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charity already has sent more 
than 1,200 pairs of glasses to 
units in Gaza, northern Israel 
and to special police and 
Shin Bet teams.
Fundraising efforts by 
Sosne and others are help-
ing to buy glasses made of 
ImpactX polyurethane, a pat-
ented family of optical poly-
mers developed originally for 
military and space applica-
tions. They have been com-
mercialized for bicycle racers, 
skiers and other athletes by 
an Italian manufacturer, the 
Rudy Project.
Rudy Project glasses can 
be ordered to prescription 
and will grow darker or more 
transparent to match light 
conditions, making them 
useful for troops who must 
enter tunnels.

A call from Dr. Moshe 
Fisher in November alerted 
Sosne to the alarming num-
ber of eye injuries suffered 
by troops fighting in Gaza. 
Fisher, who lives in the Israeli 
town of Modi’in and has two 
sons serving in the IDF, has 
been Sosne’s friend since 

their days as college students 
at Yeshiva University and 
later at Albert Einstein medi-
cal school.
A third ophthalmologist 
helping in the effort is Dr. 
William Schwartz, formerly 
of Monsey, N.Y, who lives in 
Netanya.
Sosne called on Dr. 
Conrad Giles, a pediatric 
ophthalmologist and local 
philanthropist, who assisted 
in approaching the Jewish 
Federation of Detroit, which 
made a donation.
“So far, we’ve raised about 
$150,000,” said Sosne, which 
could provide about 600 
pairs of glasses. “Thousands 
more soldiers need them.
“We need 15,000 pairs 
($3.75 million ) to reach 
our goal of protecting every 
combat soldier in sadir (the 
standing army ). We would 
like to also provide Rudy 
glasses for 30,000 for milu-
im (reserve) soldiers ($7.5 
million dollars).
Sgt. Noam Silverberg, who 
serves in a combat engineer-
ing unit, was injured by an 
exploding RPG (rocket pro-
pelled grenade) shell in Khan 
Unis on Jan. 9. Two soldiers 
standing near him were 
killed. Silverberg was injured, 
though his Rudy glasses 
saved his vision.
Miraculously, he had 
been issued the glasses just 
five days before his inju-
ry. As a result of the impact, 
Silverberg’s eye socket was 
bruised and broken in sev-
eral places, so unfortunately 
his vision has been partially 
impaired; doctors tell him 
there is a chance of a full 
recovery after surgery sched-
uled for next month. 

Donations to the “Ayin L’Tzion” proj-

ect are being conducted through 

the auspices of the Ari Fuld website, 

dedicated to the memory of the late 

Ari Fuld, a fallen soldier whose heroic 

story is told at https://arifuld.org.

Sgt. Noam 
Silverberg was 
injured, though 
his Rudy glass-
es saved his 
vision.

JEWISH NEWS

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