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Jan 23, 2016

Derech Eretz

Derech Eretz is a pre-army training program located in the south of Israel and has recently become a partner of Fulda Foundation. The program strives to give at-risk youth a second chance before partaking the in the mandatory service into the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). The co-founders that started the organization bring a positive attitude to work every day and this culture that has grown from their hard work into really something special.

Ben spent a total of three days in the south of Israel and the experience really showed him how much they love what they do and why they do it. The students in the program are currently in their fourth month and about finished the program in two more months. Ben spoke with every single student in the program and he noticed something special about these teenagers. Their confidence level in their own abilities was through the roof and they were simply tuned in at the task at hand.

It was a great feeling to know that the dollars that are donated go to such a noble cause. When speaking to either Yonatan or Avi (the cofounders) you get a sense that this is their life’s work. Ben asked them just out of curiosity what is the end game, where is the finish line for this? Yonatan, kind of looked at him and said, “1000 teens going through Derech Eretz and the ones before helping financially and also mentoring the people behind them.” Can’t ask for anything more than that for an answer.

Big thanks to the Derech Eretz staff for allowing me to hang out with everyone at each campus. Special thanks to Yonatan and his family for welcoming me into your home. I got to practice my pathetic russian in Yeroham, went back to Nitzana the first time since 2010, and met really great teens. Like I said when I was there, “It’s not the end but only the beginning.”