Celebrating Gratitude

Today, Americans celebrate Thanksgiving. We gather our families, mumble something vague about pilgrims and Indians, and feast as if we planned to hibernate through the winter. This year, while I was reading through various Thanksgiving seder ceremonies, I was struck by the holiday’s resemblance to our pilgrimage festivals. On Sukkot, for instance, we are reminded to be hospitable by recreating the temporary dwellings that our ancestors used in the desert. On Pesach, we “let all who are hungry come and eat.” Our idyllic story about the kindness of the Native Americans ought to be teaching us the same lesson about the power of reaching out a hand to those who need one. Therefore, today’s post will focus on three organizations that lend their services to Israeli children:

The Zion Orphanage: Located in Jerusalem, this orphanage has been operating for more than 100 years. The orphanage tries to create “not just a place of refuge, but a home with the warmth, care and security of a loving family. This has continued generation after generation until today, providing children from diverse backgrounds and different needs with individual care and guidance.” The group works with orphans and children from unsuitable homes and attempts to give them a warm, nurturing community. When I was in Israel, our group had the privilege of visiting a place similar to this one. Though many of the children had experienced unthinkable tragedies, the home successfully educated many of these children and prepared them to go into Israeli society. The plethora of homes in Israel suggests that child welfare is a significant issue, thus making the work of each individual orphanage extremely important. Projects like this one are commendable, and it is important to recognize the good work that each of these homes does on a daily basis to help disadvantaged children.

TZEVA: Youth Building a Future: This group has three specific goals:

• The pursuit of equal opportunities in education and to enable children access to better education
• Encourage volunteering and participation of individuals in their communities
• To create new learning opportunities thereby increasing the freedom of choice and ability of each participant to pave their own path in life

Tzeva pairs volunteers with individual children. These volunteers act as tutors and mentors, providing one-on-one help to struggling students with homework and life skills. Ultimately, Tzeva seeks to decrease socioeconomic inequality and access to opportunities. We could use groups like this all over the world.

The Israel Association for Immigrant Children: Made of educators, social workers, and psychologists, the “IAIC strives to achieve the equal integration of immigrant children, youth and young people into schools and into Israeli society, while providing them with the opportunity to voice their opinion regarding the character of this integration.” This group looks at a different issue facing Israeli children: the problem of plurality and integration. The group runs a number of different programs aimed at providing a positive transition for children into Israeli society. In immigrant countries, organizations like the IAIC are of utmost importance and serve a very important developmental need.

Today, we give thanks to these organizations for their service to the citizens of Israel. Remember during this holiday season that it is not just established non-profits that can make a difference to your communities, either. Whether you live in Israel or America (or anywhere else, for that matter), with very little effort you can organize your community to combat issues like poverty, homelessness, and educational inequality. Find local groups; organize your neighbors. Let us all be beacons of hope for the less fortunate this season.