Shira Edri’s life turned upside down on Oct. 7. Increasing bombardment from Hezbollah rendered her northern Israeli city of Kiryat Shmona uninhabitable, and the 11th-grader relocated one day later to a Jerusalem hotel along with her mother and brother. Her father remained in the region as part of the emergency response team.
“The past year has been extremely challenging,” the 16-year-old says. “Our family is broken. We said goodbye to the happy family that used to talk and laugh. We’re worried all the time.”
“It’s been very hard to be away from home, and my regular routine,” Edri says. “There’s no privacy here at the hotel. When it becomes too much, and I need to be alone for a bit, there’s nowhere to go. Some days I just break down.”
Transitioning to a new school last year with different courses and peers was also difficult. Though Edri has cultivated new relationships, her close childhood friends are dispersed throughout the country. She misses attending her local OU Israel Teen Center, where, for the past five years, she would meet them weekly.
“Before the war, my friends and I would work, travel and hang out together at various places, including the OU Israel Teen Center, where we would prepare food in the kitchen and have fun. The madrichim (advisers)and the activities they led were amazing,” she says, adding, “I would give anything to return to those times.”
As a leading organization helping at-risk Israeli teens overcome trauma, OU Israel strives to break the cycle of poverty, deepen teens’ connection to Jewish values and give them a sense of belonging, responsibility and confidence. Since 1999, OU Israel’s 22 teen centers throughout the country have served as second homes for tens of thousands of Israeli and immigrant at-risk youth annually, from peripheral southern and northern regions, like Kiryat Shmona. Many come from broken families and impoverished communities where the education and incomes are subpar with those in central Israel.
In partnership with local government officials, Israel’s Ministry of Welfare and Social Affairs and local schools, OU Israel identifies 13-to-18-year-olds who might benefit from the teen centers’ structured programs and dedicated support staff, which includes more than 200 madrichim, managers, logistics coordinators, social workers and psychologists. The centers offer youth a chance to decompress, participate in stimulating, growth-oriented activities, focus on their emotional and spiritual health, and acquire critical life skills to help them become tomorrow’s leaders. Chanichim (participants) are empowered to graduate high school with a teudat bagrut (matriculation certificate) and to move on to meaningful frameworks including serving the country as members of the Israel Defense Forces or Sherut Leumi (National Service).
OU Israel Teen Program director Chaim Pelzner oversees the teen centers and says that Oct. 7 was an extremely destabilizing event for at-risk youth in particular, who are already vulnerable.
“At a time when families are grappling with the existential fear of war and concern around their financial futures, all of the teens’ anchors have fallen apart,” he says. “Our teens are scattered countrywide in dozens of schools, and communities dissolved once people relocated to hotels and other temporary dwellings.”
OU Israel Teen Centers northern regional director Refael Salab agrees. Like Shira, he also relocated to Jerusalem, having evacuated from Kiryat Shmona with his wife and five children shortly after Oct. 7.
“When you don’t have a home to return to at night, you lack stability,” Salab says. “If this is how I feel as a mature adult, imagine how our youth are affected. It’s extremely challenging. We want to rebuild their trust and bring back a small semblance of normalcy for these teens, and to help them to have faith in themselves and a brighter future.”
In an effort to restore a sense of community and keep chanichim connected with their peers, OU Israel Teen Centers continue to run regular programs, Shabbatons and day trips, and it offers emotional support to thousands of teens as the war rages on. Despite serious damages incurred at 11 branches since Oct. 7, the tremendous geographic distances between participantsand madrichim’s personal and familial challenges during this trying period, staff are committed to maintaining the same level of services and attention they provided before the start of the conflict.
“It is difficult to reunite everyone from all over the country, but we invest tremendous effort and finances to bring everyone together,” says Pelzner. “Above all, our teens know that they hold a warm place in our hearts, and that they have a consistent address to contact, where they will be embraced and supported.”
Says Salab, “The teens are so overjoyed to be reunited with their peers, that they care less these days about the actual activity on the agenda. Once they meet each other, they’re reminded of home and of their positive memories.”
Edri is grateful to OU Israel for facilitating reunions with her friends, which she says uplifts her spirits.
“Despite everything I’ve been through, I know that the teen centers staff always have my back, and understand me,” she says. “They give each of us chanichim the feeling that we deserve the best. I’m so thankful to OU Israel Teen Centers not only for being my second home, but for giving all of us the chance to see and hug one another, to laugh and enjoy, and to be together again.”
OU Israel invests $3.84 million annually in its teen centers and has relied heavily on additional funding from Israel’s federal government as well as the youth departments in various municipalities. Many of those funds have been redirected to the county’s war efforts, leaving OU Israel with a considerable financial shortfall. To compensate for its significant financial losses, OU Israel is turning to friends and supporters in North America and beyond for help, via its “Promise Me Tomorrow” fundraising campaign.
“For over two decades, OU Israel has worked with tens of thousands of at-risk teens across the country, giving them the strength, the love, the attention, and the guidance they need in order to become future contributing members of Israeli society,” says OU Israel executive director Rabbi Avi Berman. “Now, more than ever, it is imperative that we support our youth in need to overcome this incredibly painful and challenging time in the most successful way possible.”
Adds OU executive vice president and COO Rabbi Dr. Josh Joseph, “With the help of our friends and supporters, we can refurbish our damaged teen centers, build new ones, and reach even more teens who could benefit from OU Israel’s expertise and dedication, both in their darkest hour of need and in brighter times to come.”
To contribute to OU Israel’s Teen Centers Promise Us Tomorrow campaign, please visit ouisrael.org/promise. Media contact Laya Bejell, director of marketing, OU Israel, 054-321-9827, lbejell@ouisrael.org.
