Marlene Post Health Center at the Hadassah/ Meir Shfeyah Youth Village

October 10^th, 2018

I am Lauren Stern Kedem and I have had the privilege of living and working in this remarkable place since 1989 . I am so happy to welcome you all to the Hadassah / Meir Shfeyah Youth Village .

 We are honored to celebrate with you the 100^th anniversary of the Hadassah Medical Unit and Nursing School which were established in 1918 in response to the desperate need for  medical services in Palestine after WWI . It is appropriate that we are dedicating the Marlene Post Health Center at Meir Shfeyah  which was established 5 years later in 1923 and where Henrietta Szold created Hadassah’s first Youth Aliyah Village to rescue European youth from Nazi Germany  and to rehabilitate and provide a home to young  Holocaust survivors and new immigrants .   Hadassah and Shfeyah have been saving and changing lives since their creation because of the visions, courage and compassion of their leaders and members.

 In recognition of the countless contributions of Hadassah to youth aliyah and to Meir Shfeyah , we are honored to have dedicated the Deborah B Kaplan Sports Center, the Altura Lone Soldiers’ Home,  the Bonnie Lipton Center for the Performing Arts, BG Square and Barbara Goldstein Avenue, the June Walker High School, the Nancy Falchuk Learning Center, the Marcie Natan Dining Hall and now the Marlene Post Health Center in our village.

Marlene Post has been one of those many exceptional leaders who have changed our lives. As national treasurer and then national president of Hadassah, Marlene was among those Hadassah leaders, including Debbie Kaplan and Barbara Goldstein who had the insight and courage to rescue Shfeyah during a time that closing it down was being considered. Taking a leap of faith these leaders along with the staff and administration of the village turned Shfeyah into a prize winning, nationally recognized boarding school which continues to provide an education and home to Israeli “at risk “ adolescents of all backgrounds including Jews, Druze, Muslims, Bedoins, Russians and Ethiopians ,... with unprecedented success.

Marlene, who is also a trained nurse ,has been an enthusiastic  supporter of youth aliyah and an advocate for our village and for the young people we serve , in all of her many roles , for almost all of her life. Marlene has always been both passionate and compassionate about the people, places and values she believes in. What is so special about Marlene and about Hadassah, is not only the miraculous things you have all accomplished but the way that you do it. During a time when civility, decency and kindness are no longer qualities which we can take for granted, Marlene’s, and Hadassah’s  integrity , kindness, generosity  and genuine personal commitment  are enlightening, comforting and inspirational.  Marlene, I am , and we at Shfeyah are so grateful for your friendship and your role model and proud to be a small part of the work that Hadassah has been doing for more than a century.

 A former US Senator, Secretary of State, recipient of Hadassah Woman of the Year award and presidential candidate once wrote in her book “ It takes a village to raise a child”. Shfeyah is your village and these are also your children. Thank you all, for all of the small and huge things you all do . 

https://www.facebook.com/carolann.gershunyschwartz/videos/10156941803069155/   

It takes an Ethiopian Village

This morning I was woken up by the sounds of children's voices on the other side of my backyard fence at Shfeyah where my neighbors live -a family of goats, a herd of donkeys, free range chickens, some rabbits , hens, a turkey and a few guinea pigs.

The Children's Farm has been flourishing during the past few months under the management of Udine and Ayal and once again, the farm is becoming the center of the children's lives in the village. In addition to their academic studies in the fields and in the computerized, organic greenhouse and classroom located on the farm, students have been volunteering on Fridays and during their free time in the afternoons to build an Ethiopian village consisting of traditional straw huts like the ones which some of their families had lived in for generations.

Shmuel was one of the children who was already up and working at 7:30 this morning . A group of younger Ethiopian children were passing him straw poles which he methodically and lovingly put in place and tied with twine. Shmuel is typically soft spoken, focused and attentive to details but some of the younger kids who were assisting him were among our more challenging students. I spotted one boy who is supposed to be in my English class but almost never shows up at school. But here he was with other similarly minded kids, up early, at work, listening to Shmuel's calm instructions and learning lessons that one can't learn in a classroom from a boy who several years ago had problems similiar to his. Shmuel is now an excellent student in the 11th grade with time to study, time to work, time to volunteer and time to look after and inspire others.

