Every year the senior class at Mercaz High School, the Conservative supplementary Jewish high school in Cincinnati, presents a gift to the Cincinnati Jewish community—an act of Tikkum Olam before they head off to college.

"Chavera" Ortal Tamam teaches at the Israel Fair

The Class of 2009 is aiming high. They plan to raise $40,000 to save the Chaverim M’ Israel or Friends from Israel program. In a year with unprecedented financial challenges, 13 idealistic 18 year-olds are attempting to scale back the effects of the economic crisis on our community. Instead of following the traditional route of noble, but small scale projects: painting a mural series, buying a camera for the school or donating food to the food pantry, they are thinking big and acting big.

The Chaverim M’Israel program is a flagship program of the Jewish Federation of Cincinnati’s Partnership 2000, or P2K, with Netanya, Israel. The goal of P2K is to build human bridges between Jews in Cincinnati and Jews in Netanya. The Chaverim program brings two post high school, pre-army volunteers from Netanya to Cincinnati for a year to give our community a little taste of Israel.

“We were the first Mercaz class to benefit from the Chaverim’s presence for all five years of our post-Bnei Mitzvah Jewish education and we want to ensure that future students have the same opportunity we did,” said Zach Sosna, Sycamore High-School senior, member of the Mercaz class and the project’s de-facto leader.

Standing: Erik Stillpass, Eric Schwartz, Adam Weber; Sitting: Zach Sosna, Jenna Rubin, Tammy Winkler, Melanie Swartz, Rachel Wolkoff, Arthur Kurtzman, Freddie Wolf

“Our first idea was to order pizza for Israeli soldiers, about a $200 project,” said Zach. “Then Shir and Lee [the two Chaverim currently in Cincinnati] told us the Chaverim program was going to be cancelled next year.”

"Chaver" Gil Bloom with Rachel Wolkoff

Faced with the increased needs on our community’s social service agencies and the decreased funds raised through the Community Campaign, the Jewish Federation needed to make 13% worth of internal cuts. “In order to protect the "lifeline" programs such as the food pantry, we looked for items in the budget that we can do without for the short-term that won’t irreparably damage the community over the long-term,” explained Shep Englander, CEO of the Jewish Federation.

For five years, the Chaverim have touched every student in the Cincinnati Jewish community, elementary through college age. They teach in every synagogue school, the day schools and Hillel. Moreover, they travel throughout the city educating non-Jewish students, debunking myths and creating a real characterization of Israeli society—one much more complex and human than portrayed on the nightly news. “They have reached over 12,000 students,” recounted Sharon Spiegel, coordinator of the Chaverim Program.

“The Chaverim teach us about Israeli culture, music, movies, politics,” explained Zach, “they make Israel tangible.”

Mercaz Senior Class with "Chavera" Shir Cohen Back Row: Eric Schwartz, Freddie Wolf, Adam Weber, Arthur Kurtzman, Michael Hoffman; Front Row: Tammy Winkler, Rachel Wolkoff, Shir Cohen, Jenna Rubin, Jeremy Spiegel

So here we are: 13 Mercaz graduates and a goal of $40,000. This translates to $1,600 per Chaver per month or $60 per day.

“For these high school seniors, it’s a crash course in fundraising. They know it’s a challenging project, but they are determined and are thinking strategically,” said Dara Wood, Director of Mercaz High School.

The dedication of the Mercaz senior class is a testament to the impact the Chaverim program has on our community. “It’s incredible that the students thought of this project when they won’t even be here to benefit. They really get the importance of community,” continued a proud Dara.

So what can you do? “We’re still getting the word out, but we want to make this a project that everyone can participate in. If someone wants to donate $1,600, that’s amazing, but we want everyone to help out and if that means sponsoring the Chaverim for a day or just keeping the discussion alive, that’s equally as important,” explained Zach.

They’re not going to be here next year, but they want all the other Jewish students in Cincinnati to benefit from the Chaverim program the way they did. “We’re doing it for the community,” remarked Zach.

If you would like to help the Mercaz seniors reach their goal, please contact Dara Wood at 513.792.5083 ext. 104 or mercazhighschool@aol.com.

On the new David’s Voice calendar going live on April 1, we will keep track of the sponsored spots. And we’re going to start it out. In honor of the new website, the David’s Voice team is going to sponsor two Chaverim for a day for $120.

The 2009 Mercaz senior class includes: Michael Hoffman, Arthur Kurtzman, Jenna Rubin, Eric Schwartz, Zachary Sosna, Jeremy Spiegel, Erik Stillpass, Melanie Swartz, Adam Weber, Aliza Weinberger, Tammy Winkler, Freddie Wolf and Rachel Wolkoff.