OU OUR WAY GROUP FOR THE DEAF, UNDETERRED BY WAR,TRAVELS TO ISRAEL AND PACKS 1,000 BOXES OF SUPPLIES FOR IDF SOLIDERS
Undeterred by the war against Hezbollah, a group of 16 deaf and hearing impaired adults, ranging in age from 30-70 and coming from all over the United States, traveled to Israel under the auspices of the Orthodox Union’s Our Way program, and promptly did their part to assist the war effort.
The group joined with deaf and hearing Israelis, and as part of the “Packages for Israel” program, filled 1,000 packages to be sent to soldiers in the North. The boxes contained, clothing, coffee, snacks, soap, cleansing cloths, shampoo, toothbrushes and toothpaste, even frisbees – all to make life more bearable for those on the front lines.
According to Batya Jacob, Director of Our Way, “Not only did everyone have an enjoyable time, but they left with a sense of having done something meaningful for our men and women who are defending Israel.”
The group was accompanied by two sign language interpreters: Miriam Solomon, who hand signed in English; and Shmuel Landau, who “translated” into Hebrew sign language.
Before leaving for Israel, the Our Way group was given the option of canceling the trip, given the war situation. According to Ms. Jacob, “They refused. Their attitude was, ‘We want to be in Israel more than ever.’”
In the photos below, the Americans and Israelis are shown packing the boxes. The first photo shows Miriam Solomon signing and Shmuel Landau translating.