RJCF -- Children Of Sderot Journal

The Sderot Journal

Reports, articles, letters, photos about the Children of Sderot project, which is designed to help children who live in a war zone.

The 3rd annual Children of Boston to Children of Sderot Concert

The 3rd annual Children of Boston to Children of Sderot Concert was held on October 23rd at Center Makor in Brookline. The concert hosted over 100 performers from several performing groups in the Boston area.

Our Children - Boston Sderot - 2011

Thank you video from the children of Sderot

Have you ever wondered what a Kassam rocket leaves behind after it lands?
Destroyed buildings? A hole in the ground? A burned out tree?
Now, try to imagine what it does to a child.
Our Center was established for these children. It serves as a daily source of support for the parents and children of Sderot by providing them with activities, games, field trips and most importantly a place of warmth and love.

Please watch our short film and forward it to friends and family.

Sderot’s mayor thanks Boston on behalf of his city’s children

It’s as if the messiah is coming.
Such is the excitement of the children of the Sderot as they anticipate summer camp. The mayor of the missile-ravaged Israeli city was in town last week to thank Boston’s Russian Jewish Community Foundation for its support of the camp and other projects.

Anna Kamenetsky: In Sderot, a story of childhood restored

THE JEWISH ADVOCATE FEBRUARY 19, 2010
How Russian Jews in Boston helped transform Israeli lives.
It’s less than a mile from the Gaza and, to many, the city is best known for being subjected
to furious rocket attacks. Still, I can’t seem to stay away from Sderot.
When I was accepted into the Birthright Program to Israel, I extended my trip to be able to visit the city, my third trip there in just one year. Friends ask, “What is so great that you keep going back?” My answer: “To see the kids, that’s why.” This article is available in English and Russian

Новый год деревьев (Ту бишват) или новый рецепт от юных кулинаров из Сдерота

[Письмо из Сдерота, Наташа Панаитова]
Вы, знаете все-таки странный народ мы евреи. Всё человечество празднует новый год зимой, с ёлками, снежками и всякими там Дед Морозами и Санта Клаусами. Для нас же это обычный рабочий день, и начало нового календарного года. Зато осенью мы отмечаем свой новый год с мёдом и яблоками, а сейчас вот и ту бишват. Это тоже новый год, и мы его празднуем,сажая новые деревья. А как же это наша земля, земля обетованная. Знаете я только в Израиле поняла истинный смысл этих слов. Первую половину своей жизни я провела в Туркмении, жила рядом с пустыней Кара-Кум. И с детства мне было понятно, что слово «пустыня» происходит от слова «пусто». Что может расти в пустыне, кроме саксаула? Правда мой город стоял на берегу реки Аму-Дарьи и был относительно зеленным, но мое представление о пустыне никогда не менялось, это от туда дули жаркие ветры с песком и пылью, там были барханы,которые лишь ранней весной покрывались зеленью, да и выживали там только всякие пауки и суслики. Сейчас я живу в Сдероте, который располагается в Негеве, в пустыне Негев.

Photos from the Summer Camp 2009 for Sderot children

The Summer Camp for children of Sderot was paid and organized by our community.

YOUR SUPPORT DOES MAKE A DIFFERENCE!

Please take a look at the pictures.
Summer Camp 2009 -- Photo album

A Summer They'll Never Forget...Children of Sderot Summer Camp 2009

What is the Children of Sderot Summer Camp 2009?
The Children of Sderot Summer Camp 2009 will be an opportunity for 50 children of Sderot to leave the war-stricken Sderot to attend a summer camp for two weeks.

Who has paid for the Children of Sderot Summer Camp in the past?
Members of the Russian Jewish Community has donated the funds for the Children of Sderot Summer Camps.

Where will the Children of Sderot Summer Camp take place?

Children of Sderot Summer Camp will take place on the picturesque hills on the outskirts of Jerusalem, facilitated with cabin houses, dining room, and rolling acres of land for outdoor activities. The children will swim in a swimming pool in a nearby kibbutz.

Exclusive Children of Sderot Winter Camp Report and Interview

RJCF's winter camp for 50 Children of Sderot took place during the week of Chanukah vacation in the Nitzana Education Center in the Negev. The camp was a smashing success. Not only were the children taken away for a brief respite from Kassam fire, they took part in nature trips, math and English clubs, and learned about Chanukah and Jewish traditions.
Interview with Children of Sderot Winter Camp Counselors' Eliza Zell and Anna Kamenetsky.

Restoring normalcy for children of Sderot ["The Jewish Advocate", 9/2/2008]

Last year, when 20 underprivileged children from Sderot, Israel, came to the U.S. to attend camp - 10 campers in Massachusetts, 10 campers in New Hampshire - it was an indicator of the community outreach being made to the helpless children stranded in an embattled city.
With the precedent set, an expanded collaboration ensued. Already involved as the host for the Sderot kids attending the Russian School of Mathematics camp in Sunapee, N.H., Inessa Rifkin, camp director and principle of the Russian School of Mathematics's Newton location, was joined by the Russian Jewish Community Foundation's Ary Rotman and Greg Margolin, as well...

