Project Daybreak - Beit Shemesh
Imagine having to ask your 10-year-old daughter to help you find the place in the Siddur. Now imagine having to ask her to show you how to light Shabbat candles. Unfortunately, this is the reality in many homes of Ethiopian Olim. The children have been absorbed into the routine of classroom learning in their new country, but the parents have been left behind. The disparity is devastating to the home. Many Ethiopian adults came to Israel with minimal, if any, Torah education. The children eclipse the parents very quickly as the savvy “spiritual” leader in the family. This results in social problems that are close to irreparable. In Ethiopia, the nuclear family is heavily male-dominated. The father makes all the decisions and he will lead the rest through the relatively primitive life that they have been used to for thousands of years. However, when the family moves into the 21st Century, the father is ill equipped to deal with the new demands. The mothers, having had nearly no educational experience, are relegated to household chores.
The Israeli government has many programs to help with the vocational and educational needs of these new immigrants. However, we have come to the realization that no one is attempting to bridge the gap in Torah education. The children have an unbelievable thirst to learn more about Torah and Mitzvot, and have no one in the home to relate to or to encourage them.
This is the story of how Project Daybreak was born.
In the last 10 years Beit Shemesh has had a tremendous influx of Anglo Olim literally from all over the world. One of the predominantly Anglo communities, Nofei Aviv, is located alongside what can best be described as lower income housing. The majority of the residents in this housing development are Ethiopian Olim who have been in the country less than ten years. They join us in the Beit Knesset (synagogue) and are cheerfully accepted. As our relationships grew we came to the realization that they had very little Jewish knowledge, but were very interested in growing in their Torah education. We then decided that we would set up Torah classes given by Ethiopian Rabbis that would be taught in Amharic, their language in Ethiopia. We were determined to form an organization to further their knowledge of Torah and Jewish Heritage. The classes were phenomenally successful. We quickly expanded the men’s classes to include women’s classes as well as a Parent-Child session. The development of a stronger parent-child relationship has been terrific. We have added Hebrew language classes and have begun special trips to museums and holy places. We would like to add other courses such as: Parenting Skills, Family Purity, and Women’s Mitzvot.
The program has been recognized all over the country as groundbreaking simply because of its origin as neighbor helping neighbor. We believe that is the reason for its success. The volunteers helping out are working professionals. We are not funded by any government program. Another important factor for the success of Project Daybreak is that right from the beginning we emphasized that we are NOT a Tzedakah (Charity). Beit Shemesh has a wonderful organization that helps the economically depressed Ethiopian community. We, on the other hand, concentrate strictly on educational advancement as the key to their success as productive citizens of the State of Israel. Our goal is to impact the economic development, and economic self-sufficiency of the next generation of the Ethiopian immigrants. We do this by stressing and reinforcing the concept of education as a means to succeed in a western civilization while maintaining , enhancing and taking pride in a new-found Jewish Identity.
The role of the young Ethiopian female immigrant is very different than that of her mother. Being raised in a home where the females are uneducated and often illiterate, the younger generation of girls need to be empowered with the knowledge that they can and must achieve much higher levels of success in Israeli society. Our program for these young ladies is designed to introduce them to the new role of the Jewish Woman in the modern world. We accomplish this by layering modern concepts of the role of the mother and wife along with the values of their Ethiopian culture. We introduce them to the idea of the productive, intellectual Jewish Woman of today and provide the stimulus to reach goals not even dreamed of in the previous generation. We focus on the aspects and issues that are dear to women and that help define their place in and contribution to Jewish life. Classes are intertwined with lessons in modern Jewish issues relating specifically to women as well as education in proper nutrition and hygiene.
A few months ago while one of the Project Daybreak teachers was reviewing the weekly Torah portion, he kept referring to “Our Forefathers” when telling the story of Abraham’s journeys and impact on the world. One Ethiopian immigrant in 4th grade asked, “Are they also ours?”
When the teacher replied that they, in fact, are, the child’s face beamed as if he had discovered a new world! When discussing this event afterward, we realized that this was a perfect example of how the children of our program feel disconnected from the Jewish People as well as the State of Israel.
In order to continue and to improve our good work, we need funding. Many foundations and individuals are wary of giving charity to organizations due to fears of high salaries taken by the administrators. There are NO administrative salaries at all in Project Daybreak. All funds are used for teachers and directly for the participants. All administrators are volunteering professionals.
This is a wonderful opportunity to support the future of a very special part of the Jewish Nation. Please support our important work.
Tizku L’Mitzvot,
Dr. Chanoch Schwartz
Director, Project Daybreak
Beit Shemesh, Israel