INSIDEthe PROGRAMS OF THE ORTHODOX UNION
OU Compiled by Sara Olson
HAPPENINGS
AROUND THE OU
First-Ever NCSY/Yachad Chesed Mission
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ver the past twelve years, New Jersey NCSY has run close to ninety chesed missions. This past March, however, it ran its first-ever joint New Jersey NCSY/ Yachad mission, giving participants the opportunity to learn about chesed and inclusion all at once. Yachad/NJCD is the OU’s program that addresses the needs of Jewish individuals with disabilities and ensures their inclusion in every aspect of Jewish life. During the five-day mission, students from Ma’ayanot School for Girls in New Jersey, NCSY advisors and a number of Yachad members traveled to New Orleans, Louisiana, where they worked with Habitat for Humanity on homes being restored from damage caused by Hurricane Katrina. In addition to sanding and painting shutters and building a fence, they toured the Lower 9th Ward to visit the kevarim of sifrei kodesh that were destroyed by the hurricane.
This trip was an amazing bonding experience for both Yachad and NCSY participants, and a powerful lesson in the value of chesed. —Rabbi Ethan Katz, Director, New Jersey NCSY
Beginning this summer, the NCSY Disaster Relief Missions Initiative, led by Rabbi Ethan Katz, Director of New Jersey NCSY, is being expanded beyond New Jersey to include many more teens from across North America and to reach more communities in need. Summer 5779/2019 JEWISH ACTION
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