Seventy-three thousand dollars. A lofty sum, for anyone to raise. Even more incredible, is when it’s raised by teens for children with special needs. Twenty-one Grade 10 and 11 Hebrew Academy students did just that.

As if their schedules weren’t packed enough, the students added fundraising, long-distance running and strength training to their daily commitments this year, all in support of Shalva, the Israel Association for Care and Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities in Israel.

Arielle Rohr, Shalom Zobin, Yehuda Bessner Olivia Feldman, Sarah Ohayon, Talia Dayan, Gabriella Dadoun, Marcus Rehany, Rebecca Cohen, Aliza Cohen, Liana Friedman, Naomi Feinberg, Aurelie Hadid, Kyle Fallenbaum, Michael Friedman, Sarah Azoulay, Aaron Azoulay, Sarah Bensoussan, Noa Drazin, Nathan Benizri and Joelle Cons and their chaperones, High School Principal Dr. Laura Segall and High School Dean of Jewish Life and Judaic Studies Department Head Rabbi Eddie Shostak, landed in Israel earlier today. Tomorrow, they will be among 30,000 participants of the Eighth International Jerusalem Winner Marathon as part of Team Shalva.

Hebrew Academy is the first and only Montreal team to participate in the Jerusalem Marathon as part of Team Shalva. Students first learned about the program in 2017 through Team Shalva Marathon Director Fran Cohen, mother of HA alumni.

In addition to prepping themselves physically to run either the 5K or 10K race, Team Shalva participants must each raise $2800; money that goes directly to the center. Our runners far surpassed their fundraising objectives — raising a whopping $73,000 for the cause! We wish all of them the best of luck tomorrow and an incredible weekend in Yerushalayim! The group returns to Montreal on Sunday.

– Aviva Engel, Director of Communications

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