View - The Zion Orphanage

‫בס”ד‬
Victor & Sarah Ashkenazi with their son Joseph
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‫תיב‬
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Or
phanage J

The World’s Oldest Active Jewish Orphanage . www.zionorphanage.com
Yaakov Shwekey
performs for the ZO children
S
Aviv, Yaakov and his group volunteered
an hour of their time to perform the
children’s top choices and many more.
Half way into the performance the
children and staff left their seats to
dance and to be pictured with the
super-star until the end of the show.
Yaakov, then, toured the campus.
Yaakov Shwekey during
concert in the ZO courtyard
Rabbi Eli Mansour
Visits the ZO
Newly Elected
Israel Chief Rabbis
Speak in the ZO
T
he ZO children were treated to a visit by Rabbi Eli and
Rebbetzin Sandra Mansour together with the Setton families
who were in Israel to celebrate their Bar Mitzvahs. Besides hearing
inspiring pearls of wisdom from Rabbi Mansour, the children
enjoyed some competition revolving around balls and delicious
Zisalek ice cream cones, custom-made for each and every child.
A
top: Zisalek ice cream party on campus
left: rabbi eli mansour
speaking with the ZO children and Bar
Mitzvah guests on campus
the Zion Orphanage
16 Hoshea St., Blumenthal Square, Jerusalem, Israel 91050
Tel: +972-2-537-6091
Fax: +972-2-537-6134
[email protected] www.zionorphanage.com
.
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ORPHANAGE
Jerusalem
‫םי‬
Neil & Jaclyn Natkin with their son Michael
the ZION
‫לט נמול‬
‫ל שו‬
Sarita Bakst with her son Moses
Counter
clockwise
from far
left:
Michael Wahba,
Solomon Wahba,
Jacob Wahba,
Morris Braha,
David Wahba
and Gabe Khezrie
e
Or
phanage J
‫ב ןו‬
‫רי‬
Victor & Audre Setton with their son Elliot
Rabbi Eli Mansour Visits
the ZO......................Page 4
n
Y E A R S
1900-2014
io
Elliott & Andree Braha with their son Morris
Rebbetzin Esther Jungreis
Visits the ZO..........Page 4
114
‫יצ‬
The Z
Michael & Michelle Wahba with their son Solomon
Interview with Rabbi
Gershon Unger......Page 3
hortly before this year’s festive
Purim holiday the ZO children
and staff were treated to a visit
by the Jewish world renowned singer,
Yaakov Shwekey. Accompanying
Yaakov were Yochi Briskman and a
three piece band. While in Israel for
performances in Jerusalem and Tel
bar mitzvah visits and Sponsorships
David & Sally Wahba with their son Jacob
New Videos.............Page 2


io
speaking with the ZO children
Brilliant Music
Program...................Page 2
YEAR 2014
The Z
S
ince the last annual newsletter the ZO children
benefitted greatly from a visit and from the
passionately spoken words of Rebbetzin Esther
Jungreis. Equipped with a lifetime of experiences
which include growing up in pre-WWII Hungary,
surviving the Holocaust death camps and decades
of inspiring audiences throughout the world, she
amazingly kept the boys captivated throughout her
talk as she spoke a flawless Hebrew of aspiring to
become “supermen”. She said, “Just as I have faced
the most difficult of adversities and survived, you too
can make something great of yourselves. Each of you
has a soul with unlimited potential and access to
the Torah which can actualize it.”
Rebbetzin Esther Jungreis
WHAT’S
Inside:


Rebbetzin Esther Jungreis
Visits the ZO
ISSUE 5
Newly elected Chief Rabbis YITZCHOK
YOSEF and DAVID LAU with ZO
CEO RABBI BARUCH RAKOWSKY
.
The Zion Orphange
Newsletter
few days after elections
for the new Israel Chief
Rabbis, three of the ZO
children enjoyed an exceptionally
festive Bar Mitzvah celebration.
Each one gave his Bar Mitzvah
speech in the presence of over
200 participants at the campus
courtyard in the comfortable
breezy Jerusalem evening air
under the stars. The evening
was graced by the participation
of Chief Rabbi Yitzchok Yosef
(Sephardic community) and
Rabbi David Lau (Ashkenazic
community)
who
appeared
together publicly for the first
time since being elected to their
10 year posts. They both spoke
eloquently of the importance of
striving to achieve great things
in life.
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Brilliant
Music
program
T
he Zion Orphanage music
program is dedicated to the
loving memory of Rabbi Benjamin
Israel and Estelle Brilliant by Dr. Elliott
and Ann (Brilliant) Greenfield. Rabbi
Brilliant was among the earliest
students of Rabbi Blumenthal in
the Zion Orphanage. Born in 1909,
Benjamin Israel was orphaned
from his mother, entering the ZO
home in 1915. Shortly after his
Bar Mitzvah he joined his father
who was already living in America.
Many years later he served as a
Rabbi and community leader in
Kentucky and then in New York.
During these unpredictable and perilous times here in Israel
there has been an incredible outpouring of support from
brethren from all over the world. Among the recipients
of that help have been the ZO children, having received
all sorts of comforting gifts such as custom-made down
feathered pillows.
The campaign to help keep the
animals warm in the winter and
cool in the summer was launched
a few months ago. We are close to
receiving the necessary funding,
thanks to your generous support.
Some recent
ZO graduates
now serving
in the Israeli
Defense Forces
Special appreciation to the rochlin foundation
for continuing to support the highly successful music program
which was initiated in 2009 through their pilot grant.
An Interview With Rabbi Gershon Unger
Israeli
Martial
Arts
Krav Maga
students with
their instructor
New
What kind of education and life experience
prepared you for your present position?
Honestly, I am not sure. Perhaps the
common thread running through most of
my past experiences leading up to this role
has been an ongoing desire to see other
people develop and strive towards making
the most out life while enjoying the journey
along the way.
Videos
W
anting to provide our
cherished supporters
with a closer look at what’s
happening in the Zion
Orphanage, new videos
available from the website
include:
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The ZO choir
An ice cream party
Rabbi Ovadia Yosef zt’l
speaking at the ZO
The first siren sounding
in Jerusalem
What is your task as ZO Director of
Development?
My primary role is to communicate to the
world the incredible work being done in
the ZO with the children who have been
entrusted to us by the Israeli Social Welfare
Agency. The children with their sweetness,
innocence and longing for warmth speak for
themselves to those who visit us and interact
with them. For those who are unable to
do so, we try to communicate this through
other means.
Rabbi Ovadia Yosef zt’l
blessing a ZO Bar Mitzvah boy
What is your biggest challenge?
I love the children and sincerely want to
spend more time with them. Their thirst
for lasting relationships built on trust and
mutual respect is tangible. Hopefully, one
day, there will be a steady enough flow of
support that will allow this passion of mine
to become a reality.
What is the latest exciting development
for the ZO?
The Israeli Welfare Agency had been
looking to settle 30 more young children
in a residential home setting which also
provides extensive therapeutic care. Of the
tens of possible homes to pick from in the
Jerusalem district of the country, they
informed us at the end of August, 2014 that
they had chosen us for the task. Although
this will require expanding the present size
of the campus facilities and increasing the
staff, change, growth and development
have been part of the Zion Orphanage since
Rabbi Blumenthal opened his heart to
the orphaned and homeless children
of Israel 114 years ago.
brett friedman,
childhood friend of ZO’s
rabbi gershon
unger. The Friedman
families, including brothers
Robert and Walter, have been
generous supporters
of ZO for many years.
The Zion Orphange
Newsletter
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