Youth Village and School, Kadoori

The youth village and school, Kadoori, located in the Lower Galilee was the institution that Yitzchak Rabin graduated from. In the lobby of the currently being renovated original building, the report card of the tragically assassinated prime minister was on display. I am happy to report that his behavior received an excellent grade.

There is much to describe about the school which world ORT has adopted and is being transformed into a "smart school" where technology is part and parcel of the interactive learning environment. But I want to talk about the 15 Eritrean refugees that have been rescued from detention centers and are now being taught and nurtured at Kadoori.

These youngsters escaped the war and bloodshed in Eritrea to seek refuge in a country that they had heard about that could become a safe haven for them and a place where they could find work in order to send money to their impoverished families in Eritrea. These refugees are not Jewish, and enter the country illegally. Along the way to Israel, they faced many hurdles, and near death incidents. They bribed their way across the border between Egypt and Israel and most are placed in detention centers until the government can figure out what to with them.

Here comes the magic of Israel. The director of Kadoori goes to these detention centers in the Negev and personally signs for a select number of these refugees and brings them to the school. Because they are personally guaranteed by the director, they are allowed to come under his tutelage and guardianship. They receive room, board and an education. Most of these young refugees want to travel to Tel Aviv to work in order to send money back to their families, but Hillel, the school director ' s philosophy is that providing real opportunities for these kids will be more important to them and their families in the long run. This refugee issue is one of the myriad of the many issues that Israel faces. How can a country as small and as besieged as Israel is, cope with illegal immigrants who are not Jewish, potentially flooding the country. Yet as a country founded to be a safe haven for Jews, how can it be insensitive to the needs of those in the world who are facing such intolerable circumstances in countries like Eritrea. I asked this group sitting around a table in an impromptu moment: Why Israel?

Their answer was swift and to the point. Israel is a good place, where people are treated well and where we can find jobs. In Egypt we would be killed.

Imagine that the only alternative these teenagers had was Israel.

I do not mean to diminish the ongoing issue that this illegal migration to Israel could cause. But in this one instance, the moral and ethical decision to rescue these Eritrean young men from detention is truly a remarkable glimpse of what the unofficial Israel is all about.