Giving Back With Battle of the Bands

Last May, our RKYHS students coordinated a classic Battle of the Bands competition, bringing talented high school musicians from across the tri-state area together not only to tout their musical skills, but also to raise money for the Yad Eliezer Widow and Orphan Fund. The event was a huge success, and the students raised thousands of tzedekah dollars.

The feedback from the bands, fans, and parents was so positive, that we will be hosting a second RKYHS Battle of the Bands on March 10, 2011. Mark your calendars!

This year's funds raised will go to Kids Kicking Cancer, a non-profit organization founded by Rabbi/Professor Elimelech Goldberg, a black belt, who lost his 2-year-old daughter to Leukemia in 1983. In response to his loss, Rabbi "G" began a program that offers mental, physical, and emotional reprieve for cancer patients through martial arts from black belt martial artists. Through a variety of classes, sick children learn relaxation and mental strategies, breathing, meditation, and karate exercises that can help them overcome the physical and emotional challenges they face while battling cancer. For more about the organization, visit their YouTube and Facebook pages.




All donations are tax deductible, and we encourage you to help make our students make Battle of the Bands a smashing success! For information on how to donate, please email battleoftheband@gmail.com or post a comment on this post!

Tu B'Shvat and Tzedekah!

Tu B'shvat has come and gone, and the Joseph Kushner Hebrew Academy celebrated by collecting tzedekah to plant a grove in the recently devastated Carmel region of Israel. As part of our celebration, our students were visited by the Jewish National Fund's iconic tzedekah symbol, Blue Box Bob.


Families created twig candle holders and listened to a dramatic storytelling and sampling of the shevat ha'minim. The highlight of the celebration was dancing to Tu B'shvat songs with Blue Box Bob, who also sent our students home with their very own JNF tzedekah box. 

The Blue Box Bob Program is a multi-component educational program for Jewish day, afternoon, and Sunday schools. It is designed to use stories and innovative educational materials to foster themes such as nation building, connection to Israel, and how to help take care of others. It is a program of the Jewish National Fund, a non-profit organization founded in 1901 to serve as caretaker of Israel, on behalf of its owners -- Jewish people everywhere. Over the past century, JNF has planted more than 240 million trees, built over 180 reservoirs and dams, developed more than 250,000 acres of land, created more than 1,000 parks, provided the infrastructure for 1,000 communities, and educated students around the world about Israel and the environment.