Proud staff and teachers, family members and friends gathered at Hadassah's Meir Shfeyah Youth Aliyah Village on June 15 to celebrate the largest graduating class in Meir Shfeyah's history with more than 100 graduates. Soon, these students will leave the youth village to pursue their dreams and help make Israel a better place by serving in the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), becoming volunteers or continuing their studies.
After an especially challenging year, Youth Aliyah students have shown great resilience. With the support of staff and teachers, students successfully continued their studies despite COVID lockdowns, social distancing and online learning. Students also gave back to their local community, providing meals to Holocaust survivors, delivering Shabbat dinners to IDF soldiers, and delivering meals to home-bound, at-risk students and their families.
During the ceremony, students were honored with special awards in their studies. Triplets from Odessa, Ukraine, who are planning to stay in Israel, received a special award for excellence.
In her graduation remarks, Barbara Goldstein, deputy director of the Hadassah Office in Israel, who represented Hadassah at the ceremony, said she felt inspired by the students. In a message to Hadassah supporters, she writes: "The parents and the students understand that this women’s organization called Hadassah makes this wonderful school available to their children," Goldstein wrote, thanking them "for making the difference in the lives of so many."
In a heartfelt message, the Gold family thanked Meir Shfeyah staff and teachers: "You are wonderful teachers and thanks to you our children have discovered new paths to success, to create new dreams, to believe in themselves and strive for themselves and for others. Thank you for your knowledge, for your understanding and patience, and for the tireless interest in the well-being of our children."
Learn More
Read Youth Aliyah Chair Carol Goodman Kaufman's The Times of Israel article about how Youth Aliyah students are giving back to their community.
Listen to this inspiring podcast about Israeli youth: The Branch: It Takes a Village.
Learn more about Hadassah-supported Youth Aliyah villages in Israel.