YOSS Mechina HIKON Trip

Chai Lifeline’s Camp Simcha Without Borders to Support More Than 600 Children Across North America

The YOSS Mechina recently celebrated the final term of HIKON davening program. Since the beginning of the year, the talmidim demonstrated excellence in their daily davening, including coming on time, dressing appropriately, and davening from a siddur.

In celebrationm they boys were treated to a delicious Chinese dinner catered by Hasini Shel Broadway and a trip to Long Island Adventure Park, Long Island’s premier park for outdoor climbing adventures. The boys had a great time navigating through the various courses using “tweezles” and cables. The park is a self-guided course, so the boys were able to go at their own pace, choosing which courses they wanted to attempt.

The evening culminated with a bonfire, roasting marshmallows, and a kumzits led by Rabbi Davidowitz and Rabbi Wolf. We are looking forward to seeing everyone back on HIKON next year.

Hashgacha pratis was the theme of the Bais Yaakov Ateres Miriam eighth grade’s foray into learning about the Holocaust and the exhibit they prepared. Each group based their triboard on a Holocaust-related novel that was read in class, as well as many other poems, stories and personal connections that they found. The girls brought out the hashgacha pratis that was present even in the darkest times and how this message extends to our generation. As one student wrote on her board, “It is our responsibility to carry on our ancestor’s legacies and make sure their sacrifices and loyalty to Hashem are not forgotten.”

In addition to the beautiful and thoughtful tri-boards displayed, the girls pre - pared a beautiful video with pictures and a song depicting that thanks to Hashem’s help we as a people were able to “rise from the ashes.” The wall in the back of the room was adorned with yellow stars, naming people who perished, the unfortunate casualties of a world gone mad. But as one student so eloquently explained, while 6 million people were murdered and 6 million of their belongings were burned, the Germans couldn’t reach our core, our neshama. This was represented with a visual of crates numbered with items that were lost, with the crate labeled neshama listed with zero casualties, for although their bodies were decimated no one can ever harm the neshama of a Yid.

Three years after its initial launch during the heart of the COVID pandemic, Chai Lifeline, the international children’s health support network, is once again preparing to bring Camp Simcha Without Borders to more than 600 children living with serious illnesses across North America.

Continuing the tradition of providing the “Simcha” experience to communities far and wide, this summer sessions for boys and girls will be taking place spread out over the summer months in Miami, Los Angeles, Baltimore, Chicago, Lakewood, and Deal, NJ.

Campers will be treated to non-stop activities, action, music, and swimming, the opportunity to just be kids and take a break from the medical challenges faced daily. In addition to the camp sessions taking place in each city, each region will be hosting their own community event, with activities, games, concerts and more, giving local families a chance to see the work of Chai Lifeline and learn of opportunities to get involved in support- ing the local families who benefit from their services.

Did you know?

“COVID presented us with an unprecedented challenge where many kids weren’t able to travel to our Simcha campus in upstate New York, so we pivoted and brought Simcha to them,” explains Jack Tabbush, Director of Camp Simcha Without Borders. “While we’re blessed that the world has returned to normal, we realize that the need for local community-based programming remained, and we are proud to continue to embrace this concept for the benefit of so many children and families.”

Rabbi Simcha Scholar, CEO of Chai Lifeline, adds, “At Chai Lifeline, we are committed to bringing year-round joy and support to children and families living with serious illnesses—be it in camp or in their own community. We are delighted to offer this exciting and valuable service.”

For more information about Chai Lifeline, please visit www.chailifeline. org.