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Joe Press, 91 years young, disabled for over 60 years, and our 2006 Seas the Dream honoree, personifies idealism and positive energy. Everyone associated with the agency looks to Joe as someone of strength, conviction, and enormous generosity. He has always inspired us at JFS to be better than we are.

“Anything I can do to help humanity in some way or other is my function, and I do that through Jewish Family Service of Metrowest”, Joe says.

This November, he took us to a new level of admiration and inspiration. At age 90, Joe had the courage and tenacity to embark on a journey that many of us would not dare to do. With his wife Lucy by his side, Joe traveled to Israel for the first time, a lifelong dream.

"The thought of going to Israel had never entered my mind." These words, spoken by Joe Press, were uttered with practicality. He was at Seas the Dream, where he and his wife Lucy were being honored for their years of service to JFS/MW. His cousin Lisa, who is married to an Israeli, had come to see him receive his honor. She mentioned to Joe that he should consider going to Israel. Joe laughed at the idea. "How can a quadraplegic, who needs special equipment, travel to Israel?"

Joe truly thought it couldn't happen, that it was a waste of time to even allow himself to consider the possibility. But the idea intrigued his wife Lucy and she urged him to look into it further. She suggested that Joe call Marc Jacobs, Executive Director at JFS/MW, to determine whether or not the idea was feasible.

	The Trip of a Lifetime Return to the JEWISH FAMILY SERVICE Home Page

Joe Press, 91 years young, disabled for over 60 years, and our 2006 Seas the Dream honoree, personifies idealism and positive energy. Everyone associated with the agency looks to Joe as someone of strength, conviction, and enormous generosity. He has always inspired us at JFS to be better than we are. “Anything I can do to help humanity in some way or other is my function, and I do that through Jewish Family Service of Metrowest”, Joe says. This November, he took us to a new level of admiration and inspiration. At age 90, Joe had the courage and tenacity to embark on a journey that many of us would not dare to do. With his wife Lucy by his side, Joe traveled to Israel for the first time, a lifelong dream. "The thought of going to Israel had never entered my mind." These words, spoken by Joe Press, were uttered with practicality. He was at Seas the Dream, where he and his wife Lucy were being honored for their years of service to JFS/MW. His cousin Lisa, who is married to an Israeli, had come to see him receive his honor. She mentioned to Joe that he should consider going to Israel. Joe laughed at the idea. "How can a quadraplegic, who needs special equipment, travel to Israel?" Joe truly thought it couldn't happen, that it was a waste of time to even allow himself to consider the possibility. But the idea intrigued his wife Lucy and she urged him to look into it further. She suggested that Joe call Marc Jacobs, Executive Director at JFS/MW, to determine whether or not the idea was feasible.		Joe spoke with Marc, who put him in touch with Sue Wolf- Fordham, Program Manager for Yesodot in Boston. Yesodot is a program of Jewish Vocational Service for families who have a child with a disability. Sue told Joe to contact Yad Sarah in Israel, the largest voluntary program in Israel, which specializes in lending medical equipment on a short-term basis to help handicapped and disabled people. When Joe explained his situation, and the many special things he would require to travel, he was told "Piece of cake. No problem!" He smiles, remembering the day he heard this incredible information. "I can't believe they said that to me." Flying on El-Al in November 2006 to Israel, Joe's first taste of coming to his homeland was when people started davening (praying) in the aisles. His instinctual emotion was that he was flying home with his fellow Jews. Within two days, Joe was a part of Israel - his homeland - from where his forefathers had been expelled 2000 years ealier. Joe and Lucy had hoped to tour Hadassah Hospital, with its beautiful Chagall windows up on Mount Scopus, but neither could have foretold that he would develop a severe infection and have to be taken there by ambulance, where he would lose 3 days of his trip recuperating. Yet, he smiles fondly at that memory too. "It was just part of the trip," he says. And then Joe smiles as he remembers what happened next. When the Hospital Chief of Staff entered his hospital room to tell Joe that it had been a privilege to treat him, Joe thought "Only in Israel would a doctor say that." And when they returned to the King David Hotel, the desk clerk smiled at Joe and said "Welcome back!" And then, rejuvenated, Joe and Lucy traveled extensively - to Masada, Caeasarea, the Golan Heights, and Haifa. As Joe states, "A disability should not deter anyone from thinking they cannot go to Israel. No nation in the world is as accommodating or generous with their hospitality." "It was one of the greatest experiences of my life," says Joe. "Neither Lucy nor I wanted to return home".