Our Story
“Yad Azarah”, which means “helping hand” in Hebrew, was born out of tragedy. On February 14, 2018, I was a fourth grader at Donna Klein Jewish Academy, in Boca Raton, Florida. By midday, we started to hear reports of a shooting in my hometown of Parkland, just 10 minutes away. I was very young, so our teachers and administrators did their best to shield us from the horrific news that started to trickle in on our phones. Many of my fellow students either had family or friends who attended Stoneman Douglas. In fact, several graduates of my school went on to attend high school there. When the shooting finally ended, the community was reeling. My parents attended several funerals, while my school served as a make-shift trauma center for survivors and our neighbors.
During one of the funerals, my mom was sitting behind several of the teachers from Stoneman Douglas. Alongside her was a neighbor that she had never met. The teachers mentioned that they needed various goods, including a tremendous amount of art supplies, to assist the students, when they returned to school, with working through their emotions and helping them start the healing process. My mom, along with her new friend, started a grassroots effort to let the community know what was needed, collect donations, and purchase supplies. Over the next several weeks, my dad, older brother, and I collected and delivered a (literal) ton of goods to the teachers’ homes, so they would be prepared to help themselves and their students. At the time, all I thought was, my parents had one rule in our house; to treat people the way we wanted to be treated. This is what we were doing.
Months later, when things started to return to “normal”, I began to notice several homeless people that would ask for change along the road I took from home to school. We would pass injured military veterans and unemployed parents looking for some assistance to feed their families. While my dad and I often give these people money, we did not think it was effective. For this reason, when I was bar mitzvahed, I set aside a significant amount of my bar mitzvah gifts to do something that can help. With this initial investment, we began to make bags with goods that these people need, including snacks, toiletries, gift cards to restaurants, and a little bit of cash. We keep of box of these bags in our family cars and hand them out whenever we see someone in need. We call these bags "Bammy Bags", named after our beloved dog.
After providing the bags for a while, I realized there were other people that needed a helping hand, but may be too proud to ask. I’ve been playing competitive ice hockey and baseball for a number of years and today, I am the goalie for the top team in the state. I am blessed to be able to travel all over North America to compete, get the best equipment whenever I need, and receive the best training on and off the ice. Hockey is such a great sport. It’s my happy place and a place where I made many of my closest friends. It also keeps me focused on school. Unfortunately, hockey is also extremely expensive. From ice time to team fees to equipment, the costs add up very quickly. As a goalie, I know, the costs for equipment are even higher. It’s for this reason, that I have expanded Yad Azarah to collect used equipment to donate to players who are less fortunate so they too can benefit from a game that has given me so much.
UPDATE: In the wake of the horrific terrorist attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023, I decided to add a new, extremely important charity to Yad Azarah. Many of the 260 plus civilians murdered at the Nova Peace Festival in southern Israel sought saftey in bomb shelters. As they were designed to offer refuge from missiles, they did not have doors that could keep terrorists out. Our new focus is to raise funds for a simple, but brilliant solution that will ensure that should terrorists try to get into the shelters again, they will not be able. Please visit the 10/7 page for more information.
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At some point, everyone needs a helping hand, or Yad Azarah.