I receive Google alerts. One of them is for “Israel girl orphanage”.
It often does not result in many posts, but yesterday I was alerted to the following article: An Orphan in Pre-State Palestine
The Israeli film industry is growing in popularity, and this latest film by well-known Israeli film connoisseur Dina Zvi Riklis, entitled The Fifth Heaven, is a period piece set in 1944 Palestine at an orphanage for girls.
The movie is based on the novel of the same name by Rachel Eytan (1931 – 1987; b. Tel Aviv, Israel) who spent part of her childhood in children’s homes and later moved to a border kibbutz. The movie’s tragic story focuses on Maya, a 13-year-old girl whose mother deserted her and fled to America. Maya’s father is remarrying and decides to place her at an orphanage.
Here is a clip from the movie of Maya’s arrival at the orphanage…
I am always impressed by how the visual medium of film can portray a story and tug at your heartstrings. This film is set in an orphanage outside of Tel-Aviv in the years leading up to Israeli independence. I think about how it was around this time of turmoil that the founder of the Rubin-Zeffren Children’s Home, the Grand Rebbe Yekusiel Yehuda Halberstam, after losing his wife and 11 children to the Holocaust, took it upon himself to help the orphaned survivors, first in displaced person camps and then in Israel.
When I saw this movie clip I immediately thought of a new girl arriving at the Children’s Home in Netanya. How lost and confused, how scared she must feel. And if she still has a living parent, how abandoned!
So I asked the question, “What are the first days like for a new girl at the Home?”
Sisters at the Home celebrate together with loving support and friendship
Chava Yelloz, the Editor of our monthly e-newsletter, Inside Our Home: News from Lev LaLev, was able to help me find my answer.
The Home gets a few weeks’ notice from a family court or the welfare department about preparing for a new arrival. Many times however, a girl arrives at the Home at the last minute, with only the clothes on her back, taken from emergency situations such as abuse, parental incarceration, hospitalization or sudden death where there are no relatives capable of caring for them.
Within the first few days, they are evaluated by the Home’s educational director who reviews records from their previous school in order to place them in an appropriate local community school to start right away. They meet with and are welcomed by a professional therapist who talks with the girl about how she is feeling about the transition and together they develop a strategy to ensure that all her emotional and mental needs are met. She is placed in room with a roommate close in her age and temperament.
Then it is off for a shopping spree for new clothes, shoes and all her other wardrobe needs. For many girls, this is the first time they have ever had something new to call their own. She is also taken to the pediatrician to make sure that any medical needs are attended to. Most importantly, from the moment she steps foot into the Home, all her new big sisters help her acclimate herself to her new life.
She experiences only warmth, love and acceptance from all the girls, who best understand what she is going through, as well as from the house mother, staff, and counselors at her new Home. For a first hand observation of this, read about when our Director of Development, Rachel Weinstein, was visiting the Home and a new girl arrived while she was there: Time to Meet the Girls .
Unlike in the film, modern day Israel does prefer this type of communal care, which I described above, over adoption. I wrote more about it in a prior blog post: Childcare in Israel: Adoption, Foster Care and Orphanages.
Well, I know I was happy with the answer to my question, and also that I would really like to watch The Fifth Heaven, mostly to see what other differences I can find in comparing our orphanage to those of Israel’s past. Thank you Google alerts!
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6 comments
Chava R. Yelloz says:
June 27, 2012 at 3:34 am (UTC -4 )
I am thrilled to be part of Lev LaLev and its mission to help the girls who arrive at the Rubin-Zeffren Children’s Home where they all receive a second chance in life. Over the past half-dozen years, I’ve visited the Home on each of my trips to Israel and feel like an integral part of the girls’ lives.
I am proud of each girl’s accomplishments, their milestones in transition from their painful beginnings to their triumphant struggles to attain normalcy and happiness in their young lives. And I know that through our open communications with all of the generous people who help them, form all corners of the world – they will keep reaching higher and higher.
Yes, orphanages, as depicted in literature and on the stage and screen, were scary places. But, thank G-d, I have seen with my own eyes, the wonderful atmosphere that we provide for our dear girls in Netanya. I am so proud to be part of this team!
Chava
levlalev says:
June 28, 2012 at 12:01 pm (UTC -4 )
Thank you so much Chava for sharing your connection with the Home with all of us each month! These views into the Home are truly invaluable! -Sheena
Rachel Weinstein says:
June 26, 2012 at 3:40 pm (UTC -4 )
Nice post, Sheena!
Before my first visit to the Home, my only impression of orphanages were from Charles Dickens! Imagine the contrast to my experience: content, well-adjusted girls in a clean, happy atmosphere. The pain in their hearts was not apparent. That’s a job well-done by our remarkable staff who care for them each moment.
levlalev says:
June 26, 2012 at 6:05 pm (UTC -4 )
Thanks Rachel! I was thinking of Annie. Thankfully, our Home has no Miss Hannigan’s, Mr. Bumble’s, or Fagin’s…thanks to all our generous “Daddy” Warbucks’ -Sheena
John Lewis says:
June 26, 2012 at 9:10 am (UTC -4 )
Thank you very much for sharing this video and relating the experience these poor young ladies endure. However, they are all truly blessed to have such wonderful folks at the Rubin Zeffren Home and Lev LaLev to help care for them. I am very grateful for all the terrific support you offer these young girls. Children are the greatest asset and always a blessing from the Lord, so we must care for them.
You are right about how film can offer a candid glimpse into the life of a young girl who must adapt into the lifestyle of living in a group home. Not many people can relate to such an experience, but again, they are truly blessed to be supported by your agency.
I pray to be able to continue supporting Lev LaLev and help to spread the word about this wonderful organization. As a Christian, I feel that we do not do enough to support Israel and the Jewish families overseas. Therefore I pray for more people to turn their hearts and minds towards supporting this great cause.
Take care, be safe, & God bless you all.
John Lewis
Biloxi, MS
levlalev says:
June 26, 2012 at 2:04 pm (UTC -4 )
Indeed I felt that even this small clip helped me better understand the feelings the girls may encounter, which is why I wanted to share it. Along with the gratitude that today things are different thanks to all the amazing, inspiring people worldwide who help us ensure we can continue to have the ability to help these girls reach their fullest potentials.
Thank you so much for all that you do John!
Sheena