Acts of kindness let students shine

While good grades are important, acts of kindness towards others are equally as significant at the Hebrew Academy of the Five Towns and Rockaway (HAFTR) High School. Every year, students are required to do a minimum of 25 chesed or service hours to help their friends or other members of the community. Now that the year is coming to a close, it’s important to reflect on some of the major acts of kindness that students at HAFTR High have performed.

There have been a lot of opportunities for chesed this year, especially after Hurricane Sandy, which left many homes flooded and powerless. HAFTR students who did not lose power graciously opened their homes to others who did. Many students (even if they were not living at home) volunteered to serve meals at Congregation Beth Sholom of Lawrence to victims of the storm, collect clothing, and help clean debris out of basements. Some students even removed a boiler from a woman’s home! A lot of effort was put into hauling thousands of pounds of religious items out of Rabbi Gedaliah Oppen’s house to the trailers at Sh’or Yoshuv.

Every Thursday, at the Young Israel of Woodmere, students pack Tomchei Shabbos, packages to provide food and other necessities so that Jews in need can celebrate Shabbat and other holidays, Another Tomchei Shabbos program available for HAFTR students was set up by an alumnus, who was inspired by the Tomchei Shabbos program in which he was involved while he was in high school.

Seniors Hannah Cohen, Sarah Fruchter, Daniel Gul, and Michael Sosnick visit a 3-year-old boy with leukemia who has never been able to go to school. The visits began when he was at Long Island Jewish Hospital and continue at his home. They teach him the Hebrew letters and sing songs with him. The boys taught him how to say the blessing ontzitzit. “It really means a lot to me to know that we’re doing something that will actually make a difference and help him,” Cohen said. “We have really formed a connection to him — he is so sweet and cute, and we love spending time with him. Seeing him smile makes us so happy.”