Team Israel manager carries torch at 21st Maccabiah Games
Ian Kinsler’s warm relationship with Israel is about to grow even stronger.
When Ian Kinsler went to Israel for the first time, he and his wife experienced the country’s beauty as well as its bureaucracy. The four-time Major League Baseball (MLB) All-Star, 2017 World Baseball Classic champion, Team Israel second baseman and current Dallas resident had to persevere through the sometimes frustrating aliyah process. Kinsler became an Israeli citizen in order to play in the 2020 Olympics (held in 2021) for Israel’s National Baseball team.
Now, Kinsler, the newly appointed manager of Team Israel, has again gone to Israel, with his wife and two children. He had the honor of carrying the torch at the Maccabiah Games, and will travel around Israel leading baseball workshops, greeting fans and getting reacquainted with the Jewish homeland.
Kinsler recently spoke with the TJP while on vacation in Idaho, moments after learning Team Israel’s draw in the March 11-15, 2023, World Baseball Classic Qualifiers in Miami. Israel will participate in Pool D with Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and Venezuela and a team to be determined from the qualifying tournament.
Kinsler, who currently works in the front office of the San Diego Padres, has been looking forward to his first managerial experience. While the storied Team Israel battled through the 2017 World Baseball Classic and ultimately reached the 2021 Olympics, he doesn’t take their success for granted. “The draw looks fine but either way, you have to be a good team. It is going to be competitive!”
Kinsler is already familiar with the venue for the March tournament. “I played the 2017 WBC with the USA Team there. It is a fantastic stadium with great crowds. It will be super exciting and electric playing against the Latin American teams. I am looking forward,” reported Kinsler. He also acknowledged the work ahead of him. “It is going to be a tough roster to make. It will be hard to decide who is on and who is off.”
The dual U.S.-Israeli citizen was eager to again represent Israel and the Jewish people. He looks back fondly on his past experiences with Team Israel. “Representing my lineage and heritage and doing it in the Olympics in Tokyo was super exciting for me!”
Ian Kinsler played for Team Israel in the 2020 Olympics (played in 2021) and was recently named Team Israel manager. Next March, in Miami, Team Israel will participate in Pool D of the World Baseball Classic Qualifier with Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and Venezuela and a team to be determined from the qualifying tournament.
Kinsler noted that the number of Jews in baseball has always been “a very small group of guys.” He added, “I always knew all of them.” He has not experienced any antisemitism in his baseball career.
Kinsler grew up in a home with one Jewish and one non-Jewish parent and was not “raised religiously”; the family marked Passover, Hanukkah, Easter and Christmas. He did not celebrate a bar mitzvah. His experience with Israel baseball has helped bring him closer “to that side of my family.”
Kinsler enjoyed his first visit to Israel and was anticipating sharing it with his children. “Visiting Israel is eye-opening, regardless of faith. Going back will be pretty special. I am looking forward to it.” Kinsler enjoyed visits to Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and other cities in his first trip and noted, “The markets in Jerusalem were my favorite.”
On this trip, Kinsler was one of five torchbearers at the Maccabiah opening ceremonies in Jerusalem on July 14 and he threw out the opening pitch at a Maccabiah baseball game. He is conducting baseball clinics for Maccabiah baseball players this week at the Ezra Schwartz Ballpark in Ra’anana.
The local Dallas Jewish community is proud of Kinsler. “As Jewish National Fund-USA’s director in Dallas, I feel an extra sense of pride and excitement knowing Dallas will be well represented by our very own Ian Kinsler at the World Baseball Classic,” said Ellie Adelman. “Team Israel is very special to me. Through our Project Baseball initiative, Jewish National Fund-USA covered a large portion of Team Israel’s expenses for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, and as part of the expansion of baseball activities in Israel, we’re partnering with the Israel Association of Baseball to build new baseball fields in Israel, including a brand new state-of-the-art field in Bet Shemesh that will eventually be the home playing field for the national team. The new facility’s strategic location between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem will bring international tournaments and attention to Bet Shemesh, along with the accompanying benefits of tourism. It will also continue to bring America’s pastime to the hundreds of thousands of American children and families who have made aliyah and gives the children an opportunity to embrace this familiar sport as a way to ease their integration into Israeli life. Project Baseball is a wonderful project to support, and we’re looking forward to seeing the team reach new heights at the WBC under Ian’s leadership.”
