March 7, 2007 / Adar 17, 5767
Located on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea near Netanya, and serving more than 500 at risk high school students, the Hadassah Neurim Youth Aliyah village, supported by the Jewish Agency and Hadassah the Women's Zionist Organization of America, is renowned for its exceptional sports program. Below is excerpted from an article by Meirav Batito-Fried that appeared in Israel's daily Ma'ariv newspaper:
The champions of Hadassah Neurim—tall, strong, and flexible—listen intently to their principal Nachum Katz. They don’t intend on missing a word of what he says. Dressed in their sports uniforms, which arrived as a contribution from a large sports firm, they look like disciplined soldiers ready for combat.
They arrive here with low marks, deficiencies in love and self-esteem, and permanent lack of a guiding hand. It’s reasonable to assume that had they not found their way to Hadassah Neurim, they’d end up wandering the streets or being menial workers. The kids listen as Katz explains what at-risk youth is; they hear him say how if the country hadn’t done anything for their welfare “they’d likely end up being a danger to themselves or to the environment.” One of them nods silently as Katz says: “At-risk children are children with no dreams.” Another kid smiles as Katz sends me over to their rooms “…to see pictures of champions hanging on their walls. These are kids focused on a goal. They know just how many more centimeters they need on their next jump for them to be just like their champions.”
Each one of these youth competes in 10 to 15 national competitions per year, events that demand immense concentration and extraordinary emotional strength—something that most kids usually draw from parents or a nearby responsible adult figure. However, here it’s extremely rare to see parents or family sitting in the crowd for one simple reason. It’s hard for them to get here. The trip costs a lot of money, results in a lost day of work, and is virtually impossible in light of their huge day-to-day difficulties.
Gadi Ohayon, a 12th grade student, is Israeli cadet champion in the 100-meter dash and the long jump, and captured second place in the high school senior 100-meter relay race. He’s already traveled to countless competitions held abroad. He hopes to meet the needed criteria for traveling to this year’s European youth championships in Holland. Ohayon grew up in Acco with four brothers and sisters and parents who worked from morning to night in order to feed them. His mother cleans at a local factory and his father is a worker at Chevra Kadisha. “I was a good kid, but didn’t study like I should,” Gadi says with a smile. Portrayed in pictures from sprint competitions with his muscles bulging out, outside the stadium, Gadi’s a sweet kid of few words. “In my neighborhood we’ve got a lot of criminals running around; it isn’t easy taking care of yourself. As a child I knew it was difficult for my parents; I tried to ask them for as little as possible.”
When he wanted to join the sports class at school, he didn’t dare ask his parents for the required 150 shekels. When the coach saw there was a problem, he spoke with the father and released him from having to pay. “I knew that I was doubly obliged because they did me favor." Says Gadi. "I didn’t take my studies seriously, but I wouldn’t dare do the same with the sports class. I showed up exactly on time and never missed a practice.”
Gadi Ohayon led his school in Acco to the national championships in athletics, taking part in every possible event in the competition. For the first time in my life I felt I was worth something.” During one of the competitions a trainer approached Ohayon and suggested he study at Hadassah Neurim. “At the beginning it was hard,” he remembers, “I missed home, I didn’t understand what I was doing here; I almost went back to Acco.”
A total of 207 boys and girls in grades 9–12 are brought up at the boarding school, with approximately 300 additional children attending the school as external students. About half of the boarding school’s students take part in the sports project supervised by Arkady Skliar (60), himself a former Soviet running champion. The project has been in operation for the past ten years; its goal is to cultivate and train Israeli athletes who are classified as at-risk youth.
Two years ago Skliar traveled to Ethiopia, taking with him Mukat—a student who emigrated from Ethiopia, was educated at Hadassah Neurim, and later became an instructor there. They traveled to Addis Ababa on a mission of the Athletics Association, checking out dozens of youths and selecting eight outstanding athletes. Throughout the summer they ran them and trained them from morning to evening. One of those youths was Ilak Balai, aged 18. “Our Christian neighbors in Addis Ababa had a TV. Sometimes they’d let us watch. One evening we saw the Olympic marathon event in Beijing. That was the first time I ever saw Kenenisa Bekele, the Ethiopian representative. He ran the 5,000 meters and 10,000 meters and succeeded in breaking the record. He got the gold medal, and when I saw him, I knew that’s what I wanted to be.”
Ilak began running—on the way to school and back, morning and evening—at every opportunity. A number of months later he heard about two Israelis, one of them an Amharic speaker, who were looking for athletically talented youths. Together with dozens of his friends, Ilak stood in line in order to be tested. Later he became the happiest kid in his neighborhood when he understood his life was about to change. “For seven years we lived in Addis Ababa. We came there from Dengal, a small village next to Gondar. For seven years we waited to make aliyah. Never did I imagine that, in fact, thanks to me, my family would emigrate to Israel.”
At the beginning they suggested to the families that their children come to Israel first, and at a later stage the remainder of the family join them. But they refused. Apparently they feared the separation might last forever. Skliar made a promise to the children he would do everything possible to help them buy clothing and training shoes (donated by Nike), and then sorrowfully parted from them.
But within a few months it became apparent that thanks to the achievements of the children some of the families could be brought to Israel. Ilak’s family and another family were brought to Israel at the end of summer 2005. “It was terribly difficult,” says Ilak. He still has a hard time with Hebrew and asks a friend to sit with him during the interview; but he already has been able to prepare an assignment on Kenenisa Bekele on the computer, together with his friend. “In Ethiopia we would sit in our classroom not daring to move. Here we never stop moving and talking in class.” Ilak captured 3rd place in the field running event at the Israel youth championships. He still hasn’t stopped dreaming of Kenenisa Bekele.