By Jeff Lipton
The students say the Jewish homeland needs them more than ever before and now is not the time to turn their backs on the country. Most of them acknowledged that the heightened tensions in the region and the frequent suicide bombings have alarmed them and their parents. But it will not frighten them away from Israel.
After students graduate from a yeshiva high school, it is extremely common for them to study in Israel for at least a year or even longer to further strengthen their Jewish education before returning to the United States to attend a college or university.
Love of the land, a remarkable spiritual experience and study of Torah in Israel are all strong reasons to travel to Israel, they say.
Students express hope that a peaceful settlement between Israel and the Palestinians can be worked out by the time they are ready to travel there. But even if the bloodshed continues, the students say, they are prepared to go.
[The violence] is not something pleasant to see, said Yigal Gross, a 17-year-old senior at Rambam Mesivta High School for boys in Lawrence. But it's not going to deter me from going. I'm not going to let some terrorists tell me where I'm going. And my parents agree with me.
According to Rabbi Zev Meir Friedman, Rambam Mesivta dean, about 95 percent of the graduating seniors plan to study in Israel. He said he does not force students to travel to Israel, but vigorously supports the decision to do so.
I'm not going to force someone to go. It's not right, said Friedman, whose 18-year-old son is studying in Israel now. I absolutely support his decision. He is willing to do whatever he can to serve the country.
A group of 15 Rambam students visited Israel in January during winter break and helped out on an Israeli army base to show support.
In addition, about 6,000 yeshiva high school students from the Five Towns and throughout the northeast rallied on Tuesday, March 12 at Dag Hammarskjold Plaza in Manhattan to show their solidarity with Israel.
Canceling plans for the trip would send the wrong signal to terrorists. They certainly want people not to go, Friedman said. They want people not visit, not to study.
Hebrew Academy of Long Beach's Davis Renov Stahler Yeshiva in Woodmere said about 97 percent of the graduating seniors are headed to Israel at the end of the summer for a year of study, from September 2002 to June 2003.
Everybody is always concerned about security issues, said Rabbi Yisroel Kaminetsky, HALB principal. But it's not only in Israel, it's in America, too. We want to support the State of Israel.
He added that school officials have discussed it with students' parents, who are cautiously optimistic.
I think it's still good to go, he said.
Stella K. Abraham School for girls in Hewlett Bay Park usually has 95 to 98 percent of the graduating class packing their bags for Israel.
But this year about 50 of the 66 seniors have indicated that they are interested in going.
Our school is usually one of the strongest schools in terms of spending a year in Israel, said one SKA school official. But this year it is a little less. It would be difficult to say it has nothing to do with that [Mideast violence].
One official at a local yeshiva said students tend to make the decision as close to deadline as possible. If they change their mind, there will be space available.
Simcha Rimler, 19, who graduated from Rambam last year and is studying in a yeshiva in a suburb of Jerusalem, returned to Rambam for a month beginning last week.
He said parents are the ones most concerned about their children staying in Israel.
I heard bombs go off and there were people killed just blocks from me, said Rimler. But my yeshiva is very safe. It is in a safe neighborhood. There are places I know not to go.
But your chances of getting blown up by a bomb is safer than crossing the street against the light.
Zev Aeder, a senior at Rambam, said studying in Israel would be a tremendous religious experience and he will not let the violence stop him from going.
Rambam Mesivta principal Yotav Eliach said students receive college credit for studying in Israel.
He said after the attacks on the World Trade Center, city officials implored tourists not to let the attacks deter them from visiting. The same holds true for Israel, he said.
