On May 23, 2017, the Ramat Gan Safari was the venue of a festive bar mitzvah party for 150 blind, visually-impaired, and children or siblings of visually-impaired parents/kids who celebrated their big day in the framework of the Bridge of Light Project. The ceremony was sponsored in conjunction with the Center for the Blind in Israel, Ofek L’Yeladeinu; Service for the Blind; Central Library for the Blind; other organizations and the Danielle Sonnenfeld Foundation, in memory of Danielle, z”l.

Close to 1,000 people attended this poignant event, among them family members, soldiers, volunteers and escorts for Bridge of Light.

“This is our opportunity to bring joy for one day to 150 kids with visual impairment or who have immediate family members who suffer from visual impairment,” explained Johnny Yarum, President of Bridge of Light.  “Fortunately, we are receiving great feedback from hundreds of people who are willing to take part in this and help the kids, and it’s simply heartwarming.”

The event included tours of the safari, a musical performance, and a formal ceremony with the kids and their families in attendance.  Exciting raffle prizes included an all-expenses paid trip to Europe for the winner and an escort; vision correction by OrCam, a Mobileye development by Professor Amnon Shaashua and Ziv Aviram; and a family vacation in the Isrotel hotel chain in Israel. In addition, all bar mitzvah boys received a special certificate and generous gift packages valued at over 1,500 shekels per child.

Bridge of Light was founded 17 years ago as a joint initiative of several military units (led by Colonel Ronen Zaritzky, former commander of the manpower department); senior hi-etch personnel (led by Laizy Oren, President of Matrix; and blind centers throughout Israel. The project was founded in order to advance the welfare of blind and visually-impaired individuals in Israel, and it operates completely on a volunteer basis.