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Howard Blas

Howard Blas

Howard Blas is a social worker and special-education teacher by training. He teaches Jewish studies and prepares students with a range of disabilities for b’nai mitzvah. He regularly leads Birthright Israel “classic” and service trips for people with disabilities. His publications can be viewed here.

Across Israel, doctors push aside personal loss and damaged homes to care for their patients during the war with Iran.
After the experience, participants asked a single question: “When can we come back and do this again?”
“Words can’t describe knowing you gave the kids the chance of a lifetime when they needed it most,” Roy Shaul-Morgan, international delegation director of Tzofim Tzabar Olami, told JNS.
The event, held hours after Tu B’Av (the “Day of Love”) bills itself as the “biggest speed-dating event ever.”
“Seeing the smiles on the children’s faces as they interacted with a sports legend was truly heartwarming,” said Rabbi Simcha Scholar, CEO of Chai Lifeline.
Julie Finkelstein of the Foundation for Jewish Camp says “there is lots of interest on the part of Israelis wanting to come, but they are still waiting,” due to the ongoing war with Hamas in Gaza.
Washington Wizards forward Deni Avdija scored a game best and career high 43 points in a loss to the New Orleans Pelicans.
“The Jewish community was a huge support—with Israeli flags (some bearing the slogan ‘Bring the Hostages Back’) and shouting in Hebrew,” he said.
“They felt that solving the Middle East’s water problem may lead to peace,” said Ellen Marcus of the infusion of money her parents gave to Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Beersheva.