In 2009, Oded Weiss and Avraham Hayon came to a basketball court in Kiryat Gat one night
with a coffee kit and a mat, lit a bonfire, and waited for the teens who wandered through
the park.
Slowly, a group of teens gathered and asked, suspiciously, what they were looking for.
Avraham and Oded told them there were many families in the neighborhood who needed help,
but no one knew the neighborhood like these teens did — maybe they could help find them?
Something lit up in the teens' eyes. Someone had seen the good in them. The following
week they came back — with a list of addresses of families in need. Soon they were
meeting regularly and delivering food to those families anonymously.
That was the moment SAHI — the Special Hessed Unit — was born.
Since then, thousands of bonfires have been lit in SAHI, in Hessed Units set up across
the country — all sharing the same spark and the same educational approach: giving
changes the lives of the giver and of the community.
Our educational approach
The well — at the heart of SAHI's educational model
“The pit was empty; there was no water in it” (Genesis 37:24). Our Sages ask: if there
was no water, why say that the pit was empty? They explain: “There was no water in it,
but there were snakes and scorpions.”
Talmud, Shabbat 22a
This is at the heart of SAHI's educational model: a well does not remain empty. If it is
not filled with water (a metaphor for Hessed), something else will take its place. At SAHI we believe in the
inherent goodness and potential of every young person, and approach them as equal
partners. Our role is not to focus on what they lack, but to give them the opportunities
and tools to fill their “well” with Hessed.
Giving is both the core of the activity and the educational tool for positive
change. We believe that giving affects the giver no less than the receiver — it
fills them with a sense of belonging, identity, capability and meaning, and builds
a more caring, better society.
SAHI is a cross-community organization. Its participants include secular, religious and
ultra-Orthodox teens, immigrants from Ethiopia and the former Soviet Union, and
Israeli-born teens. Activities take place in neighborhoods, cities, moshavim (rural
villages), a kibbutz, youth villages, schools, and an absorption center for new
immigrants.
At the core of our work, we believe that giving is the natural way to create unity
among all parts of society.
“No matter your opinion, no matter your background — I'm your brother, don't forget.”
The “I'm Your Brother” project
Activity map
SAHI is active all across Israel — from Kiryat Shmona to Eilat. Browse the list, or
click a dot on the map for details.
45
active units across Israel