Introducing: The Bet Shemesh Mateh Yehuda Non-Profit Fund for the Volunteer. Funded by the Jewish Agency, and located in a region paired with the Jewish communities of both Washington D.C. and South Africa, it sponsors several volunteer programs in Beit Shemesh and the Mateh Yehuda Regional Council communities west of Jerusalem. What it all comes down to is good old-fashioned Jewish and Zionist values of giving and helping to build the country.
Dror Mizrachi, a 25-year-old student from Beit Shemesh, is quoted in a Jewish Agency website article as saying, "My main concern is not what Israel can give me, but what I can give Israel." He is one of about 60 people living in the region who participate in the volunteer programs. "I think in today's society too many people are concerned with their own comforts," he stressed. "I and my fellow volunteers want to get back to basic Judaism and Zionism in which the people of Israel and the Jewish people care for each other."
Mizrachi, in his final year of computer studies at the Jerusalem College of Engineering, teaches basic computer skills to 12 middle-age and elderly people, who themselves are volunteers for charity organizations. Mizrachi also set up the organization's internet site. Computer workshops like the ones Mizrachi teaches are held regularly in the Elyakim Elementary School in Beit Shemesh for both children and adults.
An officer in a special Israel Air Force unit, he says that serving in the army reserves each year is like volunteering: "Every year I do 40 to 50 days of reserve duty. But I am happy to do it. It is vital for the country's survival."
Dror Mizrachi, a 25-year-old student from Beit Shemesh, is quoted in a Jewish Agency website article as saying, "My main concern is not what Israel can give me, but what I can give Israel." He is one of about 60 people living in the region who participate in the volunteer programs. "I think in today's society too many people are concerned with their own comforts," he stressed. "I and my fellow volunteers want to get back to basic Judaism and Zionism in which the people of Israel and the Jewish people care for each other."
Mizrachi, in his final year of computer studies at the Jerusalem College of Engineering, teaches basic computer skills to 12 middle-age and elderly people, who themselves are volunteers for charity organizations. Mizrachi also set up the organization's internet site. Computer workshops like the ones Mizrachi teaches are held regularly in the Elyakim Elementary School in Beit Shemesh for both children and adults.
An officer in a special Israel Air Force unit, he says that serving in the army reserves each year is like volunteering: "Every year I do 40 to 50 days of reserve duty. But I am happy to do it. It is vital for the country's survival."