Background
- Part of the Jewish heritage includes the responsibility of taking
care of
their own people's needs within their communities. The concept of kehilla
(community responsibility), is central to their duty to fulfill God's holy
commands. This sense of religious responsibility has been and still is
illustrated in childcare, particularly orphanages. Before the
establishment of orphanages, relatives and neighbors would always step in
to help if the parent were unable to care for their children. Beginning in
the 1880s, massive waves of immigrants began to flock to the region as a
result of Zionism and growing anti-Semitism abroad. As the pace of
urbanization steadily increased, so did poverty and the numbers of orphans
and children in need.
Early Developments
- In 1881 the first orphanage was founded. The Diskin Orphan's Home
was
established to care for a large group of Russian orphans that had recently
immigrated to Jerusalem. Other orphanages that followed were
The Zion Orphanage (1900)
The General Israel Orphans' Home for
Girls (1902)
- The orphanages did not just care for orphans, but also any
children whose
parents were unable to care for them temporarily. All the orphanages were
founded by religious groups that wanted these
unfortunate children to become productive, honest members of society.As
the population continued to expand into the 1900s, child placement in
these institutions became a feature of immigrant absorption.
The Palestine Orphan Committee
- As a result of World War I immigration from Jewish communities in
Europe
increased, and so did the numbers of orphaned children. Arab rioting in
the 1920s also left many widows and orphaned children. Cholera and typhus
also contributed to the high numbers of orphans during this time period.
One of the most effective welfare projects that developed during this time
was The Palestine Orphan Committee.From 1914 to 1930, the committee made
great contributions toward modern day care of dependent children. Some of
their accomplishments are:
Establishment of 12
orphanages
Introduction of casework and social
diagnosis
Beginning family-oriented care of
dependent children
Developed prototype for the first
children's village
Started additional programs into the
orphanages such as health
care, and educational/vocational
training
The Committee set many important precendents and laid the
foundations for today's modern orphanages and childcare.
Modern Orphanages
- Today, children are placed into these institutions as young as age
three.
Orphanages are usually quite large and house between 200 to 500 children.
The majority of the children in orphanages are not true orphans. They are
primarily from low-income, Middle Eastern, broken families who cannot take
care of their children for the time being.There is a significant lack of
professional staff such as psychologists at these institutions. The
children are lacking the emotional support they need. Although orphans
have traditionally been ignored by researchers, social workers have
recently begun to focus more on children's
agencywhen considering the effects of institution care on the
development of a child. It is important that more research on children in
placement be conducted in order to determine what type of care is the most
beneficial. But this type of residential group care of dependent children
is still popular in Israel today.
Sources:
Jaffe, Eliezer D. 1982. Child Welfare in
Israel. New York: Praeger
Jaffe, Eliezer D. 1983. Special Aspects of Education 2:
Israelis in Institutions: Studies in Child Placement Practice and
Policy. New York: Science Publishers Inc.
Weiner, Anita and Eugene. 1990. Expanding the Options in
Child Placement: Israel's Dependent Children in Care from Infancy to
Adulthood. Landham, MD: University Press of America, Inc.
This website was created in the
fall of 2000
by
Iris
Travis, Rachel
Geller, Allison
Miller, and Diana
Osborn, students at Tulane University. Our collaborative effor is part
of a class project for Professor April Brayfield's Sociology 119:
Children and Society Class. Information on children in other countries can
be found at The Children
Around the World Webpage.
This page was last updated on December 10, 2000.