If there is a project that needs volunteers, we are there. It is part of the DNA of the yeshiva.” Camp Hadassim counselors. Nadav Klein, 2nd from right, back row.
Teachers know it is often hard to measure success. The way a student behaves in school doesn’t really give us the full picture, and a great score on the Bagrut exam is only one indication. How do they act at home, or with friends, or with strangers? What do they do when volunteering isn’t compulsory, or when expectations and peer pressure are no longer a factor?
A real measure of success is what happens when kids are not in school. This summer, after a year consumed by Covid, most needed a break. But education at AMIT schools is imbued with volunteerism. Care and concern for the community and those around you are key values all students learn. Over the next few weeks, we will spotlight some of our amazing students.
David Shulman and Nadav Klein, two graduating seniors from Yeshivat AMIT Kfar Ganim in Petach Tikva, spent last week running a camp for people with disabilities. Camp Hadassim, a project of their local branch of Bnei Akiva, runs three camps a year, with summer camp as the longest. For six days and nights, campers ranging in age from 10 to 35 are given the week of their lives — trips and attractions, fun and camaraderie — all culminating in a very special Shabbat where they stay at counselors’ homes within the community.
One of the incredible things about this camp is that it operates 100% on volunteers with all participant expenses raised by the students themselves. They have fundraising events throughout the year which continues to engage the alumni, so the camp truly becomes a community-wide project.
When asked who inspired him at AMIT, David named his 12th grade teacher, Rabbi Yedidya Tzukerman. “He inspired me to be a better person, to invest in developing myself, and to give of myself.” Nadav acknowledged that volunteering is an integral part of the education he received at AMIT Kfar Ganim. “From 7th grade the message we receive is to volunteer. Every place you can, volunteer. If there is a project that needs volunteers, we are there. It is part of the DNA of the yeshiva.”
When asked how he feels about the experience, Nadav explained, “At camp, I maybe slept two hours a night for six straight days. When I got back home, I asked my mother, ‘How do I go back to normal life?’ When I was at camp, I was giving, doing good, all the time. It’s a bit hard to get used to my daily life!”
David Shulman
