Fifth-grade students at the JEC Yeshiva, with their teacher, Susan Kaplan, rear, third from left, show off the cards they wrote to American soldiers as part of a school-wide program to commemorate 9/11.
Photo by Elaine Durbach
‘We are so proud of you’
Excerpts from letters to American and Israeli soldiers from fifth-grade girls at the Jewish Educational Center Yeshiva to commemorate 9/11:
Anna Kaplan: “I would like to say how thankful I am for you. Thanks to you, I know that I’m a lot safer. 9/11 was a terrible day. Many innocent people died that day. Thanks for guarding, fighting and protecting us from another terrible day…. I just want to say thank you for sacrificing a lot to save America. Thank you so, so, so much.”
Devorah Sprei: “You have great courage for being there, and we are so proud of you for fighting for our country. I wonder how hard it is to be so far from home because I only know how it feels to be an hour away from home. This is just a little thank you for fighting for our country.”
Chaya Mushka: “I just wanted to thank you for what you did for me, you, and our country, U.S.A. You are very brave to fight in the army. Thank for doing what you do.”
September 18, 2008
The fifth-graders were too young to remember, and the youngest children weren’t even born, when terrorists crashed four airplanes in New York, Washington, and Pennsylvania on Sept. 11, 2001.
But the students at the Jewish Educational Center’s Yeshiva of Elizabeth have heard about that day all their lives, and they have grown up with the country at war.
To help them grasp the meaning of last week’s 9/11 anniversary, yeshiva principal Rabbi Shlomo Schwartz suggested that the youngsters write messages to American soldiers serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. At a lunch-time assembly on Sept. 11, some of the bolder students read their letters out loud.
The children wrote to anonymous soldiers, highlighting what struck them most forcefully, and then decorated their cards with smiling figures, American flags, hearts, and stars.
Schwartz, who took up his post at the yeshiva just this month, said the letters will be forwarded to soldiers by Pam Thompson, a woman in Texas who organizes care package and other contacts with the troops. He worked with her on a similar project in his previous position, as assistant principal at Ramaz Middle School in Manhattan.
“I wanted to find an age-appropriate way to commemorate 9/11, something that wouldn’t be overly scary for the children or raise their anxiety,” said the rabbi. “Focusing on the soldiers and expressing gratitude and appreciation to them provided a positive focus. Pam Thompson says the soldiers are incredibly appreciative when they get messages like these. Some display the letters or hang them on a wall, and once in a while, if they find the time, they reply to the children.”
The littlest kids just drew pictures and signed their names. The older students, however, delved deeper into the issues. Fifth-grade teacher Susan Kaplan said she talked with her girls about freedom and democracy and why people with different values might want to attack America. One of the major consequences, she told her students, was that American forces were sent into Afghanistan and Iraq. The class also discussed the fact that those troops are all volunteers, not conscripted — as soldiers were for the Vietnam War — but people who have chosen to go and fight.
That aspect clearly sank in for a number of the students, some of whom thanked the soldiers for making that choice.
In her card, Chevi Pittinsky of West Orange spoke about the fighters’ bravery; Anna Kaplan of East Brunswick, a new student in the school, said if it were not for the soldiers, “America would not be here today,” and she thanked them for their sacrifice. Devorah Sprei of Elizabeth said she wondered if the soldiers were nervous about going to war, but then realized they must be scared “because you’re risking your life every day.”
Asked if they personally knew any soldiers, a smattering of hands shot up. Though no one in this class had siblings or a parent involved, many of them knew another student in the school whose father served in Iraq. Others knew family friends who have been or still are fighting there.
When one girl mentioned that she has a cousin serving in the Israeli army, a bunch more hands went up from others with relatives in the Israel Defense Forces. While no one had lost a person they knew, when asked if they felt affected by the war in Iraq and the conflict in Israel, these children all nodded emphatically.
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