Zane Winter has emerged from the studio with new craft items for his Bar Mitzvah project to benefit Magen David Adom, the Israeli emergency medical service providing lifesaving efforts during Israel’s ongoing war against Hamas.
Zane began his work shortly after the October 7 terrorist attack against Israel. He hopes to continue to share images of love and peace as a countermeasure to harsh rhetoric and images of conflict.
For the past few weeks or so, like many American Jews, I’ve been feeling increasing amounts of worry.
I worry for specific individuals I know in Israel, about innocent people just trying to live their lives, about how the situation in the Middle East will affect global antisemitism.
When I was working with a religious school in Dresher, Pa., in 2015, I taught a high school class about Israel.
I remember talking to my students about antisemitism and Israel. I told them they would be expected by the non-Jewish public, as Jewish young adults, to have a high degree of understanding about the conflicts in the Middle East, and they might even be expected to justify their beliefs or legitimize their Judaism by speaking about Israel in a specific way.
In the wake of the October 7 terrorist attack against Israel and countermeasures by the Israeli Defense Force, the region faces a mounting humanitarian crisis that could exact a terrible toll on both Palestinians and Israelis.
Zane Winter and his parents Lee and Tim have shown a deep interest in Jewish life with their recent contributions to High Holy Days and Sukkot celebrations. Now, Zane, who helped build and decorate the Temple’s sukkah, is raising funds for livesaving efforts through sale of his original artworks.
UHC members and guests gathered last week in the sanctuary at Temple Israel and virtually to celebrate the new year with Student Rabbi Rocki Schy, and later at Fairbanks Park in Terre Haute for Tashlich.
Here are some photos from those activities.