Faigie+Project

toc Ifaces2011 OneFamily How can one person save the world? = rationale = For this project I chose to interview Yehuda Poch who is the director of communication at the OneFamily organization. I decided on this organization because of my experience with terror victims and their praise of this organization. The terror victims told me how OneFamily takes them out of the darkness of being alone and connects them to a whole network of people who understand what they're going through. Many organizations collect money for victims of terror. //OneFamily is different.// They collect not only money, but all human resources - bringing together people who have suffered through terror attacks, along with caring people who thankfully haven't. They connect people in Israel with people in almost every country around the world. During the project I hope to understand how they got the strength to reach out and build this amazing family who help victims of terror. =Profile=

__Do you think you can save the world?__ 7 year old Yehuda Poch thought he could, by riding his bike and pretending to be a super hero. Yehuda Poch was born in Montreal in 1971. At the age of 6 years old he moved to Toronto where he grew up. Yehuda was just like any other kid growing up, he enjoyed playing sports, watching cartoon shows as well as pretending to be one of the characters. He always liked reading and at the age of 16 he started writing. He also liked listening to music and hanging out with friends.

Yehuda grew up in a "national religious" home and environment as well as being a part of Bnei Akiva. On some level he always knew that he'd be moving to Israel. When he was 16, he spent a year in Ottawa. He went to school a few blocks away from Parliament Hill (where the government sits.) there was tremendous energy there (much more then the "Knesset" in Israel.) while he was in Ottawa, he began volunteering for a Jewish organization, writing letters to newspapers to protest their Anti-Israel bias.

He also became active in the tail end of the Soviet Jewry movement, attending protests, and even arranging a couple of meetings at the Soviet embassy in Ottawa on behalf of soviet Jews who were not being allowed to move to Israel. Yehuda attempted to move to Israel in 1995, but for various reasons he delayed it. He ended up coming to Israel in 1997 to meet the girl who became his wife.

The immigrating was somewhat difficult initially, for both him and his family. Yehuda's family were all Zionists, all members of Bnei Akiva and all part of a very Zionist environment, so while the separation was a bit hard, and the culture shock a bit difficult there was an ideological was he what of family his of part the on acceptance and understanding doing. His brothers and parents followed him one by one to Israel. Today he lives in Beit Shemesh with a great wife and five children.

<span style="font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">If you would ask Yehuda if the world needs to change and if he would have a part in it he'd answer that on a macro level, he thinks that the world does have to change. Today's world is one in, which people talk about justice but use unjust means to accomplish their aims- where they talk about human rights, but deprive humans, of their rights in order to achieve it- where they talk about freedom but deprive people of their freedom along the way- where they talk about peace but pursue polices that lead to war- where they refer to Israel's presence as an "Arab Holocaust" while denying the real Holocaust that proved the need for a Jewish home in the world. Today's world is completely upside down. <span style="font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">Yehuda thinks that this would change only with the coming of Mashiach.

<span style="font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">On a micro level, our tradition teaches that if you save one person it's as if you saved the world. To Yehuda, that means that each person is a world, unto himself. He sees this every single day at work. Every person who needs help comes with their own background, their own life's story and experience, and their own needs. No two people are identical in these respects. And each person needs to be dealt with and cared for within their own set of circumstances and background. For these people, the world, their world, certainly needs to be changed. These People need to have better lives. They need to be able to meet their needs, and when they can't, they need to have help in getting their needs met.

<span style="font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">That is the idea of Tzedaka- saving one world at a time. And this is definitely something that Yehuda has a part in. its something that everyone could have a part in with the right attitude and approach.

<span style="font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">Yehuda works as the Director of Communications at the OneFamily organization in Jerusalem. OneFamily is an organization that’s not only involved with collecting money for victim's terror. OneFamily collects all human resources- bringing together people who suffered through terror attacks, along with caring people who thankfully haven’t. <span style="font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">OneFamily currently helps over 3000 victims and their family members.

<span style="font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">Yehuda is now a lot older then that 7-year-old kid on the bike, but he still thinks he can save the world. Do you?

= <span style="font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif;">Background Research =

<span style="font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">__How can a Bat-Mitzva present change the world?__ <span style="font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">OneFamily began with a selfless act by one twelve-year-old girl

<span style="font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">Michal Belzberg was preparing for her Bat Mitzvah in Jerusalem when on August 9th 2001 a suicide bomber struck the crowded Sbarro restaurant in the city's downtown. The attacker murdered 15 and wounded 130 Jewish men, women, and children. It was the most deadly attack in Jerusalem since the beginning of the Intifadah in September 2000.

<span style="font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">In the wake of such sorrow and destruction Michal knew she couldn’t celebrate her Bat Mitzva when there were families who lost a family member and so many people who were hurt. So, she cancelled her Bat Mitzvah party in order to contribute the party's funds to victims of the attack. In addition to that, she encouraged friends and family to give the victims everything they planned on giving her. (Poch Yehuda, interview)

<span style="font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">Michal and her family raised over $100,000, but quickly realized that was not nearly enough to address the suffering of the growing number of Israelis affected by terror. In that moment, OneFamily fund was born. (OneFamilyFund.org)

<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">The organization deals with hundreds of cases of bereavement by holding gatherings, retreats, and creating a person connection with the aim of surrounding the family with warmth and support.

