Save Our Soldiers Rally in NYC
July 10, 2007, Great Barrington, MA – The Union for Reform Judaism’s Eisner and Crane Lake Camps today announced its participation with S.O.S.: Save Our Soldiers (“S.O.S.”) in the “Free the Soldiers Rally” on Monday, July 16, 2007 at Dag Hammarskjold Plaza at the United Nations in New York City. This action comes after three Israeli soldiers were captured last summer.
Sponsored by the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations and the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York and in cooperation with the United Jewish Communities, the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, the UJA-Federation of New York, and the American Zionist Movement, the rally is aimed at urging the United Nations to demand the immediate and unconditional release of Israeli soldiers Gilad Shalit, Ehud Goldwasser, and Eldad Regev, who were kidnapped by Hamas and Hezbollah one year ago. S.O.S. is the national youth movement dedicated to raising the awareness of captured soldiers Regev, Goldwasser, and Shalit. The group was created by Eisner camper Gabrielle Flaum, 17, upon returning home from a North American Federation of Temple Youth (NFTY) trip to Israel last summer. Flaum will be joined by a delegation of 300 people including the Eisner and Crane Lake Camps’ Machon Leadership Program participants, members of the Camps’ Israeli staff and faculty members, as well as campers from Kutz Campus, the Union for Reform Judaism’s NFTY Leadership Academy.
Gabrielle Flaum became the leading force behind legislation that was introduced in the New Jersey State Legislature, demanding that the United Nations assist in the release of the soldiers. Flaum and S.O.S. testified before the New Jersey State Assembly and Senate, leading to the passage of the Resolution two weeks ago, becoming the first state to pass this Resolution (SR94/AR244). A product of the Reform Movement, Flaum is currently a counselor-in-training in the Machon Leadership Program at Eisner Camp, after having spent ten summers as a camper at Eisner, participating in the Olim Leadership Program for 10th graders and the NFTY trip to Israel. Upon her return to the United States, Flaum sought an outlet to release her energy and new found passion for Israel. She hoped to do something for the three kidnapped soldiers and engage others in her mission.
“Eisner Camp and the Reform Movement are proud that Gabrielle’s devotion has manifested itself in New Jersey and hopes that her work will be continued at the United Nations,” said Louis Bordman, Senior Director of URJ Eisner and Crane Lake Camps.
Machon campers Robbie Heeger and Aaron Mazie wrote Pikuach Nefesh, a song supporting Israeli soldiers, while in Arad, Israel during the Israeli-Lebanese conflict in the summer of 2006. The song, which will be performed during the rally, urges peace and unity in the Middle East from the eyes of our Jewish-American youth.
Through advocacy and activism, this group hopes to engage others in the Jewish values of pikuach nefesh (saving a life) and hava’at shalom beyn adam l’chaveyro (making peace amongst human beings), carried out through the mitzvot (commandments) of pidyon shvuyim (the redemption of captives) and tikkun olam (repairing the world), to simultaneously act quickly to bring our soldiers home.
To learn more about Shalit, Goldwasser, and Regev, please visit www.freethesoldiers.org.
URJ Eisner and Crane Lake Camps are summer overnight educational camps located in the Berkshire Mountains. Eisner Camp and Crane Lake Camp are significant fixtures in the national Jewish camping system serving 1400 youth grades 2-10 each summer from synagogues in New York, New Jersey and New England. Its mission is to increase the self esteem of campers, strengthen their Jewish identity and create the next generation of Jewish leaders. The camps accomplish this by creating community among a diverse group of people that come together for 4- and 8-weeks during the summer. Camp’s emphasis is to create a “home” like atmosphere that nurtures its inhabitants, fosters caring behavior and provides emotional and physical safety. For more information, please visit www.urjnecamps.org.
