By Ron Finkel AM - President, Hadassah Australia
Beginning in 1990 over 39,000 Ethiopian Jews were airlifted to Israel. In 2005 8,500 Israelis were evacuated from Gush Katif in the southern part of the Gaza Strip. In both cases, whole communities were uprooted and resettled. The challenge of integrating into Israeli society was a huge one. A key determinant of success was going to be finding meaningful employment for all those who had been relocated.
To the casual observer the two communities must certainly appear to be vastly different. But Rabbi Yosef Zvi Rimon is not any casual observer. He is currently the Chief Rabbi of Gush Etzion and the Head of the Jerusalem College of Technology (Machon Lev) and a Rosh Kollel at Yeshivat Har Etzion.
Following the Israeli disengagement from Gaza in 2005, Rav Rimon made it his mission to find employment for the evacuees from Gush Katif. He founded an association, La’Ofek (To the Horizon), and over the subsequent two years, the association secured gainful employment for many hundreds of the former residents of Gush Katif. His volunteer work was recognised by the President of Israel in 2008.
The success of La’Ofek in finding pathways to new lives in Israel for the former residents of Gush Katif prompted him to look for ways to expand the ‘horizons’ of the association and to seek ways to assist other communities in need in Israel.
His research drew him inexorably to the community of Ethiopian Olim who had arrived in Israel in the 1990s. Rav Rimon understood that the key to their full integration into Israeli society was education – linked to professional development through tertiary studies. Out of that insight was born the idea of Achotenu – the scholarship program in graduate nursing that is a signature program for Hadassah Australia.
Rav Rimon was in Australia recently. He shared the story of the origins of the Achotenu program. It is an inspiring example of a commitment to chesed (good deeds) driving a significant social outcome – one that has changed the lives of a key number of young Ethiopian Israelis and had a direct positive impact on their families, their community, and the delivery of better health outcomes in Israel.
Hadassah Australia is proud of our involvement with and support of the Achotenu Ethiopian Scholarship program.
We feel that, through the Achotenu initiative, we are actively involved in the “enterprise of building the State of Israel”. For that opportunity we acknowledge the vision and dedication of Rav Yosef Zvi Rimon.
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