Image by Getty Images

JERUSALEM (JTA) — Nearly 700 Israeli teens studying in science and technology schools in Israel are teaching Holocaust survivors to use computers and the internet.

The students meet weekly in pairs with survivors in 22 cities across Israel through a program called Mechubarim, which means connected.

Students have helped the survivors to search for family members lost during the Holocaust and to research other aspects of their lives in Europe. Many of the students and survivors have typed the survivors’ stories into the computer as part of their work. The stories have been uploaded to the program’s website.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

The program, which will start with new pairings this month, has nearly doubled since last year, which organizers attribute to the students learning more about the importance of honoring elderly Holocaust survivors. Many of the students continue to visit their survivor even after the graduate from high school and go on to the army and higher education.

“I am writing my own story,” said Dov Zorni, a Holocaust survivor living in Ramat Gan.”And I’ve learned to read the newspaper and play games on the computer.”

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. We’ve started our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we need 1,800 readers like you to step up to support the Forward by April 21. Members of the Forward board are even matching the first 1,000 gifts, up to $70,000.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism, because every dollar goes twice as far.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

2X match on all Passover gifts!

$90 → $180 $180 → $360

$360 → $720

Other amount