Shlomi Katz could have been irrevocably broken after the tragic passing of his three-year-old son, accidentally dragged by a school bus when the little boy’s jacket got snagged in the automatic door. Instead, he and his wife gathered the shards of their heartbreak and created a way to make Israel’s notoriously dangerous roads safer for others.
Teetering precipitously on the edge of hastily assembled chairs peyos flying in every direction hundreds of boys of all ages cheer stab at the air and excitedly mark their papers as the brightly colored PowerPoint pictures appear on the screen.
“What’s the correct way to get onto a bus?” urges the presenter cool and unruffled in a perfectly starched white shirt as his microphone soars over the din.
“Wait till the bus comes to a complete stop!” shouts a particularly exuberant hand-waver.
It’s a regular Tuesday morning in this typical Israeli chareidi cheder. Yet alongside a rich packed curriculum of limudei kodesh and a smattering of mathematics and language arts these cheder boys are being taught a new subject — one that will remain with them for life. Literally.
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