Four days ago we lost a truly remarkable young man.

Yochai Porat, Coordinator of the Magen David Adom (MDA) Program in Israel, was genuinely an outstanding human being with whom our office worked closely. I personally met with Yochai about 16 days ago in Jerusalem - immediately before he went off to do his reserve duty. Tagh Adler spent an entire day with Yochai visiting program participants in Israel 5 weeks ago.

I received a telephone call from Jerusalem at 8 a.m. last Sunday morning (before driving to the Federation for Super Sunday) informing me that Yochai, z"l, was one of 10 Israelis killed by sniper fire a few hours earlier. Below you'll find a copy of an email received from Elana Kaminka in Jerusalem that she sent to graduates of the MDA volunteer program.

Elana writes about establishing a fund to purchase an MDA ambulance in Yochai's memory. Beyond that, I would like to ask that you familiarize yourself with the MDA program (see "MDA PR.doc" attached) so that you can refer potential volunteers to our office or forward this email to anyone who fits the profile.

I can think of no greater way to honor Yochai's memory than to enlist volunteers from amongst North American young Jewish adults to participate on this extraordinary program of service to the embattled citizens of Israel.

B'vracha,

Larry

Larry Tishkoff
Director, Los Angeles Israel Aliyah Center
6505 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 950
Los Angeles, CA 90048

Tel. 323.761.8915
Fax 323.761.8918

LTishkoff@JewishLA.org

http://www.aliyah.org/