Highlights from the past year

OE Mishloach Manot 2011:  Over 200 Mishloach Manot (Purim packages) were assembled by graduates of the Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School (Rockville, MD) and distributed to victims of terror in the Sderot areas and in Haifa. David Mitchel, Dean of the Alexander Muss program said, “Kids often do community service here in Israel, however, participating in the Operation Embrace 2011 Mishloach Manot effort made them really feel like they made a difference.”

Summer 2010 programming in Sderot:  Over 300 people (including 100 children), suffering with physical injuries and or emotional trauma participated in creative therapeutic summer programming. Click here for more details on these amazing summer programs!

Rambam Trauma Support Program:  Victims of terror attacks from the Haifa area attend regular monthly trauma support programming.  Topics covered in these meetings focus on restoring and strengthening the victim’s sense of self while giving them coping tools to deal with their new realities.  

Photography Therapy at Rambam Hospital:  Operation Embrace sponsored 12 sessions of photography therapy for terror victims in Haifa.  The photos are part of a traveling exhibit in Israel and have been viewed by thousands of visitors.  
To learn more about the exhibit, click the following link:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4aCY:/0wjo

Operation Embrace Mission to Israel:  In the Fall, a group from the U.S. traveled throughout Israel, visiting survivors of terror attacks and participated in meaningful activities including a “Shabbat of Healing” in the dessert with victims of terror.  This healing retreat included a very special drumming circle that incorporated Havdalah.

A Special Exhibit:  The JCC of Greater Washington DC hosted the Photography Therapy exhibit, along with artwork from children and mothers, suffering with trauma in Sderot.  Both projects, photography from the North and artwork from the South, represent the different shades of trauma as well as the ensuing hope that prevails.

Operation Embrace Bnei Mitzvah Projects:  Annie Rodney decorated t-shirts for kids;  Abbie Salamon collected school backpacks; Josh Norwitz donated part of his bar mitzvah funds to sponsor an outing for bar mitzvah boys and their fathers who have not been able to celebrate their bar mitzvah and Shelbie Fishman donated funds to purchase a laptop computer for someone who returned to school to learn a new profession. Click here to read about more Bnei Mitzvah Projects!

Youth volunteers make a difference:  Teens spending their gap year learning Judaic Studies in Jerusalem made a difference by creating an OE Football Team and volunteering at events such as a Chanukah celebration in Sderot.

Chanukah Celebration in Sderot:  Only a few days following the devastating forest fire in the Carmel Mountains, OE hosted a Chanukah celebration.  At this event, trauma victims participated in activities whose goal was to reach out and offer support to the bereaved families from the fire.