On a winter night in 2012, Rabbi Yitzchak David Grossman walked the streets of Jerusalem to meet the city’s youth. He found a group of teenagers who had adopted the street as their home. He bought them pizzas and beers and sat down to speak with them. The Rabbi listened to their personal stories and how they wound up sleeping on the streets. Some told him about their drug abuse and others of their criminal involvement. The Rabbi listened and told them: “I have a wonderful place for you, where you will feel at home.”
Rabbi Grossman understood that he must do something and establish a special educational institution for them that would suit their needs. He had an abandoned lot that in the past served as a drug rehabilitation center, and he decided to give it to these teens. The group of teens who he met that night, came to the rural and pastoral area; however, found nothing there other than a beautiful view. Rabbi Grossman suggested that they build their home at this location. For the next eight months, they worked, tilled the land, paved roads and built beautiful wooden buildings. They are the graduates of the first class of Zoharim Youth Village, who left their mark and, with their own hands, established a home for the hundreds of teens who followed in their footsteps.
The Zoharim Youth Village is located in the Ela Valley, surrounded by vineyards, fields and groves, overlooking a breathtaking green landscape. The youth village pupils take an active part in its upkeep. They work in the vineyards, greenhouses, ride horses, raise goats, and continue to build the village. Each class leaves its mark and has a hand in the development of the site.
Zoharim Youth Village has been in operation for more than a decade, and continues to build new lives for youth at-risk.