In his new role, Kinsler draws on a wealth of baseball experience. Kinsler played 14 seasons in the MLB with the Texas Rangers, Detroit Tigers, Los Angeles Angels, Boston Red Sox and San Diego Padres. Kinsler was a four-time All-Star, two-time Gold Glove winner and a member of the 2018 World Series champion Boston Red Sox. Kinsler considers winning the World Series and the WBC with Team USA to be his two greatest baseball accomplishments. “Winning the World Series is the pinnacle of the sport!”
Kinsler’s career includes twice hitting 30 home runs and stealing 30 bases in both the 2009 and 2011 seasons while with the Rangers. He also hit for the cycle in a game in 2009, while getting hits in all six of his at-bats. Kinsler retired following the end of the 2019 season with 1,999 career hits.
He continues to share his love and knowledge of America’s favorite game in Israel.
Max Levitt recalls being heartbroken at the sight of usable equipment being thrown away, saying “it really bothered me. It stuck in my head.”
When Max Levitt was a student at Syracuse University, he had a unique window into the world of sports equipment. As equipment manager for the school’s football team, he regularly witnessed perfectly good cleats, footballs and other gear being thrown into the dumpster.
“My first job was to prep the locker room and go through the inventory,” he said. “I had to throw away 300 useable footballs.”
Levitt recalled being heartbroken at the sight of usable equipment being thrown away, saying “it really bothered me. It stuck in my head.”
He learned that university sports departments negotiate contracts with partner companies that include receiving the newest gear each year. And so, he had an idea—collecting and redistributing sports equipment to those who don’t have the proper equipment.
There is a particular need for sports equipment, as the gap in accessing sports programs and equipment for people without financial resources has widened in recent years. This wasn’t the case when Levitt, 33, was growing up in the 1980s. “Back then, everyone participated in youth sports through the public recreation department. We had coaches and equipment, and sampled various sports.
Max Levitt. Credit: Courtesy.
“But over the last few decades,” he explained, “we have seen the privatization of sports and a ‘pay to play’ model. Some people pay as much as $30,000 or $40,000 a year for off-season training, pitching coaches and more.”
This has impacted public sports programs, said Levitt. “Public recreation is now more about facility management. For low-income families, there is no place to go for youth sports. As a result, participation rates for sports have gone down in low-income communities.”
Levitt said he was always a big sports fan and participant growing up. “I spent every second of my free time playing sports, organized or not organized—at the JCC [Jewish Community Center] and at my eight years at Camp Modin in Maine.
Howard Salzberg, director of Camp Modin, remembers Levitt as a camper many years ago: “I remember him as a mature, kind kid who was athletic and loved to do all the activities, particularly sports.”
The program has expanded to Baltimore and Philadelphia with collection boxes in various locations, including sports fields, and bar and bat mitzvahs venues. Credit: Courtesy.
‘It is a simple model’
Levitt emphasized that playing sports has benefits beyond the physical. “Sports shaped me as a person,” he said. It also provided structure, and helped him and his friends stay out of trouble in those hours when school was out and parents were still at work, he added. “As a kid with lots of energy and not always the best behaved, sports served as an important outlet.”
He considered himself and his friends to be fortunate; they grew up in relative affluence with good role models. He also grew up in a home where Jewish values were emphasized. “Tikkun olam [‘social justice’] was woven in. We always had donation bags in our house growing up—for clothes, books and furniture—but nothing for sports equipment.”
As he began learning of the lack of equipment of low participation rates in sports for children of lower-income families—and as he looked around his own home and the home of friends, and realized how much unused sports equipment was sitting in closets, garages and attics—a light bulb went off. “We have food banks where people can get the food they need. It is a simple model. But there is nothing like this for sports,” he observed.
And so, in 2013, Levitt started “Leveling the Playing Field” in Washington, D.C. The program has expanded to Baltimore and Philadelphia with collection boxes in various locations, including sports fields, and bar and bat mitzvahs venues. Since then, he has regularly heard from people and organizations looking to bring the program to their cities. The program is funded through support from private donors, foundations and corporations.
Kids have the opportunity to donate equipment and volunteer for the organization. Credit: Courtesy.
“We focus on the equipment barrier,” he stressed.
