round versus the Czech Republic in the Czech Republic in February.
Israel is one of 24 teams to play in the Davis Cup qualifiers on the road to the World Cup.
“It is huge! I feel very fortunate to lead the team and still be connected with the Davis Cup after 23 years.”
There have been some posts on social media calling on the ITF (International Tennis Federation) to not allow Israel to participate in the Davis Cup. They note the ban on Russian players in the wake of the Ukraine conflict, who have not been allowed to participate in team events in tennis since March 1, 2022.
Erlich is unfamiliar with such posts and looks forward to his work with the current team (he has not named the team members yet). He is also excited about the “next generation” he hopes will emerge in the next few years.
In the meantime, several potential Israeli Davis Cup team players continue to represent their country in tournaments around the world.
Yshai Oliel, No. 434 in the world, recently advanced to the quarterfinals and semifinals of several tournaments in Greece. Daniel Cukierman, No. 481, played several tournaments in Italy, advancing to the quarterfinals in Ortisei, Italy.
Erlich is looking forward to the very important upcoming Davis Cup tie.
“Now it is more urgent to do something great and show joy. We will go proudly to the tournament. If we usually give 100%, this year we will give 200%!”