And at 4:30 this evening, when the sun was already setting, Shmuel was still there, alone, putting finishing touches on the hut. I went out to bring him a Crembo treat which I passed through the chain link fence. " Shmuel, you've been here since the morning. You're working so hard."

" I know. Isn't this great ?" he tells me with the kind of contentment that this is all about. " My mother was here visiting last week. When she saw this she told me that it is just like Ethiopia. When she found out that I built these huts, she cried."

Music instead of missiles

While taking Bungee, my airedale terrier for his evening walk a short while ago I heard lovely sounds coming from the Music Room in the Hadassah / Parker-Edelstein Music Center and found Boris , our music director accompanying 2 lovely "Naale" girls from Kfar Silver who are among the 50 students who were evacuated from their youth village and have found refuge at Shfeyah from the missile attacks in the South during the past 2 weeks. Alisha and Masha , 11th grade students from Russia who have been in Israel for only a year and a half were singing Israeli songs with some of our students during their evening free time. Instead of the sounds of sirens and bombs exploding they were enjoying the Shfeyah " Sounds of Music" , surrounded by their own counselors and Shfeyah staff who have volunteered to make their experiences during this war, bearable and memorable. They are studying English and Mathematics in our school along with our 11th and 12th grade classes in preparation for their Bagrut ( matriculation ) exams this month and in February and participate in village activities during the afternoons and evenings. Our students have also made the small, but nevertheless meaningful sacrifice of moving out of their own rooms and sharing friends' rooms in order to make space for the Kfar Silver students until the war is over and it is safe for them to return to the South.
Boris proudly introduced the girls and showed me the new recording studio, piano, guitars and amplifiers which were recently purchased with Hadassah funds for our music program which you found for us several months ago. We hope and pray that the sounds of war will soon be replaced with sounds of families safe in their homes and the rebuilding of Gaza free from the terrorism of Hamas and attacks from Israel. During these hard times music often makes things bearable. Thanks for being our untiring advocate and friend and helping to make these things possible.

With love, on behalf of us all at Shfeyah ,
Lauren

A Four Letter Word

Two historic events in the two places I have considered home, the election of Barak Obama in the US and the attendence of close to one hundred thousand on Saturday night, at the ceremony in Tel Aviv, commemorating the assassination of Prime Minister Itzchak Rabin 13 years ago, reminded me that the source of my discontent and uncustomary but nevertheless prevalent cynicism in recent years, has been the tragic loss of hope that things might be different and better.
It is necessary to look at our problems and challenges straight in the eye and instead of disparing, change what can be changed. You have already done that last week, voting for a President whose policies will be based on hope instead of fear who has the vision and courage to, as Robert Kennedy once said, " see things as they should be and ask 'why not'". The scars we all carry from historical racism and injustices of the past have been aired and now you have the opportunity to make dreams and the historical promises of the United States part of the mainstream.
I , like many others , have been unable to stop crying during the past week.I feel overwhelmed by the historical significance of this year's elections and by appreciation of those who dedicated their lives to and sometimes gave their lives for the values which we believe in. Leaders with visions, leaders with guts, leaders who recognized what was good and strong and right and who led us to each's "Promised Land".
In Israel, our leaders have demonstrated an unprecedented and dispicable lack of integrity, abuse of power and selfishness bordering on criminal, which has permeated the type of people we have become. I blame them for helplessness and hopelessness , for the violence in our families and on the streets, aggression on the roads, the callousness of some of our soldiers, the apathy of our young, the disintegration of our educational system and the increasing polarization between Jews and other Jews and Arabs and the rest of the world.

Until last week I was disillusioned by America and Americans. Hadassah was one of my few sources of pride because of your constant and consistent commitment to what is good and right. Hadassah has always chosen to do what is human, what is kind, what is right. Americans have spoken and decided. One hundred thousand Israelis came to Kikar Rabin on Saturday night to show that they still believe that things can be better ,that peace is possible, that there is always hope. I wish for Israel what you have already begun to achieve - healing and strength .

