A Small Program from a Small City Reaches Distant Locations

The Torah teaches, that words and gestures that come from the heart, enter the hearts of others and will grow and thrive. With this thought in mind connections have been taking place on desktop computers from home, laptops from local coffee shops and even cell phones in busy airports. A small program that began in a small city has now grown and flourished, with branches throughout many Chabad Centers across North America.

With this simple, but iconic, ideal of Judaism in mind, Ottawa’s Rabbi Sender Gordon and his wife, Sarah, a young Chabad couple, have begun a program to harness the wisdom of the elder generation for the youth of Israel.

“As people grow older they have more experience and more to give,” says Rabbi Gordon, “These are people with life experience under their belt – Jewish continuity is very important.”

Connecting Miles of Smiles is a simple idea that has been realized due to the technology available in today’s day and age and the hard work of volunteers. The program consists of elderly volunteers who are paired up with Israeli students, who are trying to improve their English skills. They use Skype to speak to each other on a weekly basis.

“English skills are so important in Israel today, especially when you get to the high school and university level, all the textbooks are in English and learning is done in English,” says Sarah. “The only way to really learn a language is through immersion, and now through CMOS, immersion is made possible for children in Israel.”

The 15-minute weekly sessions, have a standard format that brings out a theme or moral, to create discussion. There are two parts to the talk – first, the participants are assigned a weekly Torah portion to read and discuss. They may also talk about Jewish poetry or writings, upcoming holidays or Jewish heroes, both ancient and modern. The second half of the talk involves a virtual tour of Israel, which often brings back memories and experiences for the volunteers to discuss and relate to the students.

“I was thrilled to take part, and to ‘visit’ with a remarkable young woman who knows a great deal of English but has had little opportunity to speak English outside of the classroom,” says Janet Ross, one of the volunteers passing on her wisdom to a young Israeli. “We try to visit weekly and learn together. As my young friend’s confidence and skills soar, so does my understanding of the parsha we read and discuss. We enjoy speaking with one another, which is why we have continued to be in touch during the summer.”

Rabbi Gordon echoes that sentiment, saying the program has been so successful they now have a waiting list for both volunteers and students in Israel. CMOS has partnered with many schools, orphanages, foster care centers and low socioeconomic institutions allowing eager students to be paired with loving volunteers. Not only providing the students with an academic boost, the program offers mentorship and a sense of caring for these young children.

For the Gordons, this is only the beginning of what they hope to accomplish with the CMoS program.

“The Lubavitcher Rebbe has always taught to reach out to every person,” says Sarah, it’s truly a gift to be able to reach out and enhance the lives of so many students and volunteers. With this program everyone is a winner!”

For more information about Connecting Miles of Smiles or to get involved, please visit www.connectingmos.com.