Danny Copeland celebrates his bar mitzvah with a family from Sderot

I recently took a trip to Israel with my family. It was an amazing experience. I was able to chant my Haftorah portion at the Western Wall in Jerusalem, the holiest place in all of Israel. We had an amazing tour guide and I learned so much about the history of the country.  I did not really want to learn on spring break, - no kid does. But this was different, when I was there I felt so at home and so welcomed. Whenever I learned something there I thought to myself, wow, this is really were it happened. This is the battlefield of David and Goliath. This is where the War of Jericho was fought. It is one thing to learn about something with a pencil in your hand and a notebook full of notes. But to actually be standing on Masada were Jews preferred to kill themselves instead of becoming slaves, it makes it so much more unforgettable.  

But there were two things about the trip that meant more to me then anything else.  One was who I was with – my parents and brothers and Grammy, Gramz and Z. (Unfortunately Poppy Boy wasn’t there physically, but he was there in spirit.)  Secondly, I had the opportunity to see of one of my charities – Operation Embrace – in action.  There are so many aspects of this organization that relate to my Haftorah portion – starting with the selfless founder – Aviva Tessler – who like the men in my Haftorah portion put so many others before themselves. 

And then there is the Operation Embrace family that we met – a fun and loving family of 5 that we share so much with as Jews, but our lives couldn’t be any more different.  The Elmakey family lives in Sderot – just north of the Gaza strip.   Hamas has fired thousands of missiles into Sderot that have and severely injure people and destroyed homes. Sderot has a blimp in the sky to alarm people when a rocket is approaching - if they hear an alarm they have only 12 seconds - and most likely less time - to get into a bomb shelter. The day before we met this family they had 9 sirens go off and they spent the night in a shelter. When we met them I asked the Dad why don’t you move to a safer place? You have three kids and you do not want them to get hurt? He told me “Danny, if we move away then Hamas wins! We cannot let that happen. “ Something struck me right when he said that. He was not saying that just for himself, but he was saying it for all of us. Their lives are disrupted daily and they have suffered greatly, but instead of moving away, they courageously stay. And to me, like the four men in my Haftorah portion, these people are heroes. And their presences and willingness to stay “in the front lines” is why Israel remains so strong after 60 years. Yehuda’s comments were the most inspiring words I have ever heard a human being say. It taught so much about the peoples in Israel and how strong they are.

And as I am sure the community in my Haftorah portion were grateful to the four men that saved them, I am grateful for the Elmakey family and the countless others that have sacrificed so much so that I can stand here and proudly become a Bar Mitzvah.