Mazal tov

September 4th, 2008

Liz Arviv, who graduated from Shfeyah in 2000 sent me an email and photos today , proudly announcing that she is engaged and planning to get married sometime soon. Many of you have met Liz who has visited Southern California and attended Convention twice talking about Youth Aliyah and Meir Shfeyah where she turned her life around. She has done all that she promised herself and us; finishing her studies at Haifa University, getting certified as a social worker and working in Migdal Haemek with children and teenagers who like herself, need someone to understand, guide and trust them . She will begin her married life as a confident, successful, professional young woman with inner strength and beauty. This is what we wish for the young people we work with. The opportunity to change their lives, believe in themselves, to aspire to what they once thought impossible and to fulfill their dreams. She is thrilled and so am I.

A New Start

September 3rd, 2008

Our returning and first year students arrived at Shfeyah on buses, some with their families, during the morning hours this Sunday, August 31st carrying overstuffed bags full of their personal belongings and hopes that the new school year will be filled with old and new friends, counselors , house mothers and teachers who will love and believe in them, new experiences and successes which have so often alluded them. Greeted by their counselors and house mothers ,they take their things to the dormitories which will be their homes and are introduced to their roomates who will be their families during the next 10 months, unpack, sometimes tearfully and are directed to the dining room for lunch.

In our traditional opening ceremony on Sunday night in the village amphitheater, close to 600 students in grades 7-12, made a grand entrance in an orderly procession as each group, wearing festive white shirts , was ceremoniously seated .

Our external students from Zichron Yaakov and surrounding communities arrived with their parents or friends ; the returning 8th graders feeling especially confident and familiar as they return for their second year in our outstanding Mofet Program; newer, younger 7th graders a bit more reserved and hesitant as they begin in their new school for the first time.

The students and staff were addressed by Shaul Elbaz, the village director, Sagiv Cohen, the new residential director and Eli Bezalel, the school principal and then this year's 12th grade class , our largest ever, welcomed their younger peers , sang and performed and participated in a torch lighting ceremony during which the 12th graders sponsored a representative from the 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th and 11th grade classes and lit a torch together. The inspirational evening ended dramtically with HaTikvah and fireworks !

Every year I am touched by the trust that these young people and their families put in us and themselves , in hope that maybe, just maybe, this year will be different and they will find themselves among people who understand, appreciate and truly care about them. Maybe this year will they finally succeed in school, learn English, understand math and master subjects which have been incomprehensible, unattainable and overhwhelmingly frustrating in the past.

The next morning, they sleepily trudge to the dining room for their first breakfast after what has been for some, a difficult and sleepless first night away from home. They carry school bags, sometimes tattered, and pencils, sometimes broken and new or used notebooks hoping, " Maybe this year things will be different. Maybe this year, things will be good."

And it is our privilege and almost sacred responsibility help them to believe in themselves , to trust us and to believe that together we can make a difference, together we can change and be changed, together we can make this a year they and we will always remember and cherish.

We know that it is possible. At Shfeyah it happens all the time.

See you in September

August 4th , 2008
I am fortunate to be on vacation from most of my teaching responsibilities but there are letters to answer and books to order and the village is busy with preparations for the new school year. The dormitories , school and classrooms are repainted every summer, new staff are joining us , the school and residential program accept new students throughout July and August. A new group of returning students has returned for its two week work assignments - there are cows to be milked, eggs to be collected, fields to be worked and the grape harvest is near by. I ask some of the kids how their vacation has been so far. " Great ," they reply, " but it's good to be back here , out of the city."

New parents and their skeptical teenagers arrive , sometimes on foot , hiking up " Mount Shfeyah " in the summer heat, to register and meet with the village social workers and administrators . Once again the process begins and strangers become part of the Shfeyah family. Once again , a leap of faith as parents and their children hope for a new start in a new place. Most of them are not disappointed.
This summer we have hosted a Soccer Camp , a music retreat and visitors from France in our village. The evenings are full of the sounds of whistles and shouts from the soccer field and music from the dormitories. The dining room is bustling with athletes, musicians, staff and students returning from work in the fields , cows and chicken coops.
As we enjoy the last month of the summer, the long hot days, the pool and the silent afternoons when the village rests, we pray that all of our students are safe and happy, that they return healthy and rested from the summer break and that the New Year will be full of challenges , successes and hopefully,more peaceful times.