When two Israeli teenagers arrive at Logan International Airportin Boston tonight, it will mark the culmination of months ofintercontinental effort. And tomorrow morning they will be driven upto Camp Micah in Maine to meet the two boys who made it happen.
It's not every day that 12-year-old boys raise thousands ofdollars for a cause they believe in. But Jeremy Moskowitz of Needham,and his friend, Alex Katz of Newton, did exactly that.
The pair were distressed by images of violence in Israel they hadseen on television, read about on the Internet, and discussed at homeand school. Inspired to help, they raised more than $8,000 to bringtwo Israeli teenagers to the East Coast of the United States for thesummer -a world away from the seemingly endless conflict in theMiddle East.
They encouraged about 100 other young campers to contribute $36each for the project by launching an e-mail campaign and setting up aWeb site, kids4otherkids. They asked specifically for $36 because 18plus 18 amounts to a "double chai," or good luck, according to Jewishtradition.
Most parents matched their children's contribution, and some gavemore. And almost every day a letter arrives in Jeremy's mailboxbearing a small contribution from another child who wants to helpalleviate the fear and pain he or she sees plaguing Israeli youth.
"We didn't expect to raise $8,000," Jeremy said. "But the moneyjust seemed to keep coming in."
Jeremy and Alex, who attend Solomon Schechter Day School inNewton, met in fourth grade, quickly became friends, and have beeninseparable ever since. While working on a bar mitzvah project thisyear, the two hit upon the idea of raising money to take two childrenaway from the incessant violence.
"When you think about it, $36 isn't that much, but $8,000 reallyis," Jeremy said. "And even though we're only helping two kids, Ihope that our small contribution will make a real difference in theirlives."
The Israelis, reached in Haifa by phone and speaking in Hebrew,described how they were overwhelmed by the consideration shown tothem.
"I have no words to describe what a beautiful thing it is thatthey did," said Aviv Vasilkovsky, a 16-year-old Israeli girl chosenfor the trip. "I am really looking forward to meeting and becomingfriends with kids from the United States this summer. It will begreat."
She is acutely aware of challenges ahead of her, though. "But Ialso feel a tremendous responsibility to represent my country in thebest possible way," she said. "It's nice to get out of this mess fora while, but Israel is my country. And I intend to get drafted andserve in the army when I turn 18."
Tom Piel, the 15-year-old Israeli boy chosen for the trip, soundeda similar note.
"It's going to be a great experience, living in a differentculture, speaking a different language," he said. "And it's just ahuge surprise what [Jeremy and Alex] did.
"But I know I'm going back to Israel at the end of the summer.This is my country and I want to live here."
The Moskowitz and Katz families contacted Israelis in Haifathrough the Combined Jewish Philanthropies, which maintains a sister-city relationship between Boston and Haifa, and asked them to findthe appropriate Israeli teenagers for a summer in the United States."We knew our contacts in Haifa would make the right choices," saidBeth Moskowitz.
"I wanted two students who you would know why they had been chosenjust by looking at them," said Batya Brauner, principal of the HaifaHigh School Tom and Aviv attend. "We chose kids who represent thebest possible features of Israeli youth. Tom and Aviv are very goodstudents, they're modest and intelligent, they care deeply aboutIsrael, and they probably would never be able to travel to the UnitedStates if this opportunity had not come up."
"I'm so incredibly proud of my son," said Beth Moskowitz. "Butthis is just the way Jeremy is. He's a kid who always wants to helppeople, to make a difference in the world."
Asked if they were excited to meet the two Israelis, even if theyare several years older, Jeremy said, "Oh, yeah. We can't wait untilthey come to camp. They're going to have a great summer here, I'msure of that."
"The great thing about Jeremy and Alex is that they don't evenseem that surprised or impressed with all that they've done for theseIsraeli kids," said Mark Lipoff, director of Camp Micah. "They're twogreat boys."
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