By Cindy Mindell

Hannah Bahavi and Amit Papir. Photo credit: Eli Shrem

In November, West Hartford residents Amy and Anatole Chorew, and Southington resident Hannah Bahavi, took part in the Friends of the IDF (FIDF) National Leadership Mission to Israel. The annual trip brings FIDF supporters face-to-face with the soldiers of the IDF, and provides in-depth briefings by senior military officers. The group also meets with government leaders and tours strategic IDF bases to get a behind-the-scenes look into the Israeli military.

For the three Connecticut participants who traveled as part of the FIDF Westchester/Connecticut chapter delegation, the trip was special for a number of reasons. It was the first time the Chorews finally succeeded in reaching Israel, after two thwarted attempts – one just three months after 9/11. It was Bahavi’s ninth trip to the country in 10 years. And for all three, it was an opportunity to meet the IDF combat veterans they are sponsoring through the FIDF IMPACT! Scholarship Program.

FIDF was established in 1981 by a group of Holocaust survivors to provide for the education and wellbeing of the men and women of the IDF, as well as the families of fallen soldiers. Headquartered in New York City, FIDF operates 15 regional offices throughout the U.S. and Panama. The IMPACT! Scholarship Program is one of FIDF’s flagship initiatives.

During the 2015-16 academic year, FIDF granted 3,584 full four-year academic scholarships of $16,000 to Israeli combat veterans from challenged socioeconomic backgrounds, giving them the opportunity to attend one of 90-plus schools throughout Israel. Since its inception in 2002, IMPACT! has awarded more than 7,000 scholarships, some 550 from the Westchester/Connecticut chapter.

Each IMPACT! recipient is required to give back to his or her community through the completion of 130 service hours during each year of study. Working with 17 Israeli organizations, IMPACT! students have volunteered for more than 2.5 million hours in all.

It was Bahavi who told her friends, the Chorews, about the sponsorship opportunity.

“When I attended the November 2014 Leadership Mission to Israel, we visited, heard about, and saw how the many generous gifts and programs that the FIDF provides the soldiers to ease the burdens they carry while defending the Jewish state,” Bahavi says. “I knew I made the right choice and wanted to participate in the IMPACT! program to offer a soldier the opportunity to attend college or university when they completed their service. I imagined what a huge relief this would be for them. I count it a privilege and joy to be able to play a part in their education and goals.”

Bahavi is sponsoring Staff Sgt. (Res.) Amit Papir, who served as a shooting instructor in the Golani Brigade and is now a sophomore studying social sciences at Ono Academic College in Israel.

She showed a video from her 2015 FIDF trip to the Chorews and talked about her involvement with IMPACT! “and it clicked,” says Amy, vice president of learning at Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate. “I support RPAC [REALTORS Political Action Committee] to make sure we’re represented in Congress. I wanted to find a way to give back to Israel. I create educational opportunities for more than 11,000 people at my company. I thought, ‘I can do this!’ and I jumped on it.”

The Chorews are sponsoring Capt. (Res.) Or Adany, who served in a combat support role in the IDF Armored Corps and is now a reservist and a sophomore studying human resources at Sapir Academic College near Sderot in southern Israel.

On the November mission, the Connecticut IMPACT! sponsors got to meet their awardees – the Chorews for the first time and Bahavi for the second.

During the annual leadership mission, the FIDF hosts a dinner and celebration at Tel Aviv University for each new group of IMPACT! recipients and their sponsors to meet. Bahavi met Papir on the 2015 trip.

“It was so exciting!” Bahavi recalls. “Upon entering the dining area, there were hundreds of IMPACT! students wearing white FIDF tee-shirts and each carrying a large sign with their donor’s name. I saw Amit and we hugged each other and were so happy! She humbly told me how appreciative she was and without my assistance it would have been impossible for her to go to college.” When Bahavi and Papir met again in November, they recognized one another right away.

“IMPACT! for me is proof that the sky’s the limit,” says Papir. “My relationship with Hannah is extraordinary. In her I discovered an amazing woman with a heart made of gold. She reminds me how much goodness there is in this world.”

By taking part in the leadership mission, the Chorews hoped not only to tour Israel and visit with IDF soldiers and commanders, but to understand the country behind the headlines.

“It was the best trip ever because the FIDF docents on the buses were the most-informed people I’ve ever heard about every place we went,” says Amy. “You get insights that you wouldn’t get otherwise.”

And then, of course, there was the opportunity to get to know their scholarship recipient. “We were kids at Chanukah – we feel we got a bigger gift than Or did,” says Amy. “To be able to give back in this manner is amazing.”

Adany calls IMPACT! “my new family.”

“It is an inclusive and hugging family that reminds me of my military service and makes me feel protected,” she says. “Meeting the Chorews for the first time was like love at first sight.”

CAP: Amy and Anatole Chorew with Or Adany. Photo credit: Daniel Mualem