MERAV YOUTH CENTER DEDICATED WITH HELP FROM PARTNERSHIP 2000
by Judy Singer

It was an unusual dedication ceremony - but these are unusual times.

On Monday, April 1, Kibbutz Merav held the dedication ceremony for the new Youth Center. The Youth Center was built with support from the Israeli Housing Ministry, and with the generous assistance of the Jewish Community of Cleveland (Jewish Agency for Israel - Partnership 2000) and the Feigenbaum family of Chicago.

The building includes classrooms and meeting rooms, a library and computer center, music rooms and a large hall for club meetings and assemblies. The Youth Center will serve the rapidly growing youth population of Kibbutz Merav and surrounding communities - who until now had no place to hold their activities. The main "clients" of the Center will be the teenagers whose families live on Merav as well as the children in the Merav Children's Group Home (MCGH).

Although plans for the Center had been in place for several years, the deteriorating security situation in the Gilboa region caused the project to take on a new urgency beginning last summer. On August 9, Aliza Malka, a 16-year old MCGH resident, was killed in a terrorist attack a few hundred yards from the entrance to the kibbutz. Ever since, kibbutz residents have looked at their surroundings in a new light, and unnecessary car trips have been reduced considerably. The need for a local place for our young people to gather was emphasized more than ever, and we redoubled our efforts to finish the Youth Center.

Our friends in the US rose to the challenge, and the Center was completed just in time for its dedication ceremony during Passover. A significant number of kibbutz members were absent from the ceremony - having been suddenly called up to the army a few days before. Another dozen Merav residents attended in uniform, weapons at their sides.

Despite what could have been a gloomy day due to the difficult security situation, the dedication ceremony was upbeat and positive. Speaker after speaker emphasized how important it is that we continue to build, to expand our communities, and not give in to the terrorists whose greatest wish is to disrupt and demoralize. Although tears were shed when one of the MCGH boys spoke in Aliza's memory, the determination to go forward was palpable - in the inspirational speeches, the teenagers' choir numbers, and even from the littlest kids who were sliding on the slick marble floor in the back and pretending it was a skating rink. No one even bothered to quiet them down - somehow, it seemed an appropriate backdrop to the ceremony.

Pini Kabalo, co-chairman of the Partnership 2000 project in the Beit Shean region, represented the Cleveland Jewish community, and many members of the Feigenbaum family made the trip from the US to be present at the ceremony. Thanks to our friends and supporters, the children and youth of Merav will benefit for years to come from their beautiful new building. It is our hope that they will use it in health and happiness - and that our region and our country will soon be blessed by peace and security.

Nisan 5762 - April 2002