#toysagainstterror: Emergency Care Drive Brings Toy Care Packages to Children in Israel By Ronit Mershon | May 20, 2021
As news of Hamas rockets raining down on Israel kept pouring in, Congregation Bnai Yeshurun Youth Directors Rivka and Yehoshua Szafranski felt compelled to do something to help ease the suffering of thousands of Israelis forced to flee to bomb shelters day and night.
Together with the Bnai Yeshurun youth committee, headed by Dr. Doron Katz, Sari Sheinfeld and Henry Orlinsky, the team sprang into action. Dr. Katz reached out to one of his contacts at Colel Chabad, knowing that the organization already has a well-established infrastructure and abundant network of volunteers to help facilitate this initiative. When he asked the organization what the kids really needed most, he was told they needed things to do while spending their time in shelters.
Author Chana Stiefel Joins CBY Youth Cruise By JLNJ Staff | April 08, 2021
(Courtesy of CBY) On Thursday, April 1, over 100 people joined the Congregation Bnai Yeshurun Youth Department on a Circle Line chol hamoed cruise to the Statue of Liberty and New York Harbor. Youth directors Rivka and Yehoshua Szafranski invited Teaneck author Chana Stiefel on board to share her new picture book, “Let Liberty Rise,” published by Scholastic in March. Stiefel spoke about the children who contributed their pennies to build the statue and her grandparents who arrived in New York soon after the statue was built. She also displayed a newspaper from 1943 showing her late mother-in-law, Hannelore Stiefel, as a young German Jewish immigrant standing in front of the Statue of Liberty. Hannelore and her late husband Arnold Stiefel were founders of Bnai Yeshurun.