Chaim,

a graduate of the Children's Home

"The Children's Home is paradise in every sense and the people working here are doing sacred work that can't be put into words. The care given to the children here is better than any other place on Earth."

Chaim searches for the words to express his feelings and excitement as he sits with us here at the Children's Home. Opposite me sits a good-looking young man of 34, who lives in the south of Israel with his wife and two children. I search his face, trying to recall the child he was when he first came here in 1984. I realize I will have to search the old album photos to remember that child, who today as an adult claims that he was the most difficult kid in his group. He constantly hit other kids, yelled, threw and broke things, always chose violence as a means of expression.

Chaim is flooded with emotion as he sits here again and explains that, from the viewpoint of a father of two small children, he realizes how blessed he was to have grown up here, in the wide open spaces, with the sprawling green lawns, the one-storey cottages and the school, where he was embraced and accepted, even when at his very worst. "I know where my life began, from what neighborhood I came. I still live in the same city and many of my childhood friends have remained there, stuck in that same dark and hard place. Because of the Children's Home, I am no longer there."

I ask Chaim about his memories - any special or harsh memories - of the four years he spent here nearly to the age of fourteen. Chaim explains that, like every other child, during his years at the Home there were difficult times, fights, arguments, great anger towards his caregivers. Yet all that is of little importance, insignificant. "No other framework was able to give me the understanding, or was as influential in forming my personality as this place," he says. After leaving the Children's Home, Chaim went on to an agricultural high school and to his army service. He was thrown into the real world "outside," and only because of the warmth and love that enwrapped him here was he able to find the emotional strength to deal with it. "This place enables you to be strengthened by the crises you face, rather than be broken." Today Chaim is a successful business man. He owns a large trucking company. He views his life as good and comfortable. He bought a large tract of land, on which he has built a new home for his mother, who lives next to him with her husband and Chaim's sister. His mother also works with him in the business. "My parents divorced when I was little. My father went to live in France, and my mother was left desolate. She had nothing and couldn't look after me. That's when I was sent to the Children's Home," he explains. Since those years, the family dynamics have greatly changed and Chaim speaks enthusiastically about the expanded family that now lives together.

In his early twenties, Chaim initiated several business ventures, among them running a disco club. That experience repeatedly finds its way into our conversation, and Chaim expresses his great chagrin at the rapidly increasing level of violence among today's teenagers - the rampant alcoholism, the physical violence and knifings, the lack of self-control that he was witness to. Chaim chose to distance himself from that particular reality and later turned to new business ventures. With time, he began taking more responsibility and became more involved in his community. In one instance, for example, when an Ethiopian family lost their house and all their belongings to a fire, Chaim and his friends built them a new home and fully equipped it. Today Chaim is also active at the local leadership level in his city. "All that anger, if you channel that together with common sense into the right direction, you can succeed in life. If you've got the courage, it's possible."

When Chaim mentions his children, his eyes fill with tears and the words catch in his throat. He understands how close he came to remaining in a path of life that eventually becomes hopeless, without a future, without dreams. "I know that I was given an opportunity that 99% don't get. The Children's Home is paradise in every sense and the people working here are doing sacred work that can't be put into words. The care given to the children here is better than any other place on Earth. It is hard to express my gratitude for what I received here, in this warm, protective environment. Only after you leave, do you begin to understand what a special place you have been in."

Ziona Sasson
September 2008