In fact, “Leveling the Playing Field” may be in a unique position to address certain societal issues that have become more apparent during these past two years of the coronavirus pandemic. “Coming out of the pandemic, we have seen the significant impact on mental health, behavior and social/emotional learning. They were always there, but these problems have been exacerbated, especially in lower socio-economic communities,” explained Levitt. “Private sports programs have quickly returned, but not for people in these communities.”
Levitt said his organization is in a position to help children who were “set back during the pandemic.” Reflecting on his own experience growing up, he noted: “We have to get these young kids playing sports; they have the energy. The more free and unstructured time they have … that is no good.”
“I like to say that we are a food bank for sports equipment,” he said, noting that they don’t provide gear for individuals, but rather to entire programs, which receive equipment for free. “We have shelves full of gear in our warehouses.”
The program also benefits kids from more affluent homes, who have the opportunity to donate equipment and volunteer for the organization. He said parents have told him their children benefit from both giving and receiving.
The program is funded through support from private donors, foundations and corporations. Credit: Courtesy.
‘I collected so many pieces of equipment’
Thirteen-year-old Jeremy Dwoskin of Frederick, Md., who celebrated his bar mitzvah in March, knows the benefits firsthand. He said he chose the program for his bar mitzvah project because he wanted to help others get the chance to play sports, just as he has always been able to.
“That’s because sports are my passion; I can’t imagine my life without sports,” he said. “My goal is for everyone to get the opportunity to have fun while playing sports, even if their families can’t afford it.”
He reported that his experience with the program “was great.”
“After we began advertising on social media, it only took a day for people to start donating equipment. Although many people donated to the cause, I soon realized that it really only takes one person to make a huge difference. I collected so many pieces of equipment for just about every sport, as well as a check donation.”
“I am so glad I am able to help make a difference,” said Dwoskin. “I hope all of these donations help others get on the field, court, rink, court, etc., and help others get the chance they deserve.”
“I like to say that we are a food bank for sports equipment,” says program founder Max Levitt, noting that they don’t provide gear for individuals but to entire programs, which receive equipment for free. Credit: Courtesy.
The coronavirus provided an opportunity for the founders of Dogiz to rethink their business.
Dog owners in need of a walk, concerned about health and wellness, or looking to support important societal causes … meet Dogiz.
Founder and COO Danny Djanogly, 32, and CEO Alon Zlatkin, 37, created the Dogiz company and dog-walking app while students in a business-school class on startups at Israel’s IDC Herzilya (now Reichman University). While their original plan was to make it easier for dog owners in Tel Aviv to find walkers while at work—and to create jobs for people with disabilities—the recent COVID-19 pandemic posed new challenges as people were staying home with their dogs more and needing less help. It also provided an opportunity for the founders to rethink the business.
As a result, Dogiz has just launched an updated app, website and business plan for these changing times.
Djanogly was pleased with how things were going with Dogiz prior to the pandemic. In 2015, the two immigrants—one from northwest London and one from Kazakhstan—were accepted into the HIVE, an accelerator for olim (new immigrants to Israel) and won a Google competition that landed them their first $100,000 investment. They received support from Samurai Incubate Inc., an early-stage Japanese venture-capital firm that has invested in more than 33 Israeli startups. They were imagining a company that offered services such as dog-walking, doggie daycare, boarding and grooming.
When Djanogly and Zlatkin met Aviad Friedman—an Israeli author, businessman, adviser to Israeli ministries, as well as former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, and (at the time) chairman of the Israeli Association of Community Centers (IACC)—he suggested that they consider training and employing people with disabilities. He had some expertise in the area; he is the father of a 24-year-old son with autism.
The company offers services such as dog-walking, grooming, boarding and daycare. Credit: Courtesy.
Friedman pointed out that people with autism and other disabilities like and depend on routines and predictability, as do many dogs. He also shared data on the high rate of unemployment among people with disabilities and suggested they train and hire people with disabilities.
“We stumbled upon disabilities by accident,” says Djanogly, who notes that “we created Holchim B’Yachad [‘Walking Together’] and were growing unbelievably—we had 15 candidates with disabilities, a course and special trainer, and were working with the Shekel and Beit Ekstein [disabilities programs] in Israel.”
