Shalom everyone,
The Torah School Board has decided to make a difference in a bigger way. This year instead of having our students give their Torah School Tzedakah Money to many organizations. We have decided to donate our tzedakah money to a wonderful and useful community in Israel. The city of Beit Shemesh, situated between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv in central Israel, has a rich archeological history going back to biblical times. Beit Shemesh has had many final struggles over the years and many of the people have struggled to make ends meet. We will be donating our money to help the children that are residents of Ramat Lechi which is located in Beit Shemesh. Many of the residents in Ramat Lechi are single parents. Most of them are not educated and many have a criminal past. Living in poverty and ignorance can only perpetuate the existing cycle of violence and hopelessness. There are 1000 children in Beit Shemesh that are identified as “at risk” yet only 200 have been lucky enough to get help. Many of the ones that are left out live in Ramat Lechi.
An after school program called Moadon (club) was established for the Ramat Lechi children to provide nutrition, tutoring, after school enrichment and a safe environment to kids who have very little at home. It serves over 50 children spanning in age from 5-16. Our goal is to support this program and help give it a little more support than it currently has.
The Moadon is located in the center of the neighborhood in a bomb shelter. Children need to go to the Moadon for a safe place and an after school program. The Torah School Board’s hope is to help support this program any way that we can. Last year, Haya Laufer, Chair, Israel Connection Committee led the Adat Shalom community in collecting $13,000 for the children in the Ramat Lechi community in Beit Shemesh. I look forward to having our students join in the helping of this community.
L’Shalom and thank you,
Toni Bloomberg Grossman