Friday, January 23, 2009

A True Act of Kindness

This past Sunday, the Yeshiva that I work at was host to one of the most amazing things I've ever seen. You all know I've traveled the world, I've seen a lot, and I'm very grateful for the opportunities that I've had, yet with all the beautiful cities and amazing experiences I've had, I've never quite had one as truly awe inspiring as this carnival.

Around 300 children from Ashkelon (one of the major cities living within range of the rockets from Gaza) came to the Yeshiva, so that we could give them a day off – just a day to be a kid again – due to the incessant rain of rockets they've experienced over the past year they've rarely had time to just enjoy themselves without that feeling that at any time a missile could strike. An anonymous donor paid for the entire event, from busing the children to Jerusalem, the rides,
our Staff t-shirts, and the food; what a way to truly make an impact.

We set up and manned a dozen different rides and games for the kids, moon bounces, motorcycle races, basketball games, slides, etc. We each had a role to play in the event, some of us were running the booths and playing with the kids, some of us were serving them cotton candy and popcorn, and some of us worked the DJ booth. The most impressive part of this whole event – was not that it was set up within three days – but the faces the kids had on the entire time. Kids go nuts for these carnivals all over the world, but when they live in mortal
danger day in and day out, and then they have this event – it brings the idea of charity to a whole other level.

Take a look at these pictures, you'll see just how great this event was.