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2 Jewish teens harness the power of their peers to address social problems — and spark a movement
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In mid-2021, as the COVID pandemic raged, high school student Lily Messing noticed that the social ills plaguing her native Tucson, Arizona — including domestic violence, drug abuse and homelessness — all seemed to be getting worse.
Meanwhile, Jake Hammerman, a teenager in Lafayette, California, a suburb in the San Francisco Bay area, saw firsthand how the pandemic exacerbated the challenges facing homebound seniors, many of whom were isolated to begin with.
Determined to do something to help, the two Jewish teens put their respective skills to use: Lily as a grassroots organizer, Jake as a tennis instructor.
Lily, 17, established 100+ Teens Who Care, a nonprofit network of “giving circles” comprised of like-minded high school students who collectively select and donate to a specific local charity. Her first chapter, in Tucson, started out with 100 members and now boasts at least 220 teens. While Lily’s project began in Arizona, her impact has expanded across the United States and internationally, with 23 chapters now operating in places ranging from Idaho to Islamabad, Pakistan.
“I began the organization because I felt like teens really wanted to make a difference but lacked the coordination and opportunity to do so,” Lily said. “I wanted to give them an outlet to make meaningful change in our community.”
Jake, 18, launched Impactful Tennis in May 2020 to fund a local Meals on Wheels chapter. Under the program, volunteers offered children tennis lessons and asked that in lieu of payment parents donate the fees to that charity. Since its founding, Impactful Tennis volunteers have given over 900 tennis lessons to some 400 students, generating $39,000 in donations — not only meals for the elderly, but also for companionship and mental health services.
“My project started from my passion for tennis and also from what I was seeing on the news,” Jake said. “My grandparents suffer from Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. The pandemic definitely aggravated the impact of these diseases, so I really wanted to help seniors during this time of need.”
In early August, the two extraordinary Jewish teens — along with 13 others from across the United States — were honored at a ceremony in San Francisco by the Helen Diller Family Foundation, which awarded each of the 15 teens a $36,000 prize in recognition of their outstanding work innovating and leading change in their communities and around the world.
Jake Hammerman of Lafayette, Calif., came up with a way to use tennis lessons to help fund a local Meals on Wheels chapter that worked with homebound seniors. (Diller Teen Tikkun Olam Awards)
The Diller Teen Tikkun Olam Awards, whose name is Hebrew for “repairing the world,” are given annually.
Among this year’s awardees: New Jersey resident Aron Goodman, who uses TikTok to fight antisemitism by sharing first-person video interviews with his grandmother, a Holocaust survivor; Meaza Light-Orr of Los Angeles, who spearheaded a $120,000 project to fund a primary school in her birth village of Kololo, Ethiopia; and Steven Hoffen, whose nonprofit boosts food security by installing and maintaining hydroponic gardens both in Israel and his native New York City.
Since its inception in 2007, the foundation’s Diller Teen Tikkun Olam Awards — established by Bay Area philanthropist Helen Diller — have given away nearly $7 million to 189 recipients. The awardees use the funds to help further their projects or contribute toward their education.
“Young people are striving to solve critical challenges in their communities with creativity, hard work, resourcefulness, and a commitment to tikkun olam,” said Phyllis Cook, the foundation’s philanthropic consultant. “We are inspired by their leadership and committed to recognizing them as role models for other teens by celebrating how young people can make an impact in communities across the country.”
For Jake, who has been playing tennis since age 7, it seemed obvious that the best way to raise funds for Meals on Wheels was to give local children tennis lessons. But instead of collecting money, he’d ask the kids’ parents to donate to Impactful Tennis through a GoFundMe account.
“It started off with just me and five of my closest friends, but I knew the organization had the potential to grow much bigger,” said Jake, a rising freshman who will attend Yale this fall. The group, which only gives lessons during the summer, now has 20 volunteer instructors and charges $40 per lesson. The concept is so popular that its online sign-up sheets generally fill up within minutes.
Even though COVID largely has receded from public concern, social isolation among the elderly still persists on a massive scale, Jake noted.
For her part, Lily realized that an individual teen donating $25 might feel insignificant, but that such a donation when combined with 100 other contributions could make a real difference.
As part of 100+ Teens Who Care, each member donates $100 per year ($25 at every quarterly meeting), with 100% of the collected funds going to a selected charity. At each meeting, three vetted local charities are randomly selected for consideration. Following brief presentations by those who nominated them, members vote anonymously. The charity with the most votes receives all the funds.
Since its inception, the Tucson chapter of 100+ Teens Who Care has raised more than $30,000 to provide essential supplies to homeless youth, support mental health services for children and fund housing for those transitioning out of the foster care system. Together, the impact of her service-minded peers is far stronger than if each teen helped individually, Lily said.
“I realized I could use the Tucson chapter as a template to create other chapters, so I developed information videos to help other teens start their own chapters,” Lily said. “We’re expanding at the rate of two new chapters every month, and every chapter puts its own spin on it.”
So, for example, the 100+ Teens Who Care chapter in Palm Beach, Florida, does monthly beach cleanups, while the chapter in Portland, Oregon, hosts food drives for that city’s homeless population.
“I feel like there’s real power in getting a group of like-minded teens to come together to make the world a better place and instill the values of philanthropy at such a young age,” Lily said. “I truly hope this will carry with them for the rest of their lives.”
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The post 2 Jewish teens harness the power of their peers to address social problems — and spark a movement appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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Man Arrested, Charged With Hate Crime for Vandalizing Kosher Bagel Shop in Miami
A flag owned by Holy Bagels & Pizzeria that was vandalized on June 16, 2024. Photo: Miami PD.