“We were flying until March 15, 2020,” reports Djanogly. “Then COVID hit. We were sure it would boil over soon. It didn’t—and so we had to face the harsh truth and reality. It was a curse and a blessing, and gave us some downtime to look at our business. We went to our board and told them that we could either close or change.”
The founders had an important observation. “We realized that 15% to 20% of dog owners use pet-care services like boarding, grooming and walking. But 100% buy food and use veterinarians. Dog owners are also a community where there is implicit trust,” say Djanogly and Zlatkin, who also spoke with many veterinarians.
They decided to create a platform to better manage their own dogs’ lives. The app and website, complete with a new logo, incorporate gaming techniques to educate and engage dog owners, along with a health and fitness tracker.
“Our mission is to help owners gain a deeper understanding of their dog’s health and reward them for being more active with their dogs,” notes Djanogly. “As dog owners, we know how hard it can be to manage your pup’s life, so we created Dogiz to do all the hard work for you.”
Dog owners are encouraged and incentivized to increase the fitness levels of their pets by keeping them more active. In the process, they earn Dogiz coins that can be used for discounts on products and services in the Dogiz shop.
For every action owners do on the app—completing a quiz, tracking walks, and providing weight, memory or mood updates associated with their pets—they get coins. They can also see on the leaderboard how fitness levels compare with other dogs in the neighborhood.
Danny Djanogly (left) and Alon Zlatkin. Photo by Sam Jakobson.
‘We are no longer geo-restricted’
As Djanogly and Zlatkin continued consulting with veterinarians, they also learned of an interesting trend that the doctors were seeing. The veterinarians reported that they were regularly receiving photos of dog poop from concerned dog owners who wanted to check if something was wrong with their pet’s digestive systems. And so, the Dogiz team created Dr. Poop, where a team of veterinarians reviewed images and created a program to quickly analyze the byproducts and let owners know how concerned they need to be about their dog.
“Dog poop is a clear window into a dog’s gastrointestinal health,” reports Djanogly. Owners can also earn coins by using Dr. Poop.
The two founders also take the opportunity to help less fortunate dogs. In the United Kingdom, for example, owners can participate in the “PAWpurse Miles for Meals” program. For each mile walked with their dog, a meal is donated to a dog in a shelter. In Israel, people can donate coins earned to a local dog shelter, which receives funding to support their important work.
Djanogly further notes that with the relaunch of Dogiz, “we are no longer geo-restricted.”
The company will continue to provide dog-walking services in Tel Aviv and London, and train and hire people with disabilities. But they have now expanded—creating an inclusive community of dog lovers and arranging partnerships with service providers and pet-food companies.
The duo says that they are pleased with their new direction: “It gives dog owners rewards and motivation to be active with their pet via products they need and use. Why not do it by keeping their dogs healthy?”
The Ramah Bike Ride and Hiking Trip: Five days through the Golan Heights in support of the camp’s Tikvah disabilities inclusion programs.
When Timna Rockman completed the course to become a certified tour guide, she assumed she would be sharing her love of Israel with tourists from around the world. Instead, she found herself delivering fast food for the well-known Finnish-based Wolt food-delivery company.
In the process of delivering food on her traditional, non-pedal-assist bike, she got into better shape and decided to begin offering personal training services to students near the Ben-Gurion University campus in Beersheba. She held out hope that she would one day return to tour guiding.
As tourists have begun to return to Israel, Rockman found a way to incorporate all of her strengths and interests. She recently spent five days guiding bikers through the Golan Heights as they participated in the Ramah Bike Ride and Hiking Trip, in support of the camp’s Tikvah disabilities inclusion programs.
Ramah and the trip
Ramah is a network of summer camps in the US, Canada and Israel, founded in 1947. Tikvah, founded in 1970, provides meaningful camp experiences for children, teens and young adults with disabilities. The Golan and Galilee Ride and Hike, which took place in May for the sixth time, started as a bike ride-only event in 2011. It has expanded to offer participants a logistically complex smorgasbord of choices that includes three levels of bike riding, two levels of hiking, guides, medics, mechanics, bus drivers and many volunteers.
Due to the pandemic and frequent border closings, the Ramah event had been rescheduled several times. Other charity bike rides in Israel have also been postponed and rescheduled rides due to the pandemic. Both Alyn Hospital’s Wheels of Love cycling event and Hazon’s Israel Ride benefiting the Arava Institute and Hazon, are scheduled to take place in November 2022.
