Many of our projects have been in Israel. 

First, we built on the close relationship JHH had with the Ethiopian Jewish community through the Million Quarter Project that provided more than a million meals for Ethiopian children waiting to come to Israel. JHH partnered with Greater MetroWest Federation of NJ and the Matnas (Community Center) in Ramat Eliiyahu neighborhood of Rishon LeZion to help the Ethiopian immigrants become productive Israeli citizens. 

We had continuing meetings with MK Avraham Neguise to urge the Israeli government to bring in even more of the Ethiopians waiting to come to Israel.  

From there, we found caring partners in Haifa (Rabbi Edgar Nof), South Tel Aviv (Zichron Group), East Jerusalem (Amoun Sleem), and far beyond. 

Beginning with our most recent projects, here is just some of what we’ve done:

“Shark Tank” JHH Style

For years, JHH has been traveling throughout Israel in search of worthwhile projects to support. Having watched Shark Tank the TV show in which entrepreneurs bring their ideas to a central location and present to a panel of potential funders, we decided to create a version of our own Israeli-style. So with the help of Rabbi Edgar Nof and his congregation in Netanya, JHH hosted its version of Shark Tank.

Within less than a week, more than fifty groups had made initial proposals, of which eleven were chosen as semi-finalists. Some ten days later, representatives of each one made in-person presentations at Natan Yah congregation within one ten hour stretch. After much discussion of these excellent social action ideas, we chose the four finalists.

The 2020 Finalists include a Young Entrepreneur Volunteer Corps, a Therapeutic Horse Farm, an Educational Girls' Farm and a Schoolchildren's Feeding Program. Visits will be made to each of them to meet the other members of the team and to get a firsthand sense of how the work is being done.

Due to the COVID pandemic, there have been no visits to Israel. we hope to return in the near future.

YAD ELIE

During the initial outbreak of Covid, Yad Elie was faced with a number of problems. Before the outbreak we were feeding 500 children daily in 10 schools/programs (approximately 100,000 meals/year). When the pandemic broke out, many of our programs changed from in class to being taught remotely. In three of our East Jerusalem Potchim Atid (Opening a Future) programs, where at-risk kids normally gather three afternoons a week for extra tutoring, we decided instead to send regular food packages of dry and canned goods to their homes.

In Maale Erev, a last chance program for youths at risk in Jewish Jerusalem, we continued to provide the school with groceries, but as schools were not allowed to cook food on the premises, the students came up with an ingenious clandestine plan, where they cooked and served food in a nearby wooded area. We, of course, knew nothing about that.

We also provided food packages for the kids who formerly participated in the afternoon study center at Jerusalem African Asylum seekers Center, while the center was closed. Of all populations in Jerusalem, the asylum seekers are the most vulnerable in that they have neither rights nor a network.

In the current school-year, Yad Elie will provide Jerusalem school-kids with 120,000 meals. JHH is helping to make thus possible and to offer some of Jerusalem’s most unfortunate children a better future.

Echad Echad – One2One

It’s all in the name: One2One. Each one created in G-d’s image. Each one able to do G-d’s work. Everyone is a volunteer. Just as it is at JHH, here, too, there is no overhead. They have representatives in twenty municipalities. In each one, the Welfare Department gives them a list of validated needs that it cannot meet: appliances, dental work, furniture, blankets, shoes or school supplies.

With support from JHH, One2One will meet the needs of the poor in three additional Municipalities, Rishon LeZion, Ofakim and Merchavim, communities where JHH has local partners from previous projects.

Haifa Projects with Rabbi Edgar Nof’s Bridges for Hope (B4H)

B’not Mitzvah Celebrations
Many families of new olim from Ethiopia, Ukraine, Russia or refugees or families in distress (according the Welfare authorities) cannot provide birthday parties or gifts for their children, let alone B’not Mitzvah. In Israel to have a Bat/Bar Mitzvah celebration is not only a religious event, but also a social and cultural one, with a profound impact on the future life of the adolescents. Not having one for economic reasons can create trauma for young adults, causing them to feel alienated from society and even to become juvenile delinquents. 

