We have 72 hours to try to save Yeshivat Mithabrim, for at-risk teens!
We see these young man hanging out all over the place on the streets, swinging on the iron fences, standing next to the shops, lurking in the dark shadows.
They are kids from good homes, full of energy – just something seems to have taken them out along the way, and now they are stuck at a crossroads in their lives, where things could go either way…
We see them on every street corner, at every hour of the day.
They are on the fringes of our society, with eyes full of deep despair. They are having doubts… they are thinking about things that maybe they shouldn’t be… they are searching for the truth.
This is the last moment we have. We dread to think what might happen next, if there is no-one to help them at this point – no-one who is going to hug them, and strengthen them, and who won’t let them just drop out of yiddishkeit.
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“Yeshivat Mithabrim” is not really a yeshiva, it’s a home.
It’s a loving home, where the young bochurim in our care are reminded once again what it means to have someone looking out for them, and caring about them. The staff of the yeshiva are there for the kids day and night, and they provide support during the tough times, as well as during the happier times.
We stand by them, we teach them, and we give them the tool they need in order to go forward, and build their own homes.
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But wherever you find kedusha, the Sitra Achra (dark side) tries to attack, and won’t let the kedusha and the holiness spread. Over the last five years, Yeshiva Mithabrim has been hit by one difficulty after another, that would have been enough to have made most other yeshivas close down.
The yeshiva had to move from Sanhedria to Shmuel HaNavi. But then, it had to move again to a caravan in Ramat Eshkol, where they were again kicked out of their premises. We were all shocked when we heard that the Tel Aviv City Council had destroyed a Beit Knesset; we all cried together with the residents of Gush Katif, when their yeshiva and synagogues were torn down by the government.
But when the same thing happened again in Jerusalem, there was no-one to cry with us, or to be shocked on our behalf!
Despite the fact that the yeshiva was given a clear, written agreement, all the assurances given to our askanim were revoked by the Jerusalem City Council, and once again the police came in large numbers to destroy our yeshiva, and bulldozer our caravans to pieces.
And in the process, they smashed to pieces the little bit of emuna that the students of Mithabrim still had, and threw them on to the streets like they were stray dogs.
And nobody cared.
Nobody was bothered by all these boys on the streets, who were crying again, and who couldn’t believe that this had happened to them again. They couldn’t believe it, that once again they had nowhere to go….
(The video below is in Hebrew, but it clearly shows the caravans being destroyed in Ramat Eshkol.)
ישיבת מתחברים from CauseMatch on Vimeo.
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With some enormous siyatta di shmeya, and some tremendous efforts, the yeshiva’s administrator has managed to find a new site, where the bachurim can try to put down some new roots, and create a new home. It’s a place where we can rebuild a home for them from scratch, and create a true home for these boys, who otherwise don’t have anywhere else to call ‘home’.
And now, we are trying to rebuild anew – and we have a question to ask you:
Are you going to let these boys stay out on the streets?
Do you care what’s going to happen to these kids, and the generations who will come after them?
And if the answer is ‘yes’ – you do care – then the question is:
Can you help us to secure the new site we found, by making a donation, large or small, whatever you can afford, to help us to help them, and to give them the strength to continue?
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Right now, Yeshivat Mithabrim is racing against the clock.
We’re raised 68% of the funds required to give these boys a new home, but we only have 72 hours to come up with the remaining 100,000 shekels – and we can’t do this by ourselves.
This is the test, this is the exam we are facing, to see if we really do care about these boys enough to put our hands in our pockets and to give generously.
The yeshiva has been through so many difficulties recently, particularly over the last two years, when the Jerusalem municipality reneged on the agreement it made with us, and bulldozed the last house we tried to build for these boys. For two years, many of these boys have been literally out on the streets, with nowhere to go, even in the rain and the cold.
They’ve been sleeping in tents and in halls, battered by the elements, with no electricity – in short, in extremely difficult circumstances. What has brought them through is their tremendous connection to Rebbe Nachman, and their belief and emuna that things have to get better soon, bezrat Hashem.
Now, we have 72 hours left to raise the money we need in order to build them a home.
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These children could be yours or mine – they could be your neighbor’s kids, your nephews, your cousins. They are our children, and they need our help. If we don’t manage to raise the remaining money, all of the campaign will be for nought, chas v’shalom, and we will be left with nothing.
So, these next 72 hours are absolutely critical. We are calling on every one to please open their hearts, and to join us in trying to make this new ‘home’ a reality for these boys.
You can donate online by going here >>>>> DONATE HERE <<<<<<<, or by calling *9314.
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The campaign has the backing and blessing of Rabbi Eliezer Berland, shlita, and many hundreds of people have already answered the call. We are almost there, but we need your help to raise the last 100,000, and to give these boys a home.
Please, open your hearts, and help us to help them.
Because these boys are good boys, and in the trying times we live in, any of our children could end up in the same situation, lo alenu.
And there has to be someone who will catch them before they fall through the cracks, and some place they can go, where they can still feel at home, and continue to serve Hashem until they get back on their feet.
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You can donate securely online by going here:
>>>> DONATE HERE <<<<<<<
or by calling *9314.
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