"I have had many questions asked to me recently," Daniel Deutsch said in his Bar Mitzvah speech recently at Hewlett East Rockaway Jewish Centre, "but the one that stands out the most is, What does this Bar Mitzvah mean to you?"
Daniel, a student at Lynbrook South Middle School, donated a portion of his Bar Mitzvah gifts to Yad Sarah."I did not know how to answer this question at first," his speech continued, "but I gave it a lot of thought and I realized what it is not. It is not about becoming a man or a woman because I believe that takes place when you are allowed to vote, join the army or get a driver's license. I think of the Bar Mitzvah as a milestone in my life, and a new beginning."
And so Yad Sarah came onto the scene. A social service organization best known for lending out durable medical equipment across its network of 103 branches in Israel, Yad Sarah provides an array of health and home care services for all ages. Its free services are delivered by over 6,000 volunteers, who drive the injured to medical appointments, help adults and children recover and restore independent functioning in its day centers, provide in-home geriatric dental care and advocate for victims of elder abuse.
"We were looking on the internet for Israeli funds to doænate to," said Daniel. "The biggest one we found happened to be the one I thought was the best. It helped the elderly, and my grandfather uses a wheelchair."
As Daniel sees it, this watershed time in his life will only start him off toward adulthood, sending him in the direction of the human responsibility to do good in the world. "There are many other goals to be reached by society and myself," he said, "including the end of terrorism, world hunger and finding cures for diseases." And to Daniel, helping the elderly, homebound and special needs children of Israel is worthy of his focus.
For more information about Yad Sarah, call 1-866-YAD-SARAH or visit their Web site at www.yadsarah.org.