<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">OneFamily has a very intimate understanding of such situations; Pini Rabinovitz, one of the organization’s five coordinators in Israel, lost his daughter Dasi, who died of cancer. According to Matar Cohen who wrote the article about OneFamily, "Pini knows how important it is to talk about bereavement". “For us, it’s not something to be kept quiet. We don’t put it in the corner and forget about it. We talk about it, we understand each other. We don’t hide under the carpet.” According to him, “I come to the family immediately after the Shiva, get details about the circumstances, and ask the family’s permission to come again. Not everyone wants it.”

<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">Many people wonder why this "Bat-Mitzva present" would be any different to any state-funded organizations and why such an organization as OneFamily is even needed in the first place as there are countless agencies who are supposed to be dealing with terror victims. And so Pini continues to explain; “There are families who don’t understand what they are entitled to, families who can’t manage to bridge the language gap, for instance, and who can’t handle the documentation that is necessary. We make the connection and bridge the gaps. We don’t run against anyone. There are also families of the wounded, many of whom can’t manage financially with the treatments or the time that is required for them". Pini continues "During Operation Cast Lead, I called the mother of a person who suffered a head injury she was a sub-contract worker for a municipality, who was about to lose her job because she didn’t fulfill her hours. She didn’t know where to turn, and was met with silence on all sides. We went to the Director-General of the municipality, and the story touched his heart. The woman got tenure at her job.” (Cohen Matar, 1)

<span style="direction: ltr; display: block; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-line-height-alt: 9.5pt; text-align: left; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">** In my interview with Yehuda Poch, director of communications, he states, "OneFamily is the family member every victim wishes they had: ** <span style="direction: ltr; display: block; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-line-height-alt: 9.5pt; text-align: left; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">** They listen to their problems with a sensitive ear, they give because they want to, based upon need". OneFamily provides direct financial, legal and emotional assistance to victims of terrorism in Israel. ** <span style="direction: ltr; display: block; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-line-height-alt: 9.5pt; text-align: left; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">** They provide the family network for world Jewry to express and actuate their natural sense of brotherhood by facilitating direct contact, relationships, and interaction between survivors and world Jewry as individuals, communities and organization. ** <span style="font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">** A very special element of the support OneFamily provides to victims of terror is the presence of several victims as OneFamily employees. ** . This section highlights the contributions of these special people to the welfare of victims of terrorism throughout the country - and to their own well-being. ( Poch Yehuda, interview)

=<span style="font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Personal connection =

<span style="direction: ltr; font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; unicode-bidi: embed;">I chose to use Norman Rockwell's painting "The Golden Rule" because I believe that its message is the same, and has the same strength as the organization, One Family gives.

<span style="font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">In Norman Rockwell's art piece, he draws people from all over the world. For example there are Africans, Asians, Muslims, Europeans and Jews. He also draws a self-portrait of himself inside the picture among the people because he feels that he too is a part of the world. He would accept them just as he hopes they would do for him. We see that he feels this way by the quote he writes in the picture, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."

<span style="font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">The biggest message I understood from this picture is that we are one world, and all part of one family.

<span style="font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">I feel that OneFamily has the same message. In my opinion people who feel alone should know that they are a part of something a part of a big family. <span style="font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">I believe that each and every one of us can and should take this message into their own lives seeing as family is such an important element in our lives. = <span style="font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">Reflection = <span style="font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">Before I started writing this project I didn’t know much about the organization. <span style="font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">I knew that the organization helps terror victims financially and psychologically but I didn’t know exactly what they do to help these victims.

<span style="font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">My mom's friend's husband was killed in a terror attack. He was driving home after a very long day at work, and met a few Palestinians who threw rocks directly at the car and killed him. <span style="font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">My mom's friend told me about the amazing work OneFamily organization did to help her family and their dedication to them. That gave me the urge to learn about what OneFamily does and how they help.

<span style="font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">I learnt a lot from this project. For example: I discovered that a very special element of the support OneFamily provides to victims of terror is the presence of several victims as OneFamily employees. The victim gets support from someone who really understands him and what he's going through. I was blown away by how OneFamily help and support the victims. <span style="font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">You wouldn’t think that the name of the organization has so much meaning to it. They really are a family. You can help a person by doing so little, just showing them that you care about them changes everything, and every small act could be extremely powerful. <span style="font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">As being a volunteer of One Family I now work with a sweet little 5 year old girl whose father went through a terror attack. I help out around the house and I feel like I truly make a difference in their lives. =Work cited=

The interview with Yehuda Poch was taken on Tuesday (18/1/2011) at the OneFamily institute. Cohen, Matar. "One girl, OneFamily". Ynet, 19 December 2009, Web 21 February 2011. OneFamily's Website. "OneFamily Missions" Web 17 February 2011. <span style="font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">[] OneFamily's Website. "How did it all begin?" Web 17 February 2011 <span style="font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">[] Graphics: Google- OneFamily fund pictures. <span style="font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">[] Google- The golden rule by Norman Rockwell. <span style="font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode','Lucida Grande',sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">[]