Elizabeth yeshiva bowls to 'spare' families

By Joshua Redlich

June 6, 2008

On Wednesday, May 14, 140 students from the Rav Teitz Mesivta Academy participated in a Bowl-A-Thon to raise money for the Poile Zedek Jewish cemetery vandalized by four teenagers in January.

The four teens began their mischief on New Year's Eve by entering the New Brunswick cemetery and destroying some 20 tombstones. They returned three nights later to finish the job, in the end toppling 499 headstones and causing an estimated $200,000 in damage.

The Bowl-A-Thon was planned by RTMA's vice president of chesed, 17-year-old junior Akiva Neuman, more commonly known as Kivi, a junior at the Elizabeth high school. The idea was inspired by a family discussion he had regarding the vandalism of the cemetery.

"Of all the chesed opportunities available," said Kivi, "I felt that helping the Poile Zedek Cemetery was the most appropriate since it was teenagers that destroyed it. Therefore, it's only right that teenagers work to restore it."

After approaching his school's administration with his proposal and gaining their consent, Kivi did everything in his power to ensure its success. He spent the weeks leading up to the Bowl-A-Thon negotiating with Jersey Lanes, the bowling alley in Linden used for the event, tagging down sponsors, gathering prizes for the participants, and text-messaging the entire school nightly, urging them to collect money.  He reminded his fellow students that a mitzvah done for the deceased is very powerful, since it is unable to be repaid. More than half of RTMA's students took Kivi's message to heart.

"Our goal was to raise a total of $10,000," Kivi said. "In the end, we exceeded our goal and raised almost $12,000."

As an extra incentive to raise money, Bowl-A-Thon participants were given a raffle ticket for every $50 collected in order to win prizes such as iPod paraphernalia, watches, and Marc Ecko clothing donated by the company's co-owner, Highland Park resident Seth Gerzberg. Two restaurants in Elizabeth -- Jerusalem Restaurant and Dunkin' Donuts -- also provided the bowlers with pizza and munchkins to support their cause. In addition, trophies were given to the highest bowlers, and special awards were presented to the highest collectors.

"When I heard about my friend Kivi's plan for the Bowl-A-Thon," said Moshe Heideman, an RTMA Senior from Highland Park who raised more than $2,500, "I decided to give it my best effort to help such a worthy cause. I knew the cemetery needed a large amount of money, and I worked to raise as much as I could. The prizes were just an added bonus and a great way to motivate the other students."

On Monday, May 19, Poile Zedek Rabbi Avroham Mykoff met with the students of RTMA to thank them for their time and effort. After a short d'var torah, he concluded with a bracha that they should all continue to grow up as caring individuals who go out of their way to help others. In this way, he said, the world can be a better and brighter place.

In March, the vandals were sentenced to time already served, community service, and were required to pay a small part of the reparations.

While the four teenagers reportedly committed the vandalism for a thrill, Kivi and the other Bowl-A-Thon participants demonstrated how, in their opinion, true thrill lies in doing chesed to help those in need.