Ellen’s Kids
Last year, the light shining upon the world dimmed ever so slightly with the passing of a special soul—Ellen Koplow, z”l, a devoted Board Member at AMIT and one of the kindest people one could ever meet.
Midreshet Amit Be’er In Yerucham
In the desert town of Yerucham, a group of girls are completing a year of Torah study and community service, while preparing to enter the army for a two–year hitch, the last six months of which will be spent in yet another round of community service. Midreshet AMIT Be’er is a new type of educational institution. While the hesder yeshiva for boys (a five-year program combining Torah studies with military service) has existed for decades, the hesder yeshiva for girls is new. Midreshet AMIT Be’er is one of just four institutions in the country offering this type of program. But what makes this midrasha unique is its emphasis on community service.
Find Your Greatness
Over the years I have found myself in numerous difficult situations, which have run the gamut from slightly awkward to extremely uncomfortable. A few years ago, I spent quite a bit of time in Germany working with the Ronald S. Lauder foundation and their dynamic CEO, Rabbi Josh Spinner; and I found myself in a tough position in Cologne.
Rabbi Spinner is the person responsible for the rejuvenation of Jewish life in Germany. Many Russian Jews, due to financial issues, were forced to emigrate from Russia to Germany. There was a real danger that the next generation of their children would be lost to the Jewish people. Rabbi Spinner opened up an educational institution in Germany called the Rabbinerseminar zu Berlin to train Rabbis for communities around Germany.
Changing Lives At Kfar Blatt
Given his difficult upbringing, no one in the social services department of this city just east of Tel Aviv would have been surprised if Gil Nahari, now 19, had fallen prey to crime or drugs.
Abused by his mother, he was handed over to his grandparents at the age of seven. At age ten he moved in with his divorced father but ended up in a boarding school at twelve and another one at thirteen. Back with his father at fourteen, he enrolled in AMIT Yeshivat Kfar Ganim as a day student, and, at fifteen, at the AMIT Kfar Blatt Youth Village in Petach Tikva.