Betar '07-'08 in Review

This past year sure was exciting.... Staying true to Betar ideology, while making room for (a lot of) fun, the 5768/ 2007-'08 year was a great one for Betar. We began the year with a booth at the Gross Schechter Rib Burn Off. Though the judges didn't pick our ribs as the winners, our volunteers certainly did.

The year's official kick-off event was done in traditional Betar style with a pool-side B-B-Q at director Dennis Seaman's house. The only thing better than the hot dogs was the turn out- with nearly forty high school students in attendance. From this point on, every Sunday Betarim met at the Betar office or in the home of the Shaliach, Dani Horwitz, to discuss current events, learn about Betar, and plan upcoming activities and campaigns. Over the years, Sunday night meetings have been a staple in Betar and this year was no exception.

Without wasting any time, we began our first activist campaign. Betarim dedicated much time calling companies who advertised on CNN's extremely biased and offensive program, "God's Warriors" which aired in August '07. The idea was to pressure these companies into contacting CNN to express concern over having their advertisement run on such an offensive program. The campaign was very successful! Eight major companies, including Intel, Volvo, and Anheuser-Busch contacted CNN. Many of the companies, besides for telling CNN that they refuse to have their commercial shown during any re-run of the program or during any other offensive program, demanded to be reimbursed and given free commercial airtime.

While phone calls were still being made, we headed to the streets to protest Professors Stephen Walt and John Mearsheimer's appearance at The City Club and later that evening on the campus of Case Western Reserve University. Walt and Mearsheimer's book, The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy, praised by former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke, the Muslim Brotherhood, and the PLO office in Washington, is intellectually dishonest and anti-Semitic. We stood outside of the venue passing out informative fliers and holding American and Israeli flags. The Cleveland Plain Dealer covered this peaceful demonstration.

In a show of support for the Israeli Defense Forces, when Betar was asked to volunteer at the Friends of the IDF dinner, we immediately agreed. We put on our finest attire and helped set up the event and greet the attendees.

Betar enjoyed a fantastic Fall Camp Shabbaton out in the Michigan wilderness. On Friday, we stopped at the Holocaust Memorial Center in Detroit. With lessons of the past in mind, we continued on to have a wonderful Shabbat. The camp was full of Betar and Israel history, ideology, team building activities and of course lots of fun! On Sunday morning, we implemented the lessons we learned during the camp and wrote letters to the White House asking President Bush to pardon Jonathan Pollard.

Back in Cleveland, Betar was in full swing. The Betarim had a great time at Jillian's, playing pool, video games, and darts. In November, we launched "Free Jonathan Pollard" week, coinciding with 23 years since Pollard's arrest. During this week, we set up booths at various Jewish establishments - schools, restaurants, bakeries and the JCC. At the booths we had paper and envelopes to write letters to President Bush requesting Jonathan's release, distributed flyers with facts about the issue, sold T-shirts and wristbands designed by Betarim, and collected donations for the effort. The week was covered by the Cleveland Jewish News and brought the Pollard issue once again to the forefront of discussion in the community. Jonathan Pollard was the cover story of an Israel magazine published by one of the local Jewish day schools. We hope to make "Free Pollard Week" an annual event.

Nearing Thanksgiving, a Betari organized our annual Betar Turkey Bowl- fun was had by all! With the cold Cleveland winter in season, there was no better time to head out and have fun at the toboggan shoots. Betarim of all ages- Junior, High-School, and Tagar (College)- journeyed out to The Chalet for a cold, but immensely fun night.

Junior Betar enjoyed its fair amount of activities as well. In addition to tobogganing, we had a Sukkah pizza party, went out for ice cream, and went hiking in the Metroparks. A contingent of Junior Betarim not only attended fall camp, but contributed to it in many ways! Junior Betar was active in the Pollard and Sderot campaigns (see below) as well.

At the end of December, Betar led its annual winter trip to Israel for college students from all over the United States. The trip spent time all over Yehuda and Shomron, headed up north to Tel-Chai, visited the Knesset, and spent Shabbat in Efrat as well as the Old City of Jerusalem. The group heard from leading figures in the Jewish World and spent time volunteering. No doubt, the trip deepened the connection of these college students to the Land and People of Israel. Many expressed their wish to make Aliyah in the near future.

