Visit of Binswanger family from Philadelphia to Orr Shalom's Haifa home

On 28th December we were delighted to welcome four generations of the twenty-strong Binswanger family from Philadelphia who came to visit Orr Shalom's Haifa therapeutic group home to meet the staff and children. The Haifa home was purchased for Orr Shalom by the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia and eleven Orr Shalom children recently moved into the home. Joining the Binswangers was Talia Lidar, the Philadelphia federation's representative in Israel.

The visit started with an overview of Orr Shalom's work rescuing children-at-risk from abuse and neglect. The afternoon continued with a mezuza fixing ceremony to celebrate the purchase of the new home. We were delighted to invite the Binswangers to join the Orr Shalom children in fixing the beautiful mezuza from the Gary Rosenthal Collection that was generously given to us by the Women's Philanthropy of Greater Philadelphia. Matan (name changed), one of the teenage boys in the home, and Emily of the Binswanger family made the blessings in Hebrew and English respectively, after which the group recited together the "Shehecheyanu" blessing of thanksgiving. 

Following the mezuzah fixing ceremony, the Binswanger family were taken on a tour of the home by the home's director when they learnt about the work of the home and the children living there, and also took part in an arts and crafts project with the children. The visit ended with light refreshments, Israeli style, made by the house mother and the children of the home.

The visit was a tremendous boost to the children of the home, who thoroughly enjoyed themselves with the Philadelphia representatives, and who, upon their leaving, wanted to know when they would next be back to visit. 

Many thanks to the Binswanger family for making the Chanukat HaBayit of this lovely home so meaningful.

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