“We’re on the way to the hospital to deliver games and breakfast, and to bring some joy.”
This was the message that Yaron Carmi, principal of the Society and Law track at AMIT Gwen Straus High School for Boys in Kfar Batya, received from Tali Shub, Alexander Shub’s mother. I was given her number to follow up. I thought I was about to hear about another wonderful AMIT student using their free time in the summer to help others. I soon found out the story was much, much bigger than that.
Alexander is only 13. When he was in 5th grade, he was involved in a tragic accident in school and as a result, developed photophobia (sensitivity to light). He lost most of his sight in both eyes and spent a large portion of that year in the hospital. Alexander is now legally blind; he can’t see the board at the front of his classroom, and he can’t read the regular text in a book. He went from being a young boy who excelled in his studies to suddenly needing to adapt to a whole new reality. This year, he was having difficulties when he moved to the Society and Law track of the AMIT Gwen Straus school in Kfar Batya. In his mother’s words, “The school is the story here.”
“In a matter of days, the staff had to find solutions to all kinds of challenges Alexander faces and they rose to the challenge. The staff is amazing. They simply saved him, physically and mentally as well. It would never have happened in any other school.”
Only, for Alexander, just surviving isn’t enough. He is determined to not only receive help but to continue to help others as he has been doing from an even younger age. He began volunteering when he was in the first grade. Every year since he collects money and school supplies to give to families in need. He is on the Ra’anana Municipality Youth Council. He volunteers and raises money for the “Roi Lo Echsar” foundation, which helps disadvantaged families in Ra’anana in many ways, with a focus on youth and education.
When I spoke to Tali, Alexander was out surfing, “his therapy for his soul.” This brings us back to the message received by Yaron Carmi as they were on the way to the hospital. After spending a significant time in the hospital because of his accident, Alexander was determined to make the other kids experience there more fun and give them hope.
Alexander’s mother comes from a 12th generation Jerusalemite family and his father’s parents are from Germany and Russia. Though he is an only child, he is the 84th grandchild in his family and it was his grandfather who inspired his altruistic attitude. “My grandfather lives in Tel Aviv and I used to watch him giving candy to the street cleaners and garbage men.” Alexander would collect costumes from toy stores to give to kids in need for Purim so they wouldn’t feel left out.
“This may sound surprising, but my eye issues have actually been the best thing that have happened to me. All the hospital stays and visits to doctors strengthened me. I received incredible support from the principal and teachers. They helped me with specific issues that I had because of my eyesight, but they also helped me in other areas as well. The teachers here are solely focused on helping and raising every student up.” When asked what he wants to do in the future, he said, “Well, I’m only 13 of course, but I would like to take my volunteering and impacting to an even bigger scale.”
Yaron Carmi, principal, exclaimed: “He realized that there was going to be a gap for elementary students going into high school because of Covid, so he asked us to help him find students who would volunteer on Fridays to help tutor 6th graders. Alexander is always looking for ways to help others, in and out of school. He is a perfect fit for an AMIT school.”
