South Florida provided a warm welcome to representatives of Yemin Orde who recently toured the region to introduce the Village Way to new friends.
Batya Shmueli, who serves as Resource Development and Community Relations Manager at Yemin Orde, and Sandro Golis, a graduate of Yemin Orde, discussed their personal journeys to Israel and how the Village impacted their lives.
We thank the many friends who hosted Batya and Sandro in their homes and organized meetings and events in Palm Beach, Boca Raton, and Miami. We greatly appreciate the hospitality of Yemin Orde board members Michael Azeez, Alan Cornell and Steve Rosenfeld, as well as the efforts of Rich Steinberg, Rabbi Rojzman at Beth Torah Benny Rok campus, Freda Greenbaum, and the Women’s Amutot Committee of the Greater Miami Jewish Federation.
South Florida Visits
Batya, who emigrated as a youngster from rural Ethiopia, described the challenges she faced as a new immigrant in Israel, as well as the experience of her niece who is now a proud graduate of Yemin Orde Youth Village. Yemin Orde’s methodology, called the Village Way, helps fragile youth overcome the emotional and personal difficulties of life in a new homeland – Israel.
Sandro Golis arrived at the Village as a teenager from Georgia (former Soviet Union) without family or close friends in Israel. He came to Israel as part of the government’s Na’ale program, which offers a quality education and a Jewish life to teens from countries where religious freedom and human rights are restricted. Sandro thrived at Yemin Orde, excelled in his studies and today is a Fellow at Brandeis University studying for a Master’s degree in Computer Science.
Are you interested in introducing Yemin Orde to your community? Email us and we will contact you the next time our Israeli leadership visits the U.S.
If you are planning a trip to Israel, let us know and we will help arrange a visit to the Village.
Click here to read more about our graduates and their stories of success.