Jacob Binstein of Metuchen with youngsters whose families are homeless or in transitional housing at the Bright Beginnings daycare facility in Washington. Jacob worked with the children during his four weeks at the Summer JAM of PANIM: The Institute for Jewish Leadership and Values.
Photos courtesy of Jacob Binstein
‘Passionate about people’
THE CHILDREN of Sen. Laurence and Edith Weiss issued this statement about why their fund gives scholarships to send local teens to the Summer JAM of PANIM: The Institute for Jewish Leadership and Values:
“Our parents, Senator Laurence and Edith Weiss, felt passionately about young people, about education and about Judaism. They were dedicated to the State of Israel and to securing its future. Our parents lovingly combined their commitment to these ideals by creating an endowment fund which offers scholarship programs for today’s young people, ensuring that our Jewish youth will be equipped with every opportunity to acquire the knowledge, the passion and the desire to serve and support Israel and the Jewish people just as they had during their own lives.”
— Pat Fisher and Steve Weiss
August 26, 2008
Two Middlesex teens have been inspired to enlist other teens to help the elderly and feed the hungry as a result of their experiences in July with PANIM: The Institute for Jewish Leadership and Values.
The two, Aviva Novick of Highland Park and Jacob Binstein of Metuchen, received scholarships from the Sen. Laurence and Edith Weiss Jewish Activism Endowment to attend Panim’s four-week Summer JAM in Washington, DC. The scholarships, available annually, are administered by the Jewish Federation of Greater Middlesex County.
“I definitely want to get my community involved in some of the things that were discussed,” said Jacob, 16, who is going into his junior year at the Academy of Science, Mathematics and Engineering Technology of Middlesex County.
As such, the two are looking to organize other teens to join them in programs assisting the elderly on April 26 as part of J-Serve, the National Day of Jewish Youth Service run by Panim in partnership with the Jewish Coalition for Service.
“Aviva and I want to put together a program where we visit the elderly and talk to them and form longstanding relationships,” said Jacob, the son of Alan and Donna Binstein and a graduate of the Solomon Schechter Day School of Raritan Valley in East Brunswick.
Aviva, 17, who is going into her senior year at Ma’ayanot Yeshiva High School in Teaneck, said they were considering such initiatives as packing food for meals-on-wheels or holding a food drive in advance of J-serve as well as packing meals that day for Elijah’s Promise soup kitchen in New Brunswick.
Providing tools
Panim offers leadership training and grants for such endeavors, said Aviva, a graduate of Rabbi Pesach Raymon Yeshiva in Edison and daughter of Alan and Karen Novick.
“Homelessness was an issue we dealt with in depth on Summer JAM,” she said. “We had a program called Street Torah where we went out and gave homeless people food and supplies and talked with them. I had always looked away when I saw homeless people on the street. I learned that people are people, no matter what their conditions are, and everyone deserves to have the food and supplies they need.
“Jake and I would like to address these issues back home. We think giving food to a group that will distribute it to those who need it is an important way to do that.”
Aviva Novick of Highland Park, left, with Abigail Raz of Pennsylvania, spent July in Washington attending the Summer JAM of PANIM: The Institute for Jewish Leadership and Values.
Jacob said he and Aviva have already been in touch with Mazon: A Jewish Response to Hunger and other such groups and were also busy on another project — creating a handbook for other Jewish teens interested in community service projects.
“We feel that it is very important to give those tools to others and teach them how to make programs of their own,” he added. “A guidebook is just one of many ways we can empower other Jewish teens to work for something they’re passionate about.”
During their month in Washington the two teens also heard speakers representing such organizations as AIPAC and the Anti-Defamation League, the Genocide Intervention Network, and Just Vision, which strives to make peace between Israelis and Palestinians.
They also met leaders of both political parties and had sessions in which they were taught how to lobby legislators, culminating with a visit to Capitol Hill to meet with a representative from the office of Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ).
During the Panim program, each teen chose issues to study such as health care, poverty, or education and followed up with visits to schools or hospitals. Relevant Jewish texts on caring for the environment and the poor and other topics accompanied each activity.
“I loved it,” said Jacob. “It was so much fun and so inspiring. We discussed the Torah’s view of the poor and our requirements as Jews to provide for them. We talked about Rambam’s eight levels of charity, and how they are applicable to teens today.
“Our counselors were already leaders of the Jewish community who had some unbelievable stories about what they’ve done. I realized I could be like that in a few years.”
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