Masha Bresner: Camp for Children of Sderot; How We Did It [Sep 1st, 2008]

I am going to be 100% honest with you. The six Americans who took part in the first RJCF camp for the children of Sderot were shocked. We had all worked extensively with children before, but these kids were unlike any we had ever encountered. We had all spent our summers at camp RSM (Russian School of Mathematics) at Sunapee first as campers and then as counselors.

This past August, the Russian Jewish Community of Boston raised enough money to found a camp in Israel for the children of Sderot. The six American counsellors, Rimma Pivovarov, Masha Bresner, Liz Rapoport, Michael Wolfson,Vicky Berdichevsky, and Masha Rifkin, who would be the representatives of the community, each raised 2000 dollars before our departure to Israel. We decided that the camp we would be starting in Israel would be similar to the New Hampshire camp we were used to. We would teach them English and math, we would take them on outings with the Israeli Counselors who had spent the year leading children's trips through the Israeli wilderness, we would do our best give them a normal life away from the constant barrage of rocket fire that defined their days in Sderot.

Letter from the Counselors of Camp ’08 [Aug 1st, 2008]

Children<br>of Sderot Very soon first group of children will come to the summer camp in "Yaar Lavi" in the forests of Golan. This project is being implemented in partnership with the Israeli organization Green Horizons that specializes in outdoor activities for children. The kids will be living in the tents, participate in all kinds of activities that young counselors from Massachusetts thought up for them. The idea of the camp is so popular that our volunteers in Sderot get lots of calls from parents wanting to sign up their kids for this camp.

Equally excited are our counselors of this first summer camp. To become a counselor in Sderot camp is a privilege. Young people had not only have special training; they also had to pay their airfare to Israel and for their upkeep there. For that they had to raise money, that is, to advocate for this project and convince people to donate money especially for their trip to Israel. They had to bring the ideas for entertaining and educating Israeli kids. Here is the letter from our counselors to Russian Jewish Community:

July'08 update

Letter from Rinat (רינת אלון) Hello Masha,

How are you? Over here the weather is hot and the preparations for the camp are going into high gear...

Last week Natasha, Sveta and I had a very nice (although wearying) day driving to the north to check the camp site- "YAAR LAVI". We were worried about so many things but as soon as we got there we felt like it`s a wonderful place, and very suitable for our needs. The staff over there was so welcoming and helpful, and the facilities are in a really good shape. I`m attaching a file with some pictures and explanations for you.

Masha Rifkin Reports To Russian Jewish Community from Sderot

Dear Everyone,

This past month I finally made my way back to Sderot! I had been anxiously waiting for my return trip and practically sprinted off the plane to meet Natasha in Ben Gurion Airport.

I have to admit that amidst my utter happiness at being back in the city I had grown to love, there was definitely some negativity. I was scared. Actually tangibly scared. It probably didn’t help that as soon as I stepped outside of the airport security rushed me back inside, citing a ‘high security alert’. I never did find out what was going on. Nevertheless – during the four months I spent studying in Israel and practically living in Sderot, I was scared sure – but it was almost muffled. I couldn’t feel it, it didn’t affect me, I just knew that it was there somewhere.

Irina Shakhnovich Hosted a Fundraiser for the Children of Sderot Fund

On Sunday, June 29th, Irina Shakhnovich hosted a fundraiser for the Children of Sderot Fund at the home of her parents, Eugene and Marsha Shakhnovich in Lexington. Sharon Davidovich of the Jewish National Fund, Ary Rotman, President of RJCF, Mila Magitsky, Alex Fridman, along with friends, co-workers and family attended the event to raise awareness and donate funds to send 50 kids to camp during their summer and Channukah vacation. Irina's efforts helped bring us closer to our goal of raising $75,000 and we thank her and everyone whom she inspired to help.

[February 14, 2008] Report by Baruch Yussin

Dear friends, here is status of our Children of Sderot project. We have renovated a bomb shelter that used by the children of Sderot as a club for free-time activities and in the time of emergency. During emergency according to the rules of Israeli civil defense the shelter can be used by general population as well. The club is used by the "Mish'ol" program which provides services to the whole Neveh-Eshkol neighborhood.

[January 28, 2008] Greg Margolin: Ich Bin Ein Sderoter

"In other places people meet their guests with hot, freshly baked bread. In Sderot, it is Kassams. That day they dropped in excess of 55 Kassams on the city..."

[December 08, 2007] Inna Rifkin: Our visit to Sderot

As many of you know Victor and I were in Israel just before the ball. It was a private trip of course, but out of our 12 day visit to the country we spent 5 days in Sderot. While in Sderot we stayed with Natasha Panaitova, the social worker who runs the Children of Sderot project in Israel.

[April, 2007] The beginning of the Children of Sderot project

In January 2007 Masha Rifkin, a junior at Cornell University, began her semester abroad in Israel. It was through her search for a summer internship that she met David Bedein of the Israeli Resource News Agency. She began her internship for Bedein immediately and through his stories first became acquainted with the city of Sderot.

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