I thought I would never see civilization again. We woke up at five in the morning and had been driving for over two hours. Now, we were on a half dirt half paved road in between two mountains in a town called Ponce in Puerto Rico and we were lost. We drove up and down a road, called ‘Highway 511’ several times, and couldn’t find the farm where we would be working that day. Waze and Google maps differed on where exactly to go and both were wrong. Cell service was spotty at best. The adults on the trip were trying to keep calm. Our very hushed conversation was about; What if we never found the farm? Would the entire drive be a waste? What would morale be like for the rest of the trip if we had travelled all this way for no reason? The anxiety faded away when one of the young women on our bus said, “Rabbi, we came here to help, if we can’t find the farm let’s find another place where they need our help and go there.” Everyone was in agreement. Problem solved! Luckily we found the farm and got to work.
Puerto Rico was ravaged last year by Hurricanes Irma and Maria. Thousands of people died, families were uprooted, many people left the island, and even more have yet to return to ‘normalcy.’ New Jersey NCSY with its Director, Rabbi Ethan Katz saw this as a chance to help the Puerto Rican people and to afford NCSY children the opportunity to do Chesed This summer, Rabbi Katz led three chesed relief missions with High School students with the generosity of the Rose and Fred Distenfeld Chesed Missions. I was privileged to attend and lead one of these missions with Rabbi Katz, Dr. Aviva Distenfeld, Alex Herman, Sarah Kesler, Devorah Lieberman, Tova Sklar and my wife, Dr. Sara Markowitz. The group consisted of young women from Bruriah, Frisch, Maayanot, and several local Public Schools. It was quite a diverse group.
We learned that while donations and financial support are necessary, showing care by being there can make the greatest impact on the both the giver and the recipient. We began the trip by ‘showing up’ to a school in a low-income community and meeting the students. Shira Glicksman, a senior from Maayanot explained to the students (in Spanish) that we came because we care, “You shouldn’t feel alone, there are people in New Jersey who are thinking about you.” An organization that helps underprivileged children in Puerto Rico run by Henry Orlinsky called PR4PR helped organize this visit. Special thanks to “Bears from Bergenfield” for providing us with over 200 teddy bears to hand out to the students. We also gave out dolls, juice, and notebooks to hundreds of students. Even though most of us did not speak Spanish, we learned that giving is in itself a form of communication. Seeing the smiles on their faces gave us the energy that we needed to continue on our journey.
Meeting the people we were helping really shaped our experience. While cleaning up a local park near the school, a young family approached us and could not stop expressing their appreciation. Now, their baby, Victoria would grow up with a park where she could play ball and run around. We met Nayda, a community leader. Nayda was so busy leading relief efforts over the island that her own house was falling apart. We were able to help her by painting her home. The highlight was being present when she surprised her young son, Ian with their newly painted home. She wrote to us later, “Please let the girls know that Ian and I are practically twirling around the house “Sound of Music” style!
In a place called Bayamon, with the sun beating down on us, we painted 3 basketball courts for a juvenile rehabilitation center and for children in the foster care system. Rafael, the youth center activities coordinator, kept on telling us to stop painting and call it a day. In Puerto Rico they only work outside in the morning hours because of the heat and sun. We were hot, really hot, but we wouldn’t stop painting. We wanted the Grand Opening of the courts to take place on the scheduled date, so we just kept on working.
At the farms we traveled to, we met Abner and Daniella, both organic farmers, who told us that we did four months of farming in the time that we were there.
Rabbi Katz received a text from one of the people we encountered and this was a feeling by all the people we met, many of whom never met a Jew before.
“Rabbi, It is Puerto Rico that was blessed by such open and giving hearts. May the Lord always shine upon and through each of you as you continue to do all you can for and with His children. There are so many other opportunities of service here in Puerto RIco. You have blessed my family and the work we continue to do here on the island and I know that many blessings are flowing your way because of your faithfulness!”
Today, we often hear complaints about teenagers; They are uninspired, obsessed with themselves, and always on their phones. They care way less than we did when we were their age. Where is the excitement and enthusiasm towards Judaism that we used to have? If these are our future leaders, we are concerned.
I believe that New Jersey NCSY through the Fred and Rose Distenfeld Chesed Mission led by Rabbi Ethan Katz has a solution. It is creating a new generation of young adults who are becoming more ‘observant’ and responsible about the world around them.
In the six intense grueling days that we were in Puerto Rico there was not one complaint. These young women woke up before the sun came out and were always there on time, ready to help. We used dinner to learn together and reflect on the lessons we learned from the day. No one was glued to social media. Instead they asked, what else can we do? What time do we start tomorrow? We wish we could be doing more.
We as parents today worry about our children, we hope that we are raising kind, caring and compassionate children. We hope that they will they develop the ability to live with their eyes wide open, searching for opportunities to help others. We hope that they will grow in their Yiddishkeit, and that they will not be self-centered. It is incumbent upon all of us to find opportunities for our children to grow and to be responsible empathetic individuals.
And so it was that after being lost on ‘highway 511,’ working hard, sweating, and feeling exhausted I got on the plane back to “civilization” inspired by these extraordinary young women, our future leaders, and their strength of character.
By Rabbi Andrew Markowitz
Rabbi Andrew Markowitz is the associate rabbi of Congregation Shomrei Torah in Fair Lawn.
