We arrived at the Hapoel Tel-Aviv’s training grounds about 10 am on a warm Tuesday morning this past July. We had come to Hapoel’s facility in Tel Aviv that day not to play soccer (we did get a tour of Israel’s most decorated soccer clubs that dates back to 1927), but to visit a program site sponsored by its education and social project arm – Mifalot. Mifalot operates programs throughout Israel and uses soccer to help kids in at-risk, isolated, or disadvantaged environments. They operate over 300 programs and have provided services to more than 20,000 youth.
As we pulled into the parking lot, our friend and Mifalot Director or Education and Training, Eran Gal, greeted us with hugs and high-fives. We hadn’t seen Eran since our last trip to Israel in 2006 when he accompanied us to a Mifalot site in Ashkelon that hosted a soccer-education program for newly arrived Ethiopian Jews. Our older son, Eli, worked with the Ohr Kodesh ECC to operate a week long soccer clinic. All of the proceeds for the clinic went to Mifalot along with contributions from family and friends in honor of his Bar Mitzvah. Before coming to Israel this past summer, we contacted Eran about a similar project for our younger son, Aryeh.
The site we visited, located at a Holon community center, was a weekly soccer program for older kids with physical and developmental disabilities. The majority of participants used wheelchairs or crutches. We observed the pre-game practice drills and then participated in a spirited game of indoor soccer. During the school year, the soccer training is combined with life skills and educational tutoring. At the end of the game we lined up to shake hands and bid farewell. We left impressed with both the quality of the play and the quality of the program. More importantly, we knew Aryeh developed another personal connection to Israel just days before he would read the Torah at Robinson’s Arch in Jerusalem.
Mifalot provides a wonderful opportunity for our sports-crazed B’nei Mitzvot to leverage their passion for sport to connect to Israel. They don’t really have to love soccer either. They can connect to a Mifalot program that focuses on education and early childhood development, inclusion, children with special needs, girl’s issues, coexistence, and leadership and community development. You also don’t have to visit Israel to connect to this wonderful program – give a percentage of your Bar Mitzvah gifts, have a kid’s fundraiser, or just encourage others to get involved. If you are going to Israel, a Mifalot representative will meet you in Israel and coordinate a site visit. You can learn more about the program at www.mifalot.co.il. Information about the program is available in the lobby at Ohr Kodesh. Finally, please contact me at millertodd84@gmail.com for more information. I would be glad to help.
This post was written by Todd Miller
mifalot
