Miriam Beatrice Rich will be called to the Torah as a Bat Mitzvah on June 13, Parshat Sh’lach at Temple Beth Tzedek in Williamsville, NY.
Miriam is a 7th Grader at Mill Middle School. She enjoys playing soccer, running track, and spending time with her many friends from both school and her beloved Camp Ramah in Canada. One of her favorite parts of camp is meeting the shlichim on staff who come from Israel. As she prepares for her Bat Mitzvah, she wants to give back to the community and allow other teens to achieve their goals.
Miriam has chosen Neve Hanna Children’s Home in Kiryat Gat, Israel, which serves at-risk youth, as her Mitzvah Project. She feels very connected to the mission and is moved to help support the work at Neve Hanna. Please consider donating to this children’s nonprofit organization to help improve the lives of the Neve Hanna children in need.
Partnering with Neve Hanna aligns with our core Jewish values, supporting global outreach and influence by connecting to the land and children of Israel, and building community through meaningful support. Together, we can make a global impact on the Jewish community through the principles of social responsibility: tikkun olam (repairing the world), kindness, and tzedakah (charity and social justice).
Thank you in advance for donating to Miriam’s Mitzvah Project and helping her mission to support Neve Hanna!
Mazal Tov, Miriam, on your Bat Mitzvah!
What is the Neve Hanna Children’s Home?
Since 1974, Neve Hanna Children’s Home in Kiryat Gat, Israel, has provided a loving and nurturing home for children from distressed and dysfunctional family circumstances. The children come from diverse backgrounds, including Russian, Ethiopian, and Middle Eastern immigrant families, as well as native-born Israelis.
Many of these children have experienced poverty, abuse, parental neglect, mental illness, and drug or alcohol addiction within the home. At Neve Hanna, their physical, emotional, educational, and spiritual needs are addressed within a caring and therapeutic environment.
Affiliated with the Masorti Movement as a Kehillah — the only one of its kind in Israel — Neve Hanna provides individual therapy, remedial instruction, and extensive enrichment and recreational programs that help children heal, grow, and thrive.
Neve Hanna offers these at-risk youth the opportunity to move beyond the circumstances into which they were born and build brighter futures as confident, responsible, and contributing members of society.
Miriam Beatrice Rich will be raising money for the Bar/Bat Mitzvah Project.
Neve Hanna Children’s Home is affiliated with the Masorti Movement and provides a traditional religious education in which boys and girls have equal opportunities for learning and participation.
The children celebrate their B’nai Mitzvah during a meaningful and memorable ceremony. Throughout the year, the children meet weekly with the Rabbi for learning, discussion, and enriching experiences that help strengthen their understanding of themselves, their community, and Am Yisrael. They explore Jewish values, traditions, and symbols while learning about the responsibilities and meaning of becoming Jewish adults.
Family members, guests, and Neve Hanna staff are invited to share in this special occasion. The celebration is filled with singing, dancing, and heartfelt emotion. Together, they daven Shacharit, led by the children themselves, while the Rabbi conducts the Torah service. As the boys and girls are called to the Torah for their Aliyot, families and staff look on with great pride. It is an uplifting and deeply moving experience for everyone involved.
