July 8, 2011 - The Jewish Star

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Local football coach in Jerusalem Page 3 Entebbe: our mission today Page 6 The Best of my Worst: Krantz speaks Page 8 Ask Aviva: Too frum? Page 13

THE JEWISH

STAR

VOL 10, NO 26 ■ JULY 8, 2011 / 6 TAMMUZ, 5771

WWW.THEJEWISHSTAR.COM

I went to the ohel on Gimel Tammuz

Divide and inspire By Shira Nesenoff Rebbe Menachem Mendel Shneerson zt’l was a prominent chasidic rebbe who led the Chabad movement. In order to spread his message of Jewish outreach, he sent out Chabad emissaries all over the world to inspire Jewish communities of all sizes. On July 5, the Rebbe’s Gimmel Tammuz yahrtzeit, when I walked through a line separating male and females all leading towards an extravagant grave, conflict arose in my head as to what to say as I approached the ohel. I planned on a series of tehillim to recite in order to keep occupied and focused. Finally after walking down the narrow row I approached the Rebbe’s grave. There were women all with heads bent into siddurim, rocking back and forth. Suddenly I felt I could no longer breathe. Something was blocking the passageway from my lung to my mouth. I swallowed and tears rolled down my face. Maybe it was my contact lens bothering me, or the wind drying out my eye, but

Photo courtesy of the Derie family

Paratrooper Erez Derie z”l at the Kotel Plaza.

Write On For Erez!

Continued on page 3

Local students need $26K more By Rebecca Hia

Photo by Adam Nesenoff

Lubavitch hasidim gather at the ohel.

On a windy day this past February, 44 Jewish teenagers from the New York area stood upon Har Herzl, Israel’s largest military cemetery, to gain a broader understanding of Israeli casualties and the brutal truth of fighting to protect one’s country. The teenagers were part of the Write On For Israel high school Israel advocacy program, meeting with

Israeli officials, IDF soldiers, and media correspondents. At the cemetery, the Write On For Israel chapter encountered an Israeli couple mourning the loss of their son, Erez Derie, 21, who died shortly after a military operation in 2006, in the city of Jenin. Penina, Erez’s mother, invited the students to discuss her son’s life and the impact of his death on his family. She shared that Erez was a paratrooper

and was killed just a few days before his 22nd birthday. While listening to the heartfelt sobs of his mother, she spoke of her dream to dedicate a Torah scroll in memory of her son. The students made a promise to help the family realize that dream. The group, whose mission is to train high school students to become Israel advocates on college campuses through journalism and public speaking, decided Continued on page 3

Shabbat Candlelighting: 8:11 p.m. Shabbat ends 9:19 p.m. 72 minute zman 9:41 p.m. Torah Reading Parshat Balak

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