Additional media coverage for our "Dear Israel" campaign--this time via the web.

The following article, written by Debbie Berman, was published in israelinsider on July 4, 2002.

"Dear Israel" card and poster campaign gives colorful support to Israel

During the past few days, Jerusalem streets and the sites of recent terrorist attacks have been brightened with hundreds of colorful posters of support. Part of the "Dear Israel" campaign, the posters were organized by Dana Rone Saroken, a visiting rabbinical student from New York, who urged Jews from around the world to send a personal message of support to Israel.

After the deadly Passover Seder night terror attack in Netanya in March, Dana and her husband, Rafi, spent the night e-mailing "300 of our closest friends," asking them to "send cards and messages of hope and support for Israel. Especially during these difficult times, Israel needs you now more than ever," the couple wrote, inspired by the outpouring of support that reached New Yorkers in the aftermath of the September 11th terrorist attacks.

The response far exceeded the Sarokens' expectations. Soon after the e-mail request went out, mail started pouring into Jerusalem's Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies, where Dana has been studying this year. 14,000 cards have been received from all over the world, including from the United States, Canada, South America and Russia. Linda Price, Schechter's communications director, says "More mail is coming in all the time."

"When I first heard about the idea I was skeptical," Price said. "I saw Dana as being naive, with a beautiful soul, a beautiful idea. I was amazed when the responses started coming in. All along Dana has been saying that Americans have a strong sense of civic consciousness."

This week, twenty-four large posters were installed in full-length showcase windows at Jerusalem's Central Bus Station, where they will remain on display for the remainder of the month. Dana said that when a poster was hung for a one-hour trial stint, a huge crowd gathered. "People couldn't stop talking about it. They were so touched that people took the time to show that they cared so much." Additional posters were hung by student volunteers at sites of terror attacks all over downtown Jerusalem.

Cards have been received from children, teens, schoolteachers, summer camps, and Jewish organizations around the world. The cards from children have been the most emotional. One, from an eight-year-old boy, says: "Dear Israel: I think about you every day, when I am walking home from school. I pray for peace for you every day, and I wish I could help you. But I'm only a kid."

In another card, a seventh grader from Pennsylvania addressed Israeli soldiers: "I know that in the end there will be peace with A rafat. I also know that you aren't always sure that tomorrow you will be alive. We identify with you, but we can't feel the pressure you and your country feel on a daily basis. For us, malls and restaurants are place to have fun, not places where people get killed."

Dana explained that the project offered people a method of showing how much they care about Israel. "The cards are a really meaningful expression, bringing peoples' feelings for Israel to the forefront. So many people are true Zionists, and care so much about Israel and want to help. The project offered them an outlet, and it was really egalitarian. Everyone had the opportunity to participate."

Dana hopes to continue the project, and is currently seeking funding sources to take the project nationwide, to cities like Afula, Hadera, and Netanya that have been hard hit during the Intifada. In addition, Dana wants to use the project as an opportunity to forge a connection between Israel and international Jewry. "I strongly believe that the only way to build ties between the Diaspora and Israel is through the building of personal relationships. We hope to create a response to the cards, to connect the people who sent the cards with Israelis," she said.

Sarokens: "Every day in Israel was meaningful"
The Sarokens arrived in Israel for a year of study shortly after their marriage in September. Despite the stress of living in a society attacked by terror, their Israel stay has been an experience that they would not trade.

"Being here now has been an incredibly powerful experience - being able to see the life that goes on despite the tragedy. That's something people outside of Israel don't get to see," Dana said. "They see only the TV footage. What they don't see is that life is still good; Israel is still very much alive. Israel is a magical place to be."

"Every day was meaningful; every day we were reminded of what's important," her husband said of the year's experience. "Living here has led to feelings of helplessness and anger, but at the same time, we started to feel like we couldn't do 'nothing.' We had to do something. Dana's intention is to show people that Israel is not isolated."

Dana and Rafi will be returning to the states at the end of the month, carrying with them a sense of purpose and a strong message of Israeli solidarity. They have already been contacted by many organizations to speak about their time here.

"I think it is important to relay our own experience, and not to get political," Rafi said. "I want to convey how strange and surreal it was to hear explosions and sirens, or shelling during a tennis game, and nights of helicopters overhead."

Dana says she will speak about "Israel as the Jewish center, during this tragic period of time when anti-Semitism, masked as anti-Zionism, has broken out all over the world. I think this is a whole new reality for Diaspora Jews, especially in North America."