“Parenting is about being there for your child and making sure that your child knows that you are there for them,” said Yehuda Kohn, head of the acclaimed Bet Elazraki Children’s Home in Netanya. Kohn explained that the key to the success of Bet Elazraki is that “A child that comes to Bet Elazraki knows that they have found a home, and we will be there from the moment that they come, forever.” Kohn was interviewed by Tamar Uriel-Beeri, managing editor of Jpost.com during the Jerusalem Post's Israel Summit.
Kohn recalled that when he became the head of the home 34 years ago, he found many children who were the second, and sometimes the third generation of parents who themselves had grown up at the home. “When I came, I decided to change the goal so that every child raised in Bet Elazraki would become incredible parents to their own children.”
The events of October 7, he said, have changed the lives of all the children in Israel, but especially those living in Bet Elazraki. If a child growing up in a home with parents and siblings experiences anxiety because of the war, the residents of a children’s home who have been abandoned by their parents will experience even greater anxiety, he said. Added to that is the fact that many of the staff are currently serving in the army, which adds to their burden.
Fulfilling each child's potential
Bet Elazraki has developed a three-pronged approach that Kohn says has proven successful, “The first thing that we do is to fulfill the child’s potential,” he explained. “Every child has the potential.” The home provides 60 private tutors who make sure that the residents of the home, who attend 27 different schools in Netanya, are well-prepared for class. “My students are the best students in the city,” he said proudly.
The second thing that the home does is provide stability. “Children at risk have no stability,” noted Kohn. “When a child comes here, he has found a home.” Bet Elazraki accompanies the students throughout their schooling, to the army, to university, and beyond. “We are there for them.”
Third, he said, the home provides the mental and emotional therapy that the children need. “We cannot erase the past, but we are them to build an incredible future for them.”