ICJA Seniors Volunteer in Israel for a Month!

ICJA’s seniors are currently spending a month in Israel, volunteering and helping the Jewish state.  “Now I’m here I can really feel that I’m making a difference….  Everyone here is united; we’re trying to help each other the best way we can,” explains senior Hayden Gradstein.

“The Jewish world is in crisis, and our students can help,” explains Dean Rabbi Dr. Leonard Matanky.  Ida Crown has always stepped up to help. “Before Yom Kippur, I told our students how our school had sent the senior class to Israel to volunteer during the war. Then, when we returned after our Sukkot vacation, this year’s senior class came to me and said ‘Rabbi, it’s now our turn to go and volunteer!” 

Seniors departed on December 11 and are volunteering on farms, providing respite for families with a parent away fighting, working in hospitals, volunteering with displaced families, organizing barbeques on army bases, and packing food for soldiers. “It gives us an opportunity to help our people in a time of need,” explains senior Reena Neiger, “we need to be here!”