SOME OF THE Ramah hikers take a break for a group photo. (credit: National Ramah Commision)
Ramah’s 150 riders and hikers were happy to not wait until November to come to Israel. It has been a long time since most had been to Israel, been on vacation or flown at all. Ethan Corey, a returning hiker, and parent of two children who have participated in the Tikvah Program at Camp Ramah in New England, had hoped to come to Israel in March, 2020 but his trip was canceled due to the pandemic.
“Over the past two years, seeing Israel closed to non-Israelis was very frustrating,” he says, and is thrilled to be back. “Compared to the US and the northeast, it feels is if people are past COVID. There are no masks on the trains, in the stores or on the streets.
“As I walk down the streets, I close my eyes and think back to the pre-COVID days. It is nice to hear Hebrew and to walk down the streets and see a minyan meeting in a Jerusalem playground,” he adds. “It is a good feeling being in a place where being Jewish is a normal state of affairs.”
“Being in Israel is coming home!” says Josh Charlat, a dentist and board president of Camp Ramah in Canada who last visited Israel in 2019. “I would have been here sooner – when my daughter was here in seminary,” notes Charlat. “It was a challenge as a North American parent not seeing a child for so long, but being here keeps Israel at the top of my mind.”
“It was a challenge as a North American parent not seeing a child for so long, but being here keeps Israel at the top of my mind.”
Josh Charlat
Michael Bodner was last in Israel three years ago to visit his daughter. He reports that three previous trips he had planned to Israel were canceled. “Now I’m finally here. It is great to be back in Israel!” Bodner attended the Camp Ramah in Nyack day camp in 1963. Being on a trip will fellow lovers of Ramah helped him relive his camp days and recall the lyrics to the musical Porgy and Bess which he performed in Hebrew as a camper.
Mark Meskin of California has traditionally been a frequent traveler to Israel to visit a daughter and her husband, and their two grandchildren in Jerusalem. He was one of the lucky ones to visit Israel during the pandemic when first-degree relatives were permitted to apply to travel to Israel. The four-time biker-turned-hiker visited and hiked in nearly a dozen US national parks during the pandemic. He has welcomed the opportunity to again hike in Israel.
“I have personally been a lover of nature, and until Ramah did this physically challenging fundraiser, I had no ideas how diverse nature is in Israel,” he says.
“I have personally been a lover of nature, and until Ramah did this physically challenging fundraiser, I had no ideas how diverse nature is in Israel.”
Mark Meskin
He was struck by the “unbelievable amount of water” he had never witnessed before.” Meskin was referring to such sites as the Black and White waterfalls of Nahal El Al, the Banias springs and the Devora and Gilbon waterfalls.
He is pleased that, as COVID numbers go down, travel to Israel is more accessible. “I am thrilled it is getting easier!”
FOR SOME, like non-Jewish riders Charles and Michelle Smith from Philadelphia, this was their first Israel experience. Smith came with two Jewish bike-riding friends and playfully notes, “I was a little nervous when I learned some had been to Israel 20 or 30 times and it was my first trip.”
He and his wife spent a few pre-trip days exploring Jerusalem and Christian holy sites. After biking in the North, Smith had a better sense of, and appreciation for Israel.
“Biking on the Golan showed just how close Syria is. And the descent to the Sea of Galilee, and the chance to take a dip, were not the same as passing [the area] on a tour bus. It was refreshing spiritually and a change to take a break from pedaling!” he mused.
Participants ranged in age from 13 to mid-80s and included seven doctors, 10 rabbis, 17 lawyers, board members of various camps, a Tikvah participant from 1971 – the program’s second summer – and several parents of Tikvah participants.
Medic Chaya Ben-Yehuda, 24, of Givat Mordechai in Jerusalem, was pleasantly surprised by the group she escorted on the advanced and moderate hikes. “They said it was old people and I figured it would be short hikes!” she reports, referring to the overview of the group she was given when assigned to the Ramah group. She admits this couldn’t have been further from the truth.
“I was impressed with their hiking skills. You are all amazing!” she adds, impressed with the group’s willingness and ability to hike for eight or more hours per day.
