Abraham’s House starts with a simple question: are the basics covered? From there, the work evolves. What begins as crisis response turns into something longer term, with volunteers staying involved as situations change and new needs come up.
The results aren’t always predictable. A connection made during a tough moment becomes a lasting friendship between communities that wouldn’t normally meet. Young volunteers find themselves part of something that bridges religious and secular, urban and rural, immigrant and native-born. Partnerships develop through actual relationships and people showing up for each other.
This creates momentum beyond any single project. It gets volunteers engaged, builds community networks, and shows what happens when people stick around past the initial need.
The following reports capture the impact and the partnerships that keep growing.
Meet Rabbi Joe and Corinne, parents to three young children and religious community leaders for JLIC Tel Aviv, who have created a safe and welcoming environment for not only their largely Olim (new immigrant to Israel) community, but for the tens of thousands of evacuees who have temporarily been calling Tel Aviv home.
They moved to Israel from New York in September of 2022. It was a year riddled with political unrest, debates on judicial reform which reached a boiling point in the weeks before October 7th, with things becoming violent. The divide between secular and religious Jews in Israel was widening daily. Visibly religious people in Tel Aviv felt uncomfortable. Yom Kippur, the holiest day on the Jewish calendar, was rife with protest and violence. The experience was traumatic at the time – when Jews in Israel were unsure if it was safe to pray outdoors, or if they could dance with the Torah on Simchat Torah – or would they be harassed (or worse)?