by Melissa J. Brachfeld | Staff Writer
Two dozen students and parents at the Melvin J. Berman Hebrew Academy in Aspen Hill had several inches of their hair trimmed off Friday to benefit children in Israel who have lost their locks to cancer treatments.
In honor of Lag B’Omer, a Jewish holiday that marks the end of a lengthy period of mourning after Passover during which hair cannot be cut, students and parents took turns sitting in the barber chair set up in front of the school building.
The hair will be donated to Zichron Menachem, a nonprofit organization in Israel that will spin the locks into wigs for ailing children. Those getting their hair cut had to be able to donate at least 10 inches of hair when pulled straight.
Ayelet Berkowitz, a 10-year-old resident of Silver Spring, was one of the first students to get her long brown hair cut. Debbye White, a hair stylist at Cartoon Cuts in Rockville, began by braiding the fourth-grader’s locks into two braids on either side of her head.
‘‘You should be very proud of yourself,” White told Berkowitz as she slowly snipped off the braids.
Deena Berkowitz, Ayelet’s mother, said her daughter had been growing her hair specifically to donate to Zichron Menachem.
‘‘I’m very proud of my daughter,” she said. ‘‘I’m also glad the school brought this program here.”
Once the black smock had been removed, Ayelet Berkowitz shook out her new short bob and was rewarded with a headband and lollipop.
She said the hairdo would take some getting used to, but thought donating her hair was a ‘‘good thing to do.”
White said it takes 10 to 12 donations to produce one wig.
Rivka Kardon, a 9-year-old from Silver Spring, said the event marked her second time donating her blonde tresses.
‘‘I wanted to do it for all the kids who don’t have any hair and need it,” the third-grade student said.
Ranée Lewison and her 7-year-old daughter Ariella Ahdut said this also was their second donation. Their first time benefited Locks for Love, a nonprofit organization that provides hairpieces to financially disadvantaged children in the United States and Canada under age 18 suffering from long-term medical hair loss.
Lewison was up first for her trim while Ahdut watched. Once the brown braids had been chopped off, Ahdut complimented her mother on her new hairdo.
‘‘Mom, you thought you’d look really bad, but you look really good,” she said.
Laughing to herself, Lewison said she felt ‘‘20 pounds lighter” and was glad her hair would be easier to maintain when she and Ahdut travel to Israel in June.
‘‘To give to the children so that they have wigs — it’s a very special thing to be able to give to them,” she said.
Sharon Roberts, a Berman Hebrew Academy parent and organizer of the program, said this year marked the fourth anniversary of the event.
‘‘Lag B’Omer is a really fun day for the kids,” she said, explaining the school hosted a bonfire Thursday night and a field day Friday. ‘‘So I wanted to add something a little bit meaningful, and given that they can get their hair cut today, I thought it would be nice for them to donate their hair to children with cancer. It just gives a little bit more meaning to the day.”