During the trip, we spent a Shabbat with Noam Bedien, founder of the Sderot Media Center. Noam spoke of the intolerable situation in Sderot, and their need for proper infrastructure. He stressed more than anything the human side of the Sderot story. We did not take Noam's words lightly. Upon our return from Israel, Betar launched a campaign for Sderot throughout the Jewish community in Cleveland. In an attempt to raise awareness to the situation, Betar created a traveling photo exhibit depicting the life of the residents of Sderot under daily rocket attack. The photo exhibit was displayed in many area institutions including: The Mandel JCC, CWRU Hillel, Gross Schechter Day School, Fuchs Mizrachi School, Sinai Synagogue, Young Israel, Green Road Synagogue, and Bnai Jeshurun.

Due to the lack of publicity and attention that the Sderot situation receives, in Israel and abroad, the citizens of Sderot feel isolated and abandoned. In addition to this, over 30% of the children there suffer from Post Traumatic Stress disorder. Betar therefore initiated a pen pal program between local schools and schools in Sderot. Among the schools that have students participating are Beachwood High School, Mayfield High School, Fuchs Mizrachi School, Gross Schechter Day School and Solon Chabad. Students in grades 4-12 have participated and over 120 letters were sent from Cleveland to Sderot.

Throughout this campaign, Betarim collected money for Sderot by dancing for donations on Purim, having a car wash before Pesach, and reaching out to the community. We succeeded in raising over $3,000 which will be allocated to bring a bomb shelter to an area that was previously unprotected. Our Sderot campaign was covered beautifully in the Cleveland Jewish News.

Throughout the year, a Case Western Reserve University professor sponsored numerous well-known anti-Israel speakers to come and spread their biased rhetoric on campus. After many phone calls put in by Betarim to the CWRU president objecting to the lack of balance in the University, we set out to the campus to protest yet another such event. A Betariah in 10th grade composed a petition stating that the undersigned would not attend the University under the current circumstances. She collected 75 signatures of high school students. This petition helped bolster our efforts and was successful in attracting the attention of the university's president who issued a formal response on the matter. In an attempt to ensure a more balanced atmosphere on campus, Betar actively helped to form and support a Zionist student group at CWRU. This group brought in pro-Israel speakers, screened the documentary "Obsession," and set up a pro-Israel table on campus.

Further anti-Israel rhetoric was taking place in Cleveland, and this time in the Cleveland Heights Library. A blatantly anti Israel event called "Balancing Middle East News" was held at the Cleveland Heights Library on April 6th. A group of Betarim attended and served as the only pro-Israel voice in the crowd. We made our voices heard and pointed out the blatant bias of the program.

On Yom Haatzmaut, we celebrated Israel's Independence Day Israeli style. We held a traditional Israeli Mangal (B-B-Q) and played Frisbee. Unfortunately, not everyone was happy on the day of Israel's 60th anniversary. In downtown Cleveland, a demonstration called "Stand for Palestine, Speak out for Palestine" was held in commemoration of "the Naqbah." Betar rallied against this event, stood with Israeli and American flags, sang the national anthem, and passed out informative flyers. Once again, we stood up to fallacies and showed our unwavering support for Israel. Our counter rally was covered in the Cleveland Jewish News.

With the end of the school year approaching, we made our way to Upstate New York for Spring Camp. Spring Camp was a leadership weekend to which we brought a select group of committed and outstanding Betarim. Throughout the Shabbat we discussed leadership in Betar and spoke of different tools used to initiate change in society. After Shabbat we went out to the forest for Misdar and the Betarim were awarded their tilboshot (uniforms) in a unique ceremony. One Betari was honored and given a Betar patch as well. We had a once-in-a-lifetime presentation where we saw and learned about actual weapons used by the Jewish underground and the I.D.F in the Independence Day War. Early Sunday morning we headed to Manhattan to march in the "Salute to Israel" day parade. On the way, we learned traditional Betar songs and chants which we sang during the parade. We marched proudly down 5th Ave. bearing Israeli and Betar flags and a sign wishing a happy 60th birthday to all the people of Israel from Elon Moreh and Kedumim to Tel-Aviv and Sderot.

To sum up a fantastic year, select Betarim were sent on a mission to Washington D.C. to lobby congress on behalf of Israel. Meetings were held at the offices of Senators Sherrod Brown and George Voinovich and Representative Stephanie Tubbs Jones. This experience of hands on advocacy was unforgettable.

This year was full of fun but also of ideals and important lessons. Whenever we were faced with a Jewish Problem, we stood up fearlessly with a Betar Solution. We look forward to another amazing year of Jewish leadership and activism. For all the latest Betar news, check out www.betar.org. Tel Chai!