B4H serves children in the Nirim school where the students need the most support and encouragement. Edgar prepares them for the ceremony, provides appropriate clothing, conducts the service itself and then orchestrates the very happy celebration, complete with B’not Mitzvah gifts! JHH is pleased to help make this possible.

Food Program Edgar tells us about the young girl who whispered to he principal of the Dinur school that she had had nothing to eat that day. A sandwich soon appeared and this led to JHH sponsoring a continuing food program for these hungry children.

JHH also helps to sponsor Edgar's food program for Holocaust survivors.

FORMULA LIVRIYUT - Formula for Healthy Babies

In an effort to determine the most effective way to address the challenge of food insecurity facing Israeli families and their children, JHH held days of meetings with experts in the field. The unanimous conclusion was that the most effective approach would be to improve the diet and nutrition of babies whose mothers were unable to breast feed.

Poor Israeli mothers cannot afford the cost of sufficient formula for their babies. Instead, they water down the formula they do buy to make it last longer. This greatly reduces its nutritional value and inhibits their babies’ healthy growth. In partnership with two major Israeli organizations, Latet and Achdav, and Greater MetroWest Federation of New Jersey, JHH provided formula for 80 babies in families living near the Gaza Strip – Russians, Ethiopians, ultra-Orthodox and Bedouins.

The cooperation of so many non-profits and different Israeli communities showed how vital this formula was to the well-being of these precious children. The robust development of these 80 children is clear evidence of the success and importance of Formula Livriyut.

Bonim B’Yachad – Building Together 

In Union Beach on the New Jersey shore, Hurricane Sandy did a great deal of damage. 52 homes were washed away; 300 had to be taken down; 911 had more than three feet of water. 1700 of the 2200 homes were impacted. These were year-round homes owned by hard-working people with little reserve or ability to rebuild.Israelis in areas partnered with Greater MetroWest Federation (GMW) expressed concern about how we were doing. Fulfilling a dream of Amir Shacham’s, Jewish Helping Hands was able to join with GMW and the Jewish Agency to create Bonim B’Yachad – Building Together. Our local partners Gateway Church and Temple Shaari Emeth helped make it a reality.

Twenty-two of us, including ten Israelis, spent a week in August helping to rebuild one family’s home. An Israeli participant noted that she was surprised that she could work together with Americans and with Israelis and feel as close to them as if she had known them all her life. We all had the same feeling.

It was an experience in Jewish religious living, including prayer and Torah study in addition to the physical work. We meditated, read and studied Torah and debated the proper way to give tzedakah money. We worked hard, putting insulation into all of the walls and then installing sheetrock, followed by taping and spackling. Windows were put into place and a new deck was created.

The homeowner, a widow in her 60’s, has lived in her home for 26 years, with her daughter and two grandchildren and her autistic son. She and her son stayed in the attic as the storm waters rose in the house and a tree kept hitting into it. Finally, they were able to swim to safety. She is now starting to see the light at the end of a very long tunnel.

On our last day, we offered prayers on behalf of the family. One American volunteer wrote: “May you continue to live in this house with the same love and joy with which we all helped to fix it.”  Additional volunteers then came and finished the job.

RISHON LeZION – Supporting Ethiopian Israelis in Ramat Eliyahu

The JHH connection to the Ethiopian community began with the Temple Shalom Million Quarter Project in 2004, through which over a million meals were provided to Ethiopian children waiting to come to Israel. Some years later, they were older and in Israel, but the adjustment challenges were daunting.

In response, JHH developed a many-faceted series of programs:

Addis Tasfa – New Hope – through which 50 participants, men and women, completed 2 year-long training programs, leading to 16 new and enhanced businesses receiving micro-loans. It was an extraordinarily high success rate for this kind of work. Their businesses include a grocery store, clothing stores (with services to repair Ethiopian style ovens to prepare injera bread), a hairdresser salon, a spices/beans store and a high-end designer clothing shop. One store, owned by Shababo (pictured here) is doing very well, selling $3000 traditional Ethiopian wedding outfits! The third and final year was a business club with monthly meetings offered to the 16 successful program graduates, plus owners of a select group of 10 other area businesses. The program provided expert resource people and one-on-one mentoring.

