The Central Mass Jewish Community: Sharing the Light with the Youth of Beit Singer’s Children’s Home

(Situated in Kfar Yehezkel in the Jezreel Valley, Beit Singer provides a warm and loving home to children and youth who have been referred by the Social Services of Israel, and who are in need of respect, love and a nurturing environment).

Children at Beit Singer celebrating Purim

The dog was wandering around the campus at will. Nobody seemed to mind. Every so often he would be stopped by a child and petted.  At the back of the campus, ducks, geese, monkeys, and goats were all in their areas, being fed, and cared for by the residents of Beit Singer. These residents ranged in ages from 3 to 18, all kids who were at risk and who had been removed from their homes by court order.

Beit Singer is located in the Gilboa region which partners with our community through the Partnership2Gether program of the Jewish Agency for Israel.

During the month of December, the Federation asked our Central MA. families to dedicate one night of Chanukah to the children of Beit Singer by lighting a candle on their behalf and by donating one gift to them in lieu of a gift to their children.

The program culminated with a joint candle lighting ceremony on the last night of Chanukah via Skype. The children of Beit Singer together with the children at the Worcester JCC were able to jointly celebrate together.

“I didn’t know kids in America light the Chanukah menorah” was a remark made by one of the youngsters at Beit Singer. What better way to begin to build bridges between our youth and the youth of Israel than by continuing this amazing way to directly communicate with one another.

To date, through many small donations, we will be able to send Beit Singer a check for $1,000.00 for their animal therapy unit.

Howard Borer, Executive Director, Jewish Federation of Central Massachusetts