February 23, 2000
Yad B'Yad - Hand-in-Hand
Israel Touring Program
Teens Have Fun While Learning Valuable Leadership Skills
For parents of high school students, the search for an
appropriate summer program often becomes a feverish quest to stave off their children's
boredom. This summer - for the third year in a row - the National Jewish Council for the Disabled (NJCD),
an agency of the Orthodox Union, will offer high school
students in grades 10-12 the ultimate antidote to the summer doldrums: The Yad B'Yad - Hand-in-Hand Israel touring program
with members of Yachad, a division of the NJCD that serves physically and developmentally
disabled children and adults.
The special month-long trip offers teens the chance to
experience Israel's historic and holy sites with their developmentally disabled peers and
see the land through their unique lens. Over the course of the summer, the high school
students form strong friendships with the Yachad members (ages 15-25) while learning basic
principles of special education and gaining valuable leadership skills.
The program clearly has a powerful impact on its
participants. Following the first ever Yad B'Yad tour (and a similar trip with Yachad on
the east coast), high school students were inspired to plan a special reunion for the
Yachad members on the Jewish holiday of Simchat
Torah. Held on Long Island, NY, this has become a much beloved annual tradition.
"The students had so much energy and excitement
left over from the summer experience. And they had developed many new skills in creating
programming for the disabled that they were eager to try out," explains Dr. Jeffrey
Lichtman, National Director of the NJCD. "The high schoolers wanted to sustain the
strong connection with the Yachad members that they had formed over the summer, and they
succeeded in designing an event that was both fun and meaningful for everyone who
attended."
One of the major goals of the NJCD is to provide
individuals with disabilities, who may feel isolated from the Jewish community, with a
place to turn for inclusion in religious life. The Yad B'Yad program is designed to
accommodate the special needs of the physically and developmentally disabled Yachad
members and allow them to experience the beauty and spirituality of Israel at their own
pace.
Twenty-year-old Chava Mozes, who has cerebral palsy and
uses a wheelchair, attended Yad B'Yad last summer. With the help of her Yachad counselors
and the high school students, Chava was able to see the Dead Sea, swim in the Kineret and
pray at the Kotel (Western Wall) for the first time in her life. Her favorite aspects of
the experience included making new friends from cities around the U.S. and Canada and
visiting a kibbutz, where she was instantly put to work. "I got to milk the
cows!," Chava gleefully reports.
A high school student who participated in the program
with Chava this summer comments, "I learned about myself, not just the Yachad
members. I think everyone should take a trip like this to learn a lesson in the value of
life."
In addition to the Yad B'Yad program, NJCD/Yachad also
offers two other programs for individuals with disabilities. Through the Morasha/Yachad
(M.Y.) program, children with disabilities, ages 10-17, can spend six (or three) weeks at
Camp Morasha, in Lake Como, PA. There, specially trained counselors will head bunks of
campers with disabilities who will spend their days swimming, hiking, learning and playing
b'yachad (together) with their non-disabled peers. On the East Coast/Canada Experience,
developmentally disabled adults in two groups (ages 18-30 and 30-50) will explore Niagara
Falls, go whale watching and visit with members of Yachad chapters in Toronto and
Montreal.
Through its National
Conference of Synagogue Youth (NCSY), the OU also offers many other summer
opportunities for children in grades 5-12. For information, please contact NCSY at
212.613.8233. And for more information on Yad B'Yad or any other NJCD summer program,
please call 212.613.8369.
With more than 35 chapters throughout the United States
and Canada, the NJCD, an agency of the Orthodox Union, is the only national resource
center providing specialized guidance and information as well as direct services to those
in the Jewish community who have special needs. Yachad, a division of the NJCD, provides a
wide range of social, recreational and religious programs, serving well over 1500 children
and adults with developmental disabilities.
The Orthodox Union,
now in its second century of service to the Jewish community of America and beyond, is the
world leader in youth work, advocacy for the disabled, synagogue services, adult education and political action. Its kosher supervision label, the OU, is the world's most
recognized kosher symbol and can be found on nearly 250,000 products in 68 countries
around the globe.
###
www.ou.org
Comments?
Requests? Questions?
 Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations
of America
Department of Public Relations
Sharyn Perlman, Director
Main Office:
11 Broadway, New York, NY 10004
Phone: 212-613-8321 Fax: 212-564-9058
E-mail: media@ou.org |
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