The Miami Police Department on Tuesday arrested the man allegedly responsible for the antisemitic vandalism of a Jewish-owned kosher bagel shop in downtown Miami last month.
Kenneth Guerrera, 28, was charged with criminal mischief with prejudice, a hate crime charge, for vandalizing Holy Bagels & Pizzeria on June 16.
The kosher bagel and pizza shop was vandalized along with a flag outside the store’s entrance. The vandal spray painted “Free Palestine” and “Stop Genocide” on the front door and windows of the restaurant. The suspect also tore down from outside the store an Israeli-American flag that said “Stand With Israel” and spray painted “Free Palestine” on it. A number of volunteers helped clean off the graffiti after the vandalism, including Miami Mayor Francis Suarez and US District Court Judge Roy Altman.
Miami’s Local 10 news reported that a police officer in the Miami area identified Guerrera after seeing a police wanted flyer as well as surveillance video from the incident. Police said that after his arrest, Guerrera agreed to speak with detectives without an attorney, but his full confession was not shared with the public.
“The apprehension is a reminder that we will not tolerate such despicable acts of hate and will continue to work tirelessly to ensure that our community remains a safe and inclusive place for all,” said Chief of Police Manuel Morales after Guerrera’s arrest.
The post Man Arrested, Charged With Hate Crime for Vandalizing Kosher Bagel Shop in Miami first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Palestinian Authority Pays for the Murder of Jews
PA President Mahmoud Abbas gestures during a meeting in Ramallah, in the West Bank August 18, 2020. Photo: REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman/Pool
An Israeli Arab stabbed two Israelis yesterday in the city of Karmiel, murdering one and seriously wounding another.
The Palestinian Authority (PA) rewards the families of Palestinian terrorists who are killed while perpetrating their crimes with a 6,000-shekel one-time reward, and 1,400 shekels monthly for life.
Since the terrorist who committed the attack yesterday was an Israeli Arab, the PA will provide his family with that amount plus 21% — for a total of 1,700 shekels a month for life.
Palestinian Media Watch exposed the Palestinians’ “Pay-for-Slay” program in 2011, and the world has condemned it ever since.
Despite this, PA leader Mahmoud Abbas has said dozens of times (and PA television has broadcast this) that even if the PA has one penny left, it will continue to pay prisoners and Martyrs.
Ephraim D. Tepler is a contributor to Palestinian Media Watch (PMW). Itamar Marcus is PMW’s Founder and Director. A version of this article originally appeared at PMW.
The post Palestinian Authority Pays for the Murder of Jews first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Israeli Radio Stations Boycott Roger Waters’ Music After He Denies Hamas Sexually Abused Victims on Oct. 7
Roger Waters on “Piers Morgan Uncensored.” Photo: YouTube screenshot
Several Israeli radio stations announced they will no longer play songs by former Pink Floyd frontman Roger Waters after he denied Hamas terrorists carried out sexual violence against their victims during the Oct. 7 attacks in a recent interview with Piers Morgan, Ynet reported on Thursday.
Waters appeared on the talk show “Piers Morgan Uncensored” on Tuesday and claimed there is “no evidence” that Hamas terrorists sexually assaulted some of its victims on Oct. 7, despite widely corroborated proof to the contrary, confirmation by the United Nations, and first-hand testimonies from former Hamas hostages.
“All the filthy disgusting lies that the Israelis told after Oct. 7 about burning babies and women being raped — no they weren’t,” Waters said.
Morgan fired back, “Actually women were raped. It’s been established by the United Nations. There is extensive evidence of assault and rape.”
However, Waters replied, “You can say anything you want [but] there is no evidence.”
A day after Rogers’ interview with Morgan aired, Hagit Pe’er — the president of NA’AMAT, the largest women’s organization in Israel — urged radio stations in the country to stop broadcasting songs by the singer. “We believe that a reputable and fair-minded radio station should take a stand against the harmful statements made by Mr. Waters,” Pe’er wrote in a letter sent to radio stations on Wednesday. “The appropriate course of action would be to refrain from playing his music until he acknowledges and apologizes for his deceptive and inflammatory remarks.”
Some Israeli radio stations agreed to adhere to Pe’er’s request, Ynet reported. Noam Cohen Gefen, who owns an Israeli radio station, told the Israeli publication: “Since the beginning of the war, and with Waters’ previous statements, we have almost completely stopped playing Pink Floyd’s songs, and they were put on air only as part of dedications and requests. We were shocked by the interview and will not play his songs in the foreseeable future.”
Israel’s two leading radio stations, Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation’s Kan and the Army Radio, did not announce a clear decision regarding the matter, but anonymous sources confirmed to Ynet that both will not play Rogers’ songs in the near future.
NA’AMAT USA, the American branch of the women’s nonprofit organization, supported the call to boycott Waters’ music on Israeli radio stations. “We believe Israeli women. Hate-filled denials of the sexual violence targeting them on Oct. 7 should not be platformed anywhere,” NA’AMAT USA said. “We are grateful to NA’AMAT Israel President Hagit Pe’er for standing up for Israeli women. It is their voices that should be heard. NA’AMAT USA (formerly Pioneer Women) has supported Israeli women since 1925 and remains deeply dedicated to that mission today.”
Waters was outspoken against Israel and accused of outright antisemitism long before the Hamas atrocities of Oct. 7.
Last year, an explosive documentary showed fellow musicians detailing Waters’ long record of anti-Jewish barbs. In one instance, a former colleague recalled Waters at a restaurant yelling at the wait staff to “take away the Jew food.”
The post Israeli Radio Stations Boycott Roger Waters’ Music After He Denies Hamas Sexually Abused Victims on Oct. 7 first appeared on Algemeiner.com.