Need a tie? No problem. Just call Edon Freiner.
Edon’s parents agreed to send him on NCSY’s Jewish Overseas Leadership Trip (JOLT) but there was a catch: he had to raise the money himself.
The previous summer, Edon’s parents sent him on NCSY’s Boys Israel Leadership Training (BILT) program, but when Edon got off the plane, he knew he wanted to go on JOLT the following summer. It was at that point his parents told him that they fully supported the idea, but he would need to raise the money himself.
Edon Freiner
Since he woke for school at 7 a.m. and didn’t return home until nearly 6 p.m., Edon knew he wouldn’t be able to hold down a regular job. He began to think of creative ways to raise the money. He needed something that would raise thousands of dollars, but would not require a large amount of time. This may have seemed like a difficult endeavor, but for Edon, especially in light of how much NCSY meant to him, it was a crucial one.
Growing up in Lakewood, NJ, Edon was surrounded by people who were fully observant. His family was traditional. Every Friday night they went to his grandmother’s home for Shabbat dinner, and on Shabbat day they ate lunch together at home. They made Kiddush, but practiced few other rituals. His parents, both Israeli, also grew up traditional in non-observant homes. However, living in the diaspora, they wanted their children attend Jewish day schools.
During his freshman year of high school, Edon begrudgingly attended his first NCSY event, Englishtown NCSY’s annual Sukkah party, with his sister, who had become involved in NCSY a few years earlier. To his surprise, he saw some of his closest friends from elementary school there, many of whom he hadn’t seen in over a year. Immediately, he felt like he belonged.
From then on, when the final bell rang on Tuesday afternoons, Edon dashed out of school to get to Baskin-Robbins in time for NCSY’s weekly Latte & Learning session. Coming from a long day of classes, Edon often walked over to the non-kosher Dunkin Donuts side of the store and picked up a bagel for dinner, which he’d eat during the program. One night, Rabbi Ariel Bannett, director of Englishtown NCSY, approached him and asked about the bagel, realizing that there was no kosher bagel store nearby. Edon responded with an honest, simple answer, “because I’m hungry.” Without hesitation, Rabbi Bannett said, “From now on, my wife will cook you dinner and I’ll bring it to you.”
It was at that moment Edon realized that if he wanted to continue growing in his Judaism and become more observant, there were people around him who were not only willing, but eager to help. His journey continued as he became steadily more religious. After attending NCSY’s BILT in 2013, he took on the BILT-worthy challenge of raising the money himself to go on JOLT.
That’s where the ties came in.
Being a fan of wearing a variety of fashionable ties himself, Edon immediately thought of selling them. He frequently bought some of his ties on eBay, so he was already familiar with the tie business. Living in America, ties are a frequent part of a Jewish man’s outfit. Selling ties seemed like a surefire recipe for success.
Edon started selling ties for $5 apiece. The first batch of ties he sold were silk and in different patterns that he ordered from Alibaba, an online Chinese wholesale store. After selling out, Edon ordered another 400 ties — 40 designs of 10 ties each from eBay.
In the beginning, Edon went to local shuls during mincha and maariv and walked door to door around the neighborhood. However, that took up too much time — time that he didn’t have. He decided to take a chance. “It’s Lakewood,” he said to himself. “No one is going to steal my ties if I set up a booth and leave them at shul.”
The following day, Edon set up a table of ties in each shul, with a box for money and a sign explaining why he was selling the ties. Every night, he would find more than just the day’s profits in there. “As I’d count the money, people would stick in notes of encouragement that read ‘Keep it going!’ or ‘So proud of you!’ which was really nice to see,” he recalled fondly.
Between selling 698 ties, working odd jobs around town, pooling all his birthday and Chanukah money and generous scholarships from NCSY, Edon spent the summer on JOLT and is now studying in Israel for the year. In total, Edon raised more than $4,000 from his tie-selling business and he even used a portion of that money to help pay for his year in yeshiva.
“At first, it was hard because I was choosing a different path than my parents, and that’s not easy for anyone,” Edon said about his journey. “But, my parents wanted me to be happy and to be the best person I can be, so they do their best to support me. I also realized that I can do anything I put my mind to. Looks like I may have a career in business after all.”
