YNA Chesed

Founded in early 2007 with the blessing of YNA's Rosh Yeshiva, HaRav Aharon Bina Sh"lita.

YNA Chesed is a program that offers Yeshivat Netiv Aryeh students unique opportunities to volunteer during their free time.

However, YNA Chesed is much more than just a program, it's a way of life. We here, at YNA, live and breathe chesed every day.

We're always looking for opportunities to lend a helping hand while, at the same time, giving our students a chance to take on new responsibilities that they may have previously thought they were incapable of taking on.

Our goals:
1. That our students realize the importance of helping others and incorporate it into their lives.
2. To be of service to all those in need.
3. To spread the light of chesed throughout the world.

YNA Chesed functions on a number of levels.

Our main function is Thursday afternoons:

On Thursday afternoons YNA students enjoy a long break, from 1pm to 8:30pm, during which many of our students dedicate their free time to helping others.

Some of the organizations we work with on a weekly basis include:

An after-school program which provides innovative, individually-tailored therapeutic programs to special-needs children and their families, 24/7. YNA students volunteer there, helping out with a range of activities varying from hydrotherapy to baking challahs.

Tishma School & Center for Autism: A school-based intensive behavioral intervention program for children with autism in Israel. YNA students volunteer there, assisting staff in a classroom environment.

Yad Sarah: An organization that supplies medical equipment to those in need. Supplying truckloads of medical equipment daily, there is endless repair work required to ensure there is a continuous flow of working equipment. Our students help to ensure that continuity by volunteering weekly, repairing wheelchairs and other medical equipment.

Chesed L'Orchim - Machlis: Since 1979, The Machlis Family has been hosting spiritually uplifting Shabbat & holiday meals in Jerusalem. The approximately 200 guests each Shabbat include tourists and travelers, Israeli residents and new immigrants, university, yeshiva and seminary students, the intellectually and theologically curious, the homeless, destitute, poor and lonely and all who seek a Shabbat or holiday experience. Our students help them prepare for Shabbat on Thursday afternoons and Friday mornings, doing everything from peeling potatoes to setting the crowded Shabbos table.

Chazon Yeshayahu Humanitarian Network: A network established in 1997 by Abraham Israel, a successful businessman from New York. As a child refugee fleeing from Egypt, Abraham and his family were dependent on food from a Paris soup kitchen and he promised to pay it back one day. Today, Abraham dedicates himself to feeding, healing and training Israel’s poorest. Our students volunteer in the Chazon Yeshayahu soup kitchen, helping prepare food so that needy families can have a scrumptious Shabbos meal.

Yad Eliezer: Founded in 1980 in the kitchen of the Weisel family of Jerusalem who prepared a food basket for a neighbor who could not feed her children which soon developed into monthly distribution of food baskets to hungry families. Today, over 100,000 people receive help from Yad Eliezer. YNA's students volunteer, assisting with the distribution.

Zichron Menachem: A non-profit organization aimed at easing the suffering of young cancer patients and their families. Zichron Menachem operates 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, round-the-clock, with dedication and love. Our boys volunteer weekly, running activities, teaching guitar lessons, cooking warm meals and more. We also have a special YNA Chesed Hospital Band that goes to the hospital on Friday afternoons and Motsei Shabbat to entertain those children and families who are hospital-bound for the shabbat, away from their families and friends.

Chayenu: Chai Lifeline/Camp Simchas's Israel branch, finds ways to bring joy to the lives of young cancer patients and their families through creative, innovative, and effective family-centered programs, activities, and services. In addition to recently running a Sukkah party in Netiv Aryeh's Sukkah, our boys go to the hospital weekly, creating a fun-filled environment in an, otherwise, dull setting. In the words of one of our regular volunteers, Alex Silber: "We rock the hospital, man!"

The One Family Fund: One Family provides direct financial, legal, and emotional assistance to victims of terrorism in Israel. Our Hebrew-speaking students go to the homes of terror victims, offering emotional support to their families and becoming big-brother figures for their children.

Since it's founding last year, our Clothing G'mach, located in YNA's dorms, has distributed dozens of bags of clothing to those in need.

Chayalim Packages: In an effort to raise the morale of our students currently serving in the Israeli army, we've recently put together a program that organizes monthly packages to be sent to our soldiers. The packages will include a warming note from the Rebbeim as well as snacks and other goodies.

Last year, a bunch of us took part in raising money for Herzog Hospital's Trauma Center in Jerusalem, through a 3 day bike ride from Jerusalem to Mitzpe Ramon in an effort to raise money and awareness. It was an amazing experience, one I will never forget, and i already look forward to this coming year's ride. Anyone interested in sponsoring, please contact us.

Another function of YNA Chesed is our various environmental causes, under the slogan "Netiv Aryeh is going Green":
In an effort to create environmental awareness, we've recently installed special recycling receptacles around the Yeshiva and the dorms. All proceeds of the recycling go towards the sponsoring our various chesed endeavors, creating more opportunities to help others.

Various organizations we've worked with in the past include:

GOT ANOTHER IDEA?

YNA strongly encourages students to provide their own ideas of how to ‘give back’ Anybody who knows of an organization looking for volunteers, YNA’s committed yeshiva students are always looking for other venues where they can lend a helping hand!!

For questions regarding YNA’s Chessed Program, please contact:
Yitzy Hammer: 0524-233-012 or Michael Brodsky: 0546-907-500