[Link below.] Over twenty years ago, we watched the exodus of Jews from the Soviet Union from a geographic and spiritual distance. Two decades ago, hundreds of thousands of Yiddishe neshamos, Jews we had long considered lost, were flooding the Eretz Hakedoshah and most of us stood by not knowing how to react or what could or should be done. Thankfully, twenty years ago, a prescient and wise tzaddik stepped forward to encourage us to seize this rare and unprecedented opportunity and to demonstrate to Hakadosh Boruch Hu and the world our sense of areivus and unconditional love for Klal Yisroel and Eretz Yisroel.
Almost every reader of this site is familiar with the story of how Rav Avrohom Pam zt”l recognized that the secular Soviet Jews flooding Eretz Yisroel would tip the demographic balance of the Eretz Hakedoshah in favor of the secular population. Innumerable times, indeed even with his last breath, the gaon and tzaddik gathered his ito rally us to respond to the urgency of his message: every Russian Jewish child should be offered a Torah chinuch, without consideration of cost and despite the resistance of parents or opposition of the Israeli government.
With the help of an elite corps of legendary askonim, Rav Pam founded Shuvu in 1990. Repeatedly, he referred to Shuvu as a “Torah movement,” and, in fact, today, Shuvu have 15,000 students enrolled in 67 Shuvu schools, pre-schools and after-school programs. Shuvu has a $26 million budget and 1,200 employees.
Shuvu sponsors summer camps in 22 locations, provides hot lunches to thousands of children daily, provides Yom Tov food and seminars for 12,500 students and families, has provided 3,000 pairs of tefillin to bar mitzvah boys, has service centers in a dozen cities throughout Israel, and holds Shabbatons and family seminars monthly.
Shuvu operates a national network of schools, with branches in Acco, Arad, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Bat Yam, Beer Sheva, Beer Yaakov, Bet Shemesh, Dimona, Chadeira, Cholon, Hod Hasharon, Yerushalayim, Kfar Saba, Lod, Nahariya, Netanya, Ofakim, Petach Tikvah, Rechovot, Rishon Letzion, Sderot, Tel Aviv and Yeruchem.
Thousands of boys and girls have gone on to establish homes of Torah and Yiddishkeit, and the tzaddik‘s war on secularism continues to be fought throughout Eretz Yisroel with the best weapon of all: a Jewish education.
We owe it to Rav Pam, today, on his yahrtzeit, to celebrate the stunning achievements of this extraordinary organization by helping it continue its holy work. Shuvu is facing $4 million in cuts by the Israeli government and is dealing with the prospect of laying off 300 teachers. Let us each do our share to east the crushing blow being dealt to the holy organization. Join in this important mission by clicking here and contributing. All donations will be matched by an anonymous donor during the month of Av.
{Noam Amdurski-Matzav.com Newscenter}
