The stage was packed, the music was loud, and 135 students at World ORT Kadima Mada’s Kfar Silver Youth Village in Ashkelon walked across the stage with their heads held high. This was no ordinary graduation. It was a celebration earned the hard way, and everyone in the room knew it.
For a cohort who had persevered through the Covid pandemic, no one imagined anything worse happening. And then came October 7. Kfar Silver is located just eight miles from Gaza, and these students were amid the chaos as tragedy unfolded on that fateful day and all the days after. They survived repeated attacks by Hamas, Iran, and Hezbollah and kept showing up. And on graduation night, that persistence and determination looked like joy.
Kfar Silver is home to more than 1,000 students, a quarter of them boarders, including new immigrants from Ethiopia and the former Soviet Union, and students who have arrived since the war in Ukraine began. For many, Kfar Silver is more than a school. It is a home, with the counseling and tutoring that help them feel secure enough to thrive.
Amos Gofer, CEO of Kfar Silver Youth Village, summed it up best during the graduation ceremony. “Leonard Cohen wrote, ‘There is a crack in everything, that’s how the light gets in,’” he said. “You became the great light that broke through the cracks. Despite everything, you built meaningful, joyful, and formative experiences.”
And what a celebration it was. Students performed sketches that had the room laughing, took the stage for presentations they had clearly poured themselves into, and danced, both formal and informal, late into the evening. The annual Na’ale prom dance brought out everyone’s best outfits, with students dressed to the nines and dancing like they meant it.
The celebration drew local dignitaries eager to share in the moment, including the head of the Hof Ashkelon Regional Council, Itamar Revivo; head of the Lakhish Regional Council, Shlomo Boaz; and Chairman of the Kfar Silver Board, Benny Sela.
“Today marks the conclusion of an important chapter and the beginning of a new and exciting journey,” said Ronit Hasin, who oversees pedagogical programming.
“At World ORT Kadima Mada, we place great importance on nurturing the next generation. This year alone, we invested close to five million shekels in Kfar Silver, including scholarships for graduates, international delegation opportunities, and initiatives connecting students to the global community of World ORT.
“Dear graduates, we are proud of you,” she added. “Go forward with confidence, and may you achieve great success in all that lies ahead.”
Both Gofer and Hasin paid tribute to the team that makes it all possible: Kfar Silver’s educators, counselors, therapists, and the operations and security staff who keep the Village running.
Kfar Silver was bought by World ORT in 2016 and today includes a high school, junior high school, boarding school, and agricultural farm. Generous donors fund the projects, and emergency support for security, mental health, and stress relieving programming, that make nights like this one possible.
To learn more about making a difference to students such as these, please contact Allison Baumwald, World ORT’s Chief Development Officer, at [email protected]