Orli Rivel grew up attending a Jewish day school and had been learning about Israel since kindergarten but had never been there. In 2019, her family traveled to Israel and she loved the experience and the country.

When it came time to choose a mitzvah project for her bat mitzvah, It was important to Orli to choose a charity that would help children in Israel.  To Orli, being Jewish meant that she should support Israel, the Jewish homeland, and its people. She chose ALYN Hospital specifically because she wanted to help children and raise awareness.

Orli’s fundraising goal was $613, to represent the number of mitzvot in the Torah. She emailed her guests and shared her personal fundraising page on social media for her friends to see. Orli’s mother also shared it on Facebook. The donations came in quickly and Orli surpassed her original goal. By her bat-mitzvah on November 20, she had raised close to $1000!

In Orli’s words, “It was so nice to know that I have a strong community supporting me and I was so happy that people wanted to contribute to ALYN because it's such a good cause.  I was also glad that so many people supported Israel through their contribution to ALYN. That was my goal -- to raise awareness!”

Orli hopes to visit ALYN Hospital on her next trip to Israel. She will have the opportunity both to appreciate how her Mitzvah of Love has made a difference in the lives of the children at ALYN as well as to see her plaque on ALYN’s Mitzvah of Love Recognition Wall.

Orli’s advice to other bnai-mitzvah looking for their own Mitzvah of Love project is: Choose something that speaks to you.  It shouldn't be a random project, rather a cause that actually motivates you.