FEATURED HUMANITARIANS
“That’s how I feel about the center,” said Komisar. “For me, it’s totally emotion.” Nitzkin, known as Stu to colleagues, is proud of the ISCD, located in Ramat Gan, Israel. “We head up the American Friends of the Israel Sport Center for the Disabled,” he said. “Our responsibility is to raise as much money as possible to help the 3,000 kids who go through the center each year.” “Of those 3,000 kids, some have been born with a disability, a congenital disability like spina bifida or cerebral palsy; some have come to us via accidents or a terror attack, loss of limb or they’re paralyzed,” Nitzkin said. The ISCD staff includes occupational therapists and social workers.
“The beauty of what they really do is they take these kids, and they don’t just physically rehabilitate them, but it’s the mental rehabilitation,” Nitzkin said. “It’s giving them some life, giving them the chance to succeed in their life, to make something of themselves and to contribute back to the society at large which is really special and unique.” The ISCD opened in 1960, and it uses sports such as basketball to boost stamina and confidence. “We like to say the center is performing miracles every day, it’s incredible,” Nitzkin said. One teenager — Caroline Tabib of Israel — travels around the world as a table tennis champion and future Paralympic contender.
Eye on the ball: At the American Friends of the Israel Sport Center for the Chicago Golf Classic at Twin Orchard Country Club in Long Grove on July 15, Morrie Silverman and Lori Komisar hosted internationally ranked table tennis athlete Caroline Tabib of Israel. Tabib was born with spina bifida. | KARIE LUC ~ FOR SUN-TIMES MEDIA “What we do at the center builds a nation because, if you think about it, disability is looked at, in most places, as almost contagious,” Komisar said. “You know: you can’t get too close to it; it might rub off on you.You don’t know what to do; the people are different. But, at the center, everybody is the same.” Children served often come of age while being mentored by the ISCD. Tabib, who has SEE ISRAEL, PAGE 6 MITZVAH GUIDE 2013-2014 | 5