At the graduation ceremony for the first group of graduates, Zeeva stood and said that she was at the opening meetings, and that she was one who said: “It will not work. It cannot be done. Ethiopians will not complete the course, nor will they open or enhance businesses. And now, look at their proud and smiling faces, see their families with hope for a better future.”

People come up and say: “Do you know why JHH succeeded when no one else in Israel has been able to help Ethiopians to become entrepreneurs? You came so often and you listened to us; you made each of us a real part of the team; you became part of our extended families.”

We were told that there is an old Ethiopian proverb: one filament spun by a spider is weak and easily broken, but a web can capture a tiger. So it was here as well. Pulling together we became the hands of G-d and worked miracles in the lives of these families.

Eitan Paldi, a professional evaluator of programs like ours, wrote these words: We believe that Addis Tasfa has significantly helped to advance the Ethiopian community, by the feeling of empowerment and by the many benefits they received from participating, beyond the receiving of loans and business training.

Hip-hop and Etgarim (Extreme Sports) – designed to attract teens into the Matnas, Community Center, programs and off the streets where some 200 are involved in dangerous, anti-social activities. Many young Ethiopians and others participated eagerly in these offerings: rock-climbing, mountain biking, etc. The first class drew 20 eager participants with 60 on the waiting list! Soon, there were 7 groups and almost 100 participants. This became a major focus of programming for at-risk teens.. Extreme Sports became so popular that many groups of 20 were created and the Matnas became the national center of such creative programming.

Hip-hop classes were popular as well. The music could be heard throughout the Center as the smiling teens participated actively.

SAHI, Transforming Israel's Youth At-risk through Acts of Giving, has literally “enlisted” hundreds of at-risk teens in a military-style operation to identify and support those in need. Their helping efforts are done in secret as the teens are empowered with full responsibility. In the process, their lives and those of the poor are in fact being saved.

“Hezkiah, today 19 years old, came to S.A.H.I. when he was 15 with a criminal record after getting kicked out of school. With the help of S.A.H.I. and with tremendous effort on both our part as well as Hezkiah’s, he has made his way back to his studies. Today, he leads the group in Kiryat Menachem and has a special rapport with the boys and girls who come to S.A.H.I., serving as a role model.“With support from JHH, SAHI has begun to create teen groups in central Israel. Our hope is that one will be in the Ramat Eliyahu neighborhood of Rishon LeZion where we have done several projects with the Ethiopian community. They, too, need to be rescued from the streets and given hope for a better future.

Happily, with JHH support, S.A.H.I. has expanded to Ramat Eliyahu!

Kibbutz College of Education (KCE) – which trains 40% of all Israeli teachers, partnered with JHH in two of the KCE programs. Tarik and Rivka were admitted to the Teaching Certification curriculum and their enthusiasm and progress have been extraordinary. Tarik is so grateful to JHH for enabling her, a wife and mother, to fulfill her dream of becoming a teacher.

They serve as such positive role models for the community as they teach and tutor children there in math and Hebrew language. They also created a Prep class for young children about to enter first grade. It is no wonder that others now aspire to follow in their footsteps. The challenges are very great. It is difficult to get principals to accept the Ethiopians as student teachers, since Ethiopians are rarely seen in such leadership and authority positions. But once they are engaged, the response is so positive that the principals request them again and again.

The hurdles are even greater as they graduate and seek full-time employment. Perhaps, the only solution is to have more and more excellent graduates like Rivka and Tarik. Indeed, building on this JHH initiative and their success, KCE has now enrolled 70 other Ethiopian students. It is a small part of the 3300 student population, but it is a start.

JHH also sponsored two students in KCE’s certificate program, “Parenting an Israeli Child,” for immigrant parents. Kess (Ethiopian “rabbi”) Samai and Havtam are eager and enthusiastic participants from Ramat Eliyahu.

Havtam told us that she thought she knew all about parenting until she started the course. Now she is so excited about sharing what she has learned with other Ethiopian parents. She taught two classes – one for men and the other for women – so the other parent could stay home for child care. Now the fathers learn to take some responsibility at home, as well. “This education is the greatest gift I have ever received,” she tells us.

