At 6 AM on a recent cold winter morning, Principal Rabbi Yehudah Rosencrantz arrived, as he does each day, to open the Boys Town Jerusalem school building. To his shock, he found eighth grader Jared* standing outside, shivering in the freezing air. “I had to leave home,” the boy whispered. “I had nowhere else to go but here…”
A home that was never safe
“Jared is one of the most likable boys in his class,” Rabbi Rosencrantz explains. “But his home life is an absolute nightmare.” From the time his parents divorced when he was very young, Jared has split his time between their homes. Now, both parents have remarried and started new families. “Neither home is stable, and tragically, neither family wants Jared to be part of their lives.”
That frigid morning, Jared poured out his heart to the principal. What he described was devastating. His father had become violent, beating him without warning. Recently, his mother injured him as well.
A safe haven at Boys Town Jerusalem
“We immediately brought our social worker to be with Jared, as we contacted the Jerusalem Child Welfare authorities. All of us are working urgently and together to protect this boy’s physical safety and emotional wellbeing.”
Arrangements are now underway for Jared to move into the safety of the Boys Town Jerusalem dormitory. Thanks to generous overseas donors, he is able to enjoy special after-school activities and tuition-free studies. Just as critically, the three wholesome, homecooked meals served daily on campus – meals that all BTJ students receive – are proving to be a vital lifeline.
Building a secure and meaningful future
“We will do everything in our power to protect Jared and to give him the emotional support he needs to build a secure, meaningful future,” Rabbi Rosencrantz declares.
*Name changed for privacy reasons
*AI image used to protect identity