Page 108 - issue
P. 108
COMING to the children that there are all kinds derlying goal is to support the land and
SOON TO of wars. While we usually think of wars people of Israel.
A SHUL with guns, BDS is a war, too. It might be
NEAR subtle, but it is a war, and we counter it.” I recently met with Rochelle and Tova
YOU: KLEE The organization created a defiant new Taragin, ACHI’s regional coordinator for
SHABBATby Eta Kushner meaning for the BDS acronym: Buy, Dis- the Baltimore/Washington area, in Tova’s
play, and Support. home. Rochelle calls Tova “a walking bill-
hen is a dish is not a dish? board,” because wherever she goes she
When it is a KLEE, of All Kinds of Jews Are KLEEing promotes “Think Israel—Buy Israeli.”
Since the Where What When’s original Tova says, “People stop me in Seven Mile
course! article about ACHI and the KLEE, two Market to see what Israeli products I have
A KLEE can be any- years ago, the idea of placing a KLEE to in my shopping cart.” Seven Mile Market
every Jewish home as an important item has facilitated finding their numerous Is-
Wthing you have handy – a of Judaica is catching on. It is an effort raeli products by posting “Made in Israel”
bowl, tray, platter, or, yes, that Jews of all stripes can embrace. In signs on many of its aisles. “The KLEE
a dish. (It is the Hebrew fact, the word is an acronym for Kohen, resonates with people of all ages and back-
word for container, after Levi, and Yisrael, alluding to the goal of grounds,” Rochelle says. “We view it as a
all.) Or you and your children can make bringing all types of Jews together. In a unity project: We are all united doing the
one out of clay or cardboard, even Clicks sense, the KLEE is a modern manifesta- same thing, filling our KLEEs each week.”
or Legos. Whatever form your KLEE tion of the millennia-spanning tradition
takes, the point is to keep it on display in of Jews living in the Diaspora helping KLEE Shabbat
your home and fill and refill it with the our brothers and sisters living in Eretz ACHI latest endeavor is “KLEE Shabbat.”
products of Eretz Yisrael. Yisrael. Whether the vehicle is daily dav- ACHI volunteers have been meeting and
ening, expressing the yearning to return speaking with rabbis and community
The KLEE concept was created in the to Zion, donating to Israeli yeshivas and leaders across the country to introduce
months following the 2014 Gaza War. charities, buying Israel Bonds, visiting the KLEE commitment and ask them
Many Israeli businesses had been dealt Israel, and/or belonging to groups such to host a KLEE Shabbat. It involves the
an enormous economic blow. This was as Hadassah, the RZA or AIPAC, the un- rabbi of the shul speaking about the im-
on top of the ongoing harm of the BDS portance supporting the Israeli economy
(Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions) move-
ment, which was in full swing in Europe
and on its way to America. The KLEE is
a grassroots response by ACHI, American
Communities Helping Israel, a non-prof-
it, all-volunteer organization founded
in New York, in 2004, and now run by a
committee of five women.
ACHI, which also means “my broth-
er” in Hebrew, promotes the double goals
of Jewish unity and support for Israel in
the face of the anti-Israel, anti-Semitic,
cloaked-in-the-guise-of-social-justice
BDS campaign. In its early stages, ACHI
focused on youth, developing education-
al programs in Jewish schools to convey
the importance of connection with our
family in Israel. “We created an assem-
bly program promoting, ‘Think Israel –
Buy Israeli,’” explains Rochelle Zupnik,
one of ACHI’s founders. “We explained
100 u www.wherewhatwhen.com u
SOON TO of wars. While we usually think of wars people of Israel.
A SHUL with guns, BDS is a war, too. It might be
NEAR subtle, but it is a war, and we counter it.” I recently met with Rochelle and Tova
YOU: KLEE The organization created a defiant new Taragin, ACHI’s regional coordinator for
SHABBATby Eta Kushner meaning for the BDS acronym: Buy, Dis- the Baltimore/Washington area, in Tova’s
play, and Support. home. Rochelle calls Tova “a walking bill-
hen is a dish is not a dish? board,” because wherever she goes she
When it is a KLEE, of All Kinds of Jews Are KLEEing promotes “Think Israel—Buy Israeli.”
Since the Where What When’s original Tova says, “People stop me in Seven Mile
course! article about ACHI and the KLEE, two Market to see what Israeli products I have
A KLEE can be any- years ago, the idea of placing a KLEE to in my shopping cart.” Seven Mile Market
every Jewish home as an important item has facilitated finding their numerous Is-
Wthing you have handy – a of Judaica is catching on. It is an effort raeli products by posting “Made in Israel”
bowl, tray, platter, or, yes, that Jews of all stripes can embrace. In signs on many of its aisles. “The KLEE
a dish. (It is the Hebrew fact, the word is an acronym for Kohen, resonates with people of all ages and back-
word for container, after Levi, and Yisrael, alluding to the goal of grounds,” Rochelle says. “We view it as a
all.) Or you and your children can make bringing all types of Jews together. In a unity project: We are all united doing the
one out of clay or cardboard, even Clicks sense, the KLEE is a modern manifesta- same thing, filling our KLEEs each week.”
or Legos. Whatever form your KLEE tion of the millennia-spanning tradition
takes, the point is to keep it on display in of Jews living in the Diaspora helping KLEE Shabbat
your home and fill and refill it with the our brothers and sisters living in Eretz ACHI latest endeavor is “KLEE Shabbat.”
products of Eretz Yisrael. Yisrael. Whether the vehicle is daily dav- ACHI volunteers have been meeting and
ening, expressing the yearning to return speaking with rabbis and community
The KLEE concept was created in the to Zion, donating to Israeli yeshivas and leaders across the country to introduce
months following the 2014 Gaza War. charities, buying Israel Bonds, visiting the KLEE commitment and ask them
Many Israeli businesses had been dealt Israel, and/or belonging to groups such to host a KLEE Shabbat. It involves the
an enormous economic blow. This was as Hadassah, the RZA or AIPAC, the un- rabbi of the shul speaking about the im-
on top of the ongoing harm of the BDS portance supporting the Israeli economy
(Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions) move-
ment, which was in full swing in Europe
and on its way to America. The KLEE is
a grassroots response by ACHI, American
Communities Helping Israel, a non-prof-
it, all-volunteer organization founded
in New York, in 2004, and now run by a
committee of five women.
ACHI, which also means “my broth-
er” in Hebrew, promotes the double goals
of Jewish unity and support for Israel in
the face of the anti-Israel, anti-Semitic,
cloaked-in-the-guise-of-social-justice
BDS campaign. In its early stages, ACHI
focused on youth, developing education-
al programs in Jewish schools to convey
the importance of connection with our
family in Israel. “We created an assem-
bly program promoting, ‘Think Israel –
Buy Israeli,’” explains Rochelle Zupnik,
one of ACHI’s founders. “We explained
100 u www.wherewhatwhen.com u
