The Sephardic Renaissance, a not-for-profit organization, has just established a special chapter in Israel—Yaldei Yisrael—in order to reach out to young Jewish girls and boys in small isolated cities who are falling tragically into the clutches of foreign hands that would both spiritually and physically abuse them, thereby cutting them off from their families and the Jewish people.
Why would Jewish girls in a majority Jewish country like Israel be in danger of assimilating with minority communities? Rabbi David A. Cohen, founder and director of the Sephardic Renaissance in Brooklyn, answered, “Some of the reasons include the deep poverty and lack of attention that results in low self-esteem and the most important reason is the weakening of Jewish pride and religious tradition. Throughout most of our history, the Jewish people suffered greater poverty than they face today, but they managed to stay strong, thanks to their religious values.”
A Typical Scenario
How could you describe the typical scenario of such a girl being drawn into a relationship with someone foreign from the community? Rabbi Cohen explained that it starts with Friday nights when many girls go to discos and meet boys. These young men appear to be regular Israeli boys who speak fluent Hebrew. After dating a boy for a few weeks, the girl discovers the identity of her new friend and in most cases she tries to end the relationship. This results in the boy increasing his efforts at seduction and if this fails, he begins making serious threats.
Yaldei Yisrael was developed when Rabbi Cohen went to Israel to attend the wedding of his grand- nephew—Dudu Cohen. At the simcha, Rabbi Cohen had the opportunity to meet with many of his nephew’s friends who like Dudu have completed military service in the Israel Defense Forces, mostly with hesder units that combine actual combat preparedness with yeshivah learning.
The Cream of the Cream
When asked to give a profile of the young men recruited to promote greater Jewish identity among the vulnerable younger generation, Rabbi Cohen said that they are 23 and up. Some are married or about to get married. Some of them took part in the last Lebanon War. They have very strong motivation to help Israeli society. They all studied in Sderot where they were acquainted with attacks of Qassam rockets. These young men are determined and inspired by overflowing ahavat Yisrael. Even though they have volunteered their services, the Board of the Sephardic Renaissance under the presidency of Jack I. Franco, has decided to award them stipends which will help them to establish themselves in life.
Dudu and his friends told Rabbi Cohen of a terrible spiritual plague that is rampaging many parts of the Holy Land. In cities such as Acco, Beer Sheva, Dimona, Ofakim, Lod, Kiryat Gat, Ramla and Afula, the majority of the Jewish boys and girls are very far from Judaism.
The Dangers of Spiritual Emptiness and Physical Freedom
“When a child grows up without the reality of the Almighty in his or her life, their existence becomes one of spiritual emptiness and physical freedom without boundaries. This leads to the possibility of irresponsible behavior,” said Rabbi Cohen.
Yaldei Yisrael has already recruited over 70 volunteers. Among them are young leaders like Dudu Cohen, Yossi Duek and their friends from 21 different localities in Israel. The organization will also recruit young women from similar religious backgrounds to establish youth groups in isolated Jewish towns in Israel wherein the boys and girls are most vulnerable.
When Jewish girls in Israel suffer from insufficient self-esteem as a result of not knowing the true Jewish view of life and one’s purpose in this world, they are extremely vulnerable to nefarious outside influences.
Setting the Trap
Many young non-Jewish men have learned to attract these Jewish girls by treating them initially like a queen (bestowing fancy gifts, lavish attention and driving them in luxurious cars). At first, the girl may not even realize that the boy she is dating is not Jewish. Then, when she discovers the reality, she doesn’t always have the strength or conviction to oppose the courtship.
Unfortunately, life changes very dramatically for these naïve Jewish girls after they get “married” to their non-Jewish boyfriends and move into the villages of their new husbands. Rabbi Cohen said, “At that moment, her own Jewish parents are deeply shamed and pained by their daughter’s actions. They cut off any contact with her, at the moment that she needs their support the most.”
And most intermarried wives are brutally abused by their husbands after the “honeymoon” quickly ends.
These children are truly victims of the system for which they are not responsible. When a person loses her pride and dignity, such a person is capable of deviating from the right path.
Threatening The Harmony
Their embarrassment is so great, that they find themselves unable to confide in other family members and friends. Thus this terrible affliction is often buried under the carpet and many Jews, in Israel and around the world, are completely unaware of the growing numbers of Jewish daughters who continue to be caught in the snare that threatens the harmony of Klal Yisrael.
Rabbi Cohen said that this is a problem affecting many thousands of Jewish girls who run away from home and marry outside their faith. He referred to a recent article, stating that since the establishment of the State of Israel, more than 4,000 Jewish women have converted to a different religion, in order to marry non-Jewish men.
Another 3,000 Jewish women have married non-Jews without converting. The awful breach in Jewish morality is further exacerbated by the fact that even more Jewish women (estimated at 25,000) are living with foreign men without official marriage certificates. More thousands of Jewish girls have married non-Jews in civil ceremonies in foreign countries.
Tens of Thousands of Jewish Children Raised to Hate Their Fellow Jews
As a result, tens of thousands of children from these unions are indoctrinated into foreign traditions. Despite the fact that these children are by halacha Jewish, they are raised to hate their Jewish brethren as a result of the strong peer pressure that exists in their villages.
So, how is Yaldei Yisrael going to combat this problem? Rabbi Cohen said that it is extremely difficult to rescue these women once they are trapped in these relationships. There are Jewish organizations that make an effort to rescue them.
Yaldei Yisrael will be utilizing and cooperating with the existing infrastructure such as schools, community centers and community synagogues in order to reach out to as many Jewish children as possible.
The volunteers of Yaldei Yisrael are being given professional training in the educational, spiritual, social and communal aspects of helping Israeli children.
The Goal is to Prevent Problems Before They Start
Starting to work with the boys and girls at an early age (seven to eight), before they fall into the clutches of non-Jewish seducers, the volunteers will develop specific programs to highlight Yahadut that include Kabbalat Shabbat, Seuda Shlisheet, Melava Malka, reading books and visiting cultural places of positive value. The children will receive special rewards, and will be offered junior leadership opportunities, as incentives to participate in the program. Through the program they will gain positive Jewish attitudes, which will contribute to the enhancement of their personalities and Jewish background.
The main role of the Yaldei Yisrael volunteers is to become friends with their younger charges. They will be taught to listen to what the youngsters have to say, in order to encourage the children to confide in them and develop mutual trust.
Emphasizing Positive and Workable Solutions
After Hag HaShavuot, Yaldei Yisrael will schedule a few Shabbatonim for the volunteers, in order to make the mission of the new organization more concrete and to make everyone more aware of the different aspects of the problems.
Positive and workable solutions for Israeli society will be discussed and refined at these Shabbatonim. And after speaking in different synagogues in our community, Rabbi Cohen is pleased to note that the readiness to help our brethren in Israel was beyond all expectations.
Jack Franco, President of the Sephardic Renaissance declared “We will do our utmost to help our brothers and sisters in Israel to find a way to enhance the future of our people in Israel.”
For more information you can contact the Sephardic Renaissance Center at 829 E 15 Street, Brooklyn, NY 11230, call (212) 674-3359 or email information@sephren.org.
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Daniel Keren is a freelance writer who lives in our community.
