Beis Aharon Boarding Schools & Orphanage

Yad Yisroel has the only Jewish boarding school and orphanage in Belarus.

Most Jewish children growing up in Belarus and other former Soviet countries are scarcely aware of their Jewish identity.

Their families are assimilated and totally estranged from the Jewish community and traditions, devoid of any semblance of Jewishness. In addition, many of these children live in harsh poverty and suffer from malnutrition, poor health conditions and lack of education.

Yad Yisroel established the Beis Aharon Schools (for boys and girls) – the only registered Jewish orphanage in the country – in response to the need of a professional framework that would instill in these children the awareness and love of their Jewish heritage, give them a quality education while improving their socioeconomic conditions in a warm, caring environment.

The students in Yad Yisroel’s schools and orphanages are educated and raised in an environment of boundless love and dedication of a highly qualified staff of educators, professionals and mentors. They guide them throughout their years in the school and beyond as they enter adulthood making the major decisions about their futures, standing with them as they come under the Chupah to begin building families of their own.

Yad Yisroel looks after its many graduates, sending its alumni abroad to attend Yeshivos, Seminaries, and universities in Israel, Europe and North America.

Our graduates are our biggest source of pride as they acquire knowledge, enter their chosen professions, become productive members of their host Jewish communities and begin raising the next generation.

Matanel Gan

The Matanel Gan reaches out to the youngest target population in a bid to breathe new life into the Jewish community.

The Matanel Gan takes under its protective wing Jewish boys and girls from the ages of 3-6, teaches them Hebrew, tefilot, brachot and parshot hashavua and introduces them to Jewish customs such as: lighting the Shabbat candles and Hanukkah menorah, exchanging mishlochei manot on Purim and the festive lel haseder on Pesach.

Through the mesirut nefesh of the gananot, the children are filled with the joy of the Shabbatot and chagim and get a first taste of true Yiddishkeit.

Thanks to Yad Yisroel’s Matanel Gan, the next generation of Belarusian Jewry as a whole and the Pinsk Jewish community in particular have a chance for Jewish revival.

Tutorial Program

The children who arrive at Yad Yisroel’s doorstep are often orphans or come from dysfunctional families, low social-economic families and distressed single mothers, without any stable family support, especially a framework to help them with their studies.

Every child that arrives at Yad Yisroel undergoes an evaluation to check his/her level of education and to assess weaknesses and strengths. Some 8th graders have arrived without knowing how to read or write.

Yad Yisroel’s Tutorial Program takes place very Friday, for 8 months from 9:00am-2:00 pm to help bridge learning gaps and give assistance with schoolwork and homework assignments. 

The teachers assist the children in mathematics, language (Russian, English and Hebrew), chemistry and physics. Education is the key to a better future and the impact is tremendous when see children who once struggled in school, growing in confidence and self-esteem due to their academic success. It encourages them to go on to higher academic studies.

Jewish Identity, Holidays and Heritage Program

Yad Yisroel’s main goals are to ensure that all Jews are firstly aware of their Jewish identities and also have a deeper understanding of their Jewishness. These goals are targeted under Yad Yisroel’s Jewish Identity, Holidays and Heritage Program.

A basic awareness of one’s Jewish identity should not be taken for granted in areas that had been cut off from the mainstream Jewish community.

Nothing strengthens identity as much as a national-religious holiday. Yad Yisroel reaches the hearts and minds of the most assimilated Jews by reviewing some of the momentous events in Jewish history, the exodus from Egypt, the giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai, the Maccabean revolt, the attempted genocide of the Jewish people in ancient Persia, which explains why we celebrate Pesach, Shavuot, Hanukah and Purim.

Ultimately, Yad Yisroel spreads knowledge of the rituals surrounding the holidays and Shabbat, the many halachot (laws), minhagim (customs) and traditions that define the Jewish way of life, with an emphasis on the study of Torah and raising a Jewish family. Teaching all these and other aspects of Jewishness is central to Yad Yisroel’s mission.

Extra-Curricular Activities

Yad Yisroel conducts diverse extra-curricular activities for the boys and girls in Yad Yisroel’s schools and orphanage in Pinsk, Belarus.

Yad Yisroel conducts diverse extra-curricular activities for the boys and girls in Yad Yisroel’s schools and orphanage in Pinsk, Belarus, with the aim of nurturing the cognitive and emotional world of the children and helping them to discover their hidden talents and expand their horizons. Yad Yisroel’s extra curricular activities program offers its boys and girls far-reaching opportunities for personal development after regular school hours.

The boys can choose between a wide range of sport, music and artistic activities, including drawing and painting, building models out of wood and clay, music instruction for playing the guitar, piano and drums, singing lessons, attending concerts and playing basketball and soccer. Delicate children are encouraged to take boxing and karate lessons to bring out their inner strengths and build their self-confidence. 

The girls are offered all forms of music and arts and crafts activities. In addition, the girls are taught English on a professional level, which is so essential for young women who seek to continue their education and enter the job market. English is taught within the framework of regular classes and in private lessons.

Yad Yisroel’s children are encouraged to partake in activities that suit their individual needs and are taught at their skill levels.

The extra-curricular activities program offers Yad Yisroel’s children a vital outlet for growth, self-expression and enrichment.

Professional Trade Program

Yad Yisroel runs a Professional Trade Program for its boys and girls at Yad Yisroel’s  school and orphanage in Pinsk, Belarus.

Owing to their low socioeconomic backgrounds, many children arrive at our schools with sad histories of inconstant formal education at an age when boys and girls need to be in a supervised school environment every day.

To brighten their prospects for future employment, Yad Yisroel’s Professional Trade Program aims to provide these disadvantaged children with a physical trade that they can have in their hands when they reach adulthood.

The boys are taught to lay cement, work with plaster, paint and other handiwork associated with construction and interior design. In parallel, boys who show an inclination for technical work are taught low-voltage electrician skills such as: installing fire alarms, signalization systems, internet wiring and communications networks.

The girls are also encouraged to learn a professional trade. They are taught to be hairdressers, beauticians, manicurists, pedicurists and cosmeticians.

Owing to this vocational training plan, when Yad Yisroel’s children grow into young adulthood they will come prepared with respectable professions.

Venue

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24 Feb, 2020

9:00am 02:00pm

New York

Organizer

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