E-News
March 14, 2007
JHP/Chabad Brings Hope & Action to Jewish Community in Buenos Aires
During Spring Break, defying the wantonness of the general college community, 12 JHP Penn students, along with JHP Fellow, Lindsay Teich & Lubavitch Rabbi Ephraim Levin & his wife Flora, nobly traveled to strengthen Jewish bonds & heritage & aid the poverty stricken Jewish community in & around Buenos Aires, Argentina.
The group also toured Buenos Aires, seeing the "Pink House"(their White House), toured "El Tigre," a Delta by boat, & in Palermo, walked to Shabbos dinner on a 13 lane street, the widest in the world.
Upon first arriving, these students were stunned by seeing the poverty & unfortunate living conditions that so many, especially young children had to live with. They were then taken to Yeladeinu, a Jewish organization providing support to Jewish families & children, where they were educated about the abusive situations many children endured until put into a program such as Yeladeinu.
These students brought hope and action to Jewish families in need. Immediately, upon seeing the horrific, deplorable conditions, JHPers began to act. Trying to hold back their emotions, JHP got to work, ridding the houses of rampant bugs, cleaning, painting and whatever else they could do to make these homes a bit better. Breaking the language barrier with sincerity & love, these students, while playing with the children, brought a glimmer of hope in their eyes. After all was done, they wished they could have done more. Yet, these JHPers realized that their presence alone was more important than any job that they performed.
After each day's "service" reflective sessions created by Rabbi Ephraim Levin & led by Lindsay Teich, resulted in deepening the experience & its applications for the future. The group also discussed community service from Jewish values taken from the Talmud.
These discussions, the Shabbos experience & "service" culminated in their wishing to come back.
Also from these discussions, seeing these conditions & witnessing how these other Jews lived, brought a strong bond between each of these JHPers and a stronger bond to their heritage. Boys began to lain Teffillin daily & committed themselves to perform this Mitzvah upon returning home. Others promised that they will begin taking small steps to become more involved with their own Judaism. Girls promised to light Shabbos candles if not every Friday, at least twice a month. Others wanted Shabbos dinners to happen weekly at different students’ homes on campus when they return.
Free time & at night, these students along with Rabbi Ephraim & Flora, further experienced a communal bonding between each other & with the Argentineans, by watching the “Tango” in the park, by fervently celebrating Shabbos with Argentinean students, bringing hope, love and a Jewish connection to these Argentinean families & children in much need, dancing & expressing their strong feelings towards one another, their Jewishness and the Argentinean Jewish people.
“Argentina may have been one of the most powerful & inspiring experiences of my life. In my career with JHP & all my involvement with student run initiatives, campus events attracting thousands of people, traveling to Israel for the past 2 years with 160 students, & more, all that said, for the first time, I am able to see the importance of my work with college students in JHP realized. First hand, I saw each of these students connect passionately with their Jewish identity.” – Lindsay Teich, JHP Fellow
