Two years ago, Yoni Grossman-Boder watched the scene of a terrorist attack in Israel on his TV. Yoni, who was then 12, noticed a white ambulance with a red Magen David (Shield of David) on its side. The ambulance crew treated the injured on the scene and then raced to the hospital with the more seriously wounded victims. Inspired by what he saw, Yoni decided to take on the ambitious task of raising $60,000 to buy a new ambulance for Magen David Adom, Israel’s emergency medical corps.

To raise money for the ambulance, Yoni decided to sell cuddly teddy bears named “Raffi,” short for the Hebrew name “Rafael,” which means “God heals.” He found a distributor willing to sell the bears to him at cost, and he convinced local store-owners to sell the bears and donate all the proceeds to tzedakah. In addition, he stuffed order forms for the bears in all of his bar mitzvah invitations. So far, Yoni has sold more than 2,000 bears, earning $38,000 toward the purchase of a new ambulance for Israel.

“We’re Jews,” Yoni declares. “Although we may be citizens of the United States, Israel is our spiritual homeland. We can’t decide what happens in the peace process, but we can help Israel and victims of terror.”
Click here to read about Yoni in Hebrew!

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