I Bet Your [sic] Scared Just To Walk Out Of The House: American and Israeli Kids Exchange Letters

American Jewish Committee
Wednesday, 1 May 2002

Hundreds of students in Manhattan's Park Avenue Synagogue Hebrew School marked Israel's recent 54th birthday writing letters of support and friendship to their peers in Israel. The exchange was coordinated by young staffers at the American Jewish Committee.

The "very moving, beautifully decorated" letters are being sent to the Ben-Zvi school in Nes Ziona, some of whose students have already written the Americans, said Rebecca Neuwirth, special assistant to AJC executive director David A. Harris and a Park Avenue Synagogue Hebrew School graduate. The AJC is also forwarding letters from students at Stuyvesant High School in Manhattan, close to Ground Zero, to Nes Ziona's junior high and high school students.

Ms. Neuwirth said she's already received e-mail requests from AJC members wanting to bring the penpal project into their own communities.

Smadar Harush, Associate Director of AJC's New York Chapter, whose sister is principal of Nes Ziona, arranged the exchange on the Israeli side. She says that each letter from an Israeli child dwelled on recent terrorist attacks and fear they have evoked.

"Life here is very hard, even for me," writes Yuval Cohen. "I'm scared outside. I'm also scared at home."

"I wish to me and my family that we'll stop living in fear, and we'll not get hurt," says Dana.

Although the Park Avenue students, from kindergarten through sixth grade, try to cheer up their new Israeli friends by writing of hobbies and ordinary life, they all appear aware of current realities overseas. Some say they have visited Israel or plan to do so.

"I know what is going on in Israel," writes Josh. "I hope that all these bad events end and there will be peace."

"I bet your [sic] scared just to walk out of the house," writes his classmate Brandon. "I hope you haven't lost any family members or friends."

Many of the letters reflect a sobering awareness of the complicated and increasingly frightening larger picture.

"How do you fell [sic] about the palestinian [sic]?," writes Elias. "I feel bad I also fell [sic] bad about the twin towers."

"Two days ago there was a pro-Israel rally in Washington," writes Hannah. "Did you know about it? Well if you didn't know about it many many people support you including myself."

Hannah concludes her note with love and, in Hebrew, "Am Yisrael Chai" ("the people of Israel lives").

For more information, or to contact American Jewish Committee, see their website at: www.ajc.org