At the final evening program of the trip, several camp directors, organizers and participants had a chance to share remarks. Debbie Albert, board president at Camp Ramah in Pennsylvania’s Poconos, noted: “This felt like a week at camp. We met new friends, challenged ourselves, prayed together, learned together, pished together, and formed new friendships that will last a lifetime.” Albert was playfully referring to the inevitable lack of bathrooms throughout the dozens of miles of hiking trails in the North.
Longtime Ramah hiking trip tour guide Dolev Arbaieter, who was pleased to return to guiding after a two-year hiatus, was fond of reminding the hikers that there are “thousands of bathrooms” all along the sometimes strenuous hiking routes. The good-natured Arbaieter, who occasionally brewed fresh coffee on the trail for his hikers, shared the fascinating history of such places as Tel Saki and such important figures as Eli Cohen, the Israeli spy who was caught in Syria and publicly hanged in 1965. He also provided a wealth of information about nature, geology, geopolitics and ancient synagogues throughout the five-day hike.
Fellow guide Ariel Lisman, owner of Finjan Travel, also lost business during the pandemic, but was able to guide students and new olim when mandatory lockdowns were lifted. He acknowledges how difficult it has been for the travel industry.
“Since June 2021, we have had no government support, so we are living off of our savings. Many lost money they had been saving for buying homes,” he says. Lisman concedes that “people in tourism are used to living life in the balance” and that tourism to Israel often fluctuates given periods of war and heightened tension. “It is nice to see things back!”
While guides are returning to work, actually finding a guide can be a challenge. Biker Marc Schlussel notes, “It was hard to find a guide for a tour in Jerusalem on a recent Friday. They were all booked!”
The tourism industry is indeed recovering, but it is very much in flux, according to Prof. Yaniv Poria at the Department of Hotel and Tourism Management in the Guilford Glazer Faculty of Business and Management at Ben-Gurion University. “Many tour guides had to find other jobs and were settled in elsewhere. When tourism started coming back, they felt the urge to return to guiding,” he observes. “Some are quitting those jobs to go back to guiding. They chose this lifestyle and love being with people and wanted to get back.”
He notes that other parts of the hospitality industry including hotels and airports are still having difficulties finding workers. “Even the high occupancy Hilton Tel Aviv is having a hard time finding workers.”
WHILE SOME riders and hikers did experience long check-in lines at airports, they did not notice a shortage of workers or a reduction in services. They enjoyed comfortable rooms, superb services and sumptuous meals at Merom Golan, Kfar Giladi and at the Jacob Hotel in Hadera. Yet, they never lost sight of the reason they came to Israel – to raise $613,000 to support Ramah programs for participants with disabilities.
Albert and fellow participants appreciated the opportunity to learn more about Tikvah. Most participants chose to attend an optional Friday evening session with Tikvah graduates and parents who shared the impact of Tikvah. Tom Henig was one of the Tikvah Program’s first participants. The program started in Glen Spey, New York in 1970 and soon relocated to Camp Ramah in New England in Palmer, Massachusetts.
Henig, who lives independently and has worked for the town of Oyster Bay, Long Island for 32 years, spoke about how moving it was to celebrate his bar mitzvah at camp in 1972. In fact, two hikers, Donald Skupsky and Anne Schneider were at Henig’s bar mitzvah. Henig reports, “I had such great memories and wanted to give back.”
“Hearing [fellow hiker] Tom Henig’s story of being a Tikvah camper himself in the 1970s really hit home for many of us. Tom’s courage to come here this week and, as he said, ‘pay it back,’ was heartwarming,” adds Albert. “Their stories will inspire all of us to focus on these programs, ensuring that every Jewish child who wants to go to camp has an opportunity to do just that.”
As the bike mechanics disassembled and boxed bikes for riders, and as participants said their goodbyes to each other and to Israel, many were already making plans to return to the country for the next Ramah Bike Ride and Hiking Trip in two years. Some lucky riders and hikers will spend a few more days in Israel.
And Rockman, now fully back in business as a guide, was delighted to take 14 participants on a special foodie tour of Tel Aviv – some much-deserved pampering for tired bikers and hikers – and for her, a long way from delivering food for Wolt!
The writer, a social worker and special education teacher, has been affiliated with Ramah’s Tikvah Program since 1984.