READ MORE Her sessions as well as Kess Samai’s have created a real buzz in the community as all of the parents want to increase their skills and improve their relationships with their children.

Their salaries as Certificate holders will be quite good as they continue to be wonderful role models. 

LAHAV – Teens Making Professional Movies - Itai, the dynamic director of Lahav, has created a year-long program of meetings, involving theater games and improvisations about the teens’ dreams and family lives. Real bonds and new friendships were created among them.

The first film, a 17 minute movie, involved 17 local teens: 16 Ethiopians (6 boys and 11 girls) and 1 Russian. They came from the community center, the schools and the streets. Many faced serious personal challenges: shyness, lack of self-confidence, ADHD, dyslexia and even one on probation under police supervision. This is our target population.

The goal is to increase the self-confidence and personal growth of the youth. At first, several refused to speak or engage in theater games, but by the end, everyone wanted to be on camera. The filming took place over two days. The teens came on time and cooperated fully with the professional crew.

It was shown at a large theater in Tel Aviv and then on national television, along with five other Lahav teen films. It was also seen throughout the region, including schools without any Ethiopian students, since it dealt with common parent-child situations: “they may behave strangely, but we love them.”

One member of the group, Dagu, tells us it has been a once-in-a-lifetime experience, involving much more work than he expected. He was given the part of a “bad boy” – quite different from the good boy he really is. He learned a lot about himself, and he may no longer be quite so shy. Clearly, the students’ self-esteem and confidence have improved greatly as has the way their parents and families treat them. These teens are already becoming active in the community center leadership programs.

The second film was a success, too. Its theme is the relationship between Ethiopian teen-age girls and boys, and how the girls compete with each other and often blame each other for the infidelity of the boys.

Gypsy Community in East Jerusalem

The JHH delegation met with Anat Hoffman, director of the Israel Religious Action Center. She is a leading Israeli civil rights and social activist. She explained that the neediest group in Israel is the Gypsies. There are 5,000-10,000 Gypsies in East Jerusalem, where they are regarded as the lowest group in Palestinian society and are openly ridiculed in public and in school. Virtually no Jews know anything about them.

The JHH delegation met with Amoun Sleem of the Domari Association for the Advancement of Gypsies in Jerusalem. She took us into East Jerusalem to see the situation firsthand.

Expected in her culture to be a beggar, Amoun has had a hard life, but has risen above it to get an education. She began her organization in 1999 despite opposition from the elders, including her father. Gypsies are Muslims; most cannot read or write. Their husbands oppose birth control, so many Gypsy women have 8 or 9 children.

JHH brought in many laptop computers for the kids to use. This has improved their English, and American volunteers came to teach them.

The JHH group saw the many traditional crafts the women there are making as they increase their self-esteem and earn some desperately needed money.

Amoun’s dream is to have a place in the Jewish side of the city for Jews and Arabs to patronize where women will work at sewing machines. May it come to be.

Sderot – Building Resiliency and Leadership in Women

JHH co-sponsors a Hosen – a Resiliency Center – in Sderot. It is a depressed development town that has been the target of endless, frightening Hamas rockets from Gaza over the past 15 years.

The project has 3 goals:

• to meet direct human and social needs, while developing resiliency and self-reliance;

• to develop life skills in areas such as parenting, family financial management and women’s health; and

• to build leadership capacity to see problems as challenges and to address them together.

JHH is helping to reinvigorate an Ethiopian Women’s group that began in 2013. The women receive aid to meet their needs and more to share with others. They meet for two hours on Sunday evenings and are so anxious to get together that they find ways for child care.

Sefere, a group member, talks about the discrimination she and other Ethiopians have experienced. At one point, she and an Ashkenazi fellow student went to get their grades. The teacher assumed that the higher grades had to be those of the other student. It took her a long time to convince him that he was mistaken.

It takes a lot of “resilience” to confront the challenges of being an Ethiopian Israeli woman. First, they need to see themselves as the equals of men, capable of doing anything they choose to do. JHH can see it in them already.

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