Solomon Schechter Cycle for Israel

Solomon Schechter Day School of Bergen County is hosting its first Cycle for Israel on Sunday, October 23rd at 9:00 a.m. at 275 McKinley Avenue in New Milford. Everyone is invited to participate. 

There are three courses to choose from: 3 mile, 10 mile and 25 mile. There will also be a "Learn to Ride" workshop for pre-schoolers.

Proceeds are going to benefit three specific charities in Israel:

• The Masorti Movement’s Bar/Bat Mitzvah for Children with Special Needs
• Leket, The National Food Bank of Israel
• Yad LaKashish, Lifeline for the Elderly

It was Shari Leventhal who brought the idea of Cycle for Israel to Solomon Schechter. It fits with their "Sundays@Schechter" program--free family events sponsored by Schechter and open to the wider community that reflects what is going on at the school.

There will also be free preschool activities such as arts and crafts and "Learn to Ride." Eighth graders will be on hand as babysitters. 

Leventhal said, "There are a lot of families who ride and I thought this would be great as a way to support the eighth grade program."

For the past seven years, eighth graders have participated in a program that takes them to Israel. There are three things that the students accomplish while in Israel:

• They take part in the Masorti's Movement Bar/Bat Mitzvah for special needs children and support special needs students who are making their Bar/Bat Mitzvah by helping them to prepare for the day. "The students are particularly touched by this program," said Mashie Kopelowitz, Israel Educator and Israel Encounter Coordinator.  
• As part of Leket, the national food bank of Israel, the students head to the fields to help pick fruits and vegetables that are then delivered to the tables of people who don't have food.
• The students also visit Yad LaKashish, Lifeline for the Elderly. This home teaches the elderly artistic embroidery, metalwork, crafting, and their items are sold in shops. The students get a tour through  the workshops to buy some of their goods to bring home. 

"This is a double mitzvah," says Kopelowitz. "They're talking to the elderly and buying their goods."

Sarah Sokolic, Director of Admissions, says the goal of the program is to offer the students hands-on experience to repair the world. "We want them to understand how raising money connects them with acts of kindness." It's not enough to just give money; the children are shown how fullfilling it is to also give of themselves. 

"We want them to say 'I'm doing something to change the world,'" Sokolic said.