ELEM-Entry NY

We walked into a large Soho Loft divided into 3 separate rooms that created the home of our lovely hosts, Nathalie & Zeev Mehler. They were gracious enough to open their home for this event and we thank
them for that.

Awake at Night (an Entry Activist within Elem) is a program which helps troubled Israeli youth who are working as prostitutes. This organization aims to provide unique responses to young adults from minority gender identities or cultural backgrounds. Our purpose is to raise awareness, make change and eventually raise money to support
them.

This evening was designed to introduce new members to our cause. Delicious food was served and accompanied by a variety of drinks. After dinner, our hosts and several members honored us with musical performances that entertained the attendees and created a relaxing atmosphere. Among the pieces played was Operatic Arias, American and Israeli songs. We listened to Lianne Aharoni, Elem-Entry’s volunteer and opera singer, who was accompanied on the Piano by Stas Fridman. Together they performed opera Arias and American and Israeli songs
followed by a piano solo Debussy piece that was played magically by Stas .

Lianne Aharoni is a highly accomplished Soprano Opera Singer who has captured the imagination of classical music enthusiasts in Israel and around the world. Among her credits are performances with The Israeli philharmonic orchestra, playing in Tosca, by Puccini, conducted by Zubin Mehta.
Stas Fridman is an Israeli Pianist who is now performing and working in New York Metropolitan Area. He is a Graduate of the prestigious Mannes College at The New School for Music.

After their performance, the Mehler kids – Yoav and Sarah took the stage with a wonderful piece on the piano and violin.

The evening ended with a presentation about Erim-Balayla. A program that helps children and adolescents who are sex-workers in Tel-Aviv. We heard very difficult stories and concerning facts about the growth of this phenomena. What was encouraging was that so many of the guests expressed concern for the kids Elem is working with, and generously provided funds that will continue supporting this crucial work.

The Piotraut’s Residence was designed by Ronny & constructed by Yoel. As soon as you walk into this huge space, you can’t but be impressed by its very modern look: unique art pieces on the walls, lighting accessories, kiddies playground in the middle of the living room, an ultra-equipped kitchen & yet, the warm welcome of the hosts & the burning flames from the fireplace create the desired coziness.

It was almost time for the guests to arrive. It was the second time in a row that Ronny & Yoel Piotraut agreed to host a Community Dinner. Ronny Piotraut and Ayala Hodak (from Taboon Restaurant) were busy synching logistics and taking care of the finishing touches of what later turned out to be a delicious Gourmet dinner!

The atmosphere was embracing, loving, flowing, intimate and heart felt! Heart was in the very little details of everything; the choice of the dishes, the plating, the table setting, flower arrangement & the wine selection.

The menu consisted of: appetizers (pastry dough baskets filled with goat cheese mousse and cherry tomatoes, crackers with tuna salad), first courses (creamy Jerusalem Artichoke soup with parmesan croutons, wild stripe sea bass with mushroom and vegetable coulis), main course (short ribs stew in red wine sauce) & dessert (compliments to Einat Aviraz Sibony who created a magnificent trio of a delicious chocolate mousse, a decadent crumble cheese cake accompanied by Moscato dessert wine).

The dinner table consisted of a fascinating human tapestry; about 20 young professionals, from investment bankers to IT consultants, locksmiths, architects, restaurateurs , web developers & even a bartender, they were all curious about: ”what’s next” (double entendre).

Unlike my old self, I kept to myself for the first part of the evening, but after dinner was served, I admitted the “ugly truth” to everyone …”I am not that quiet and here is why”….

I was skeptical at first: “how on earth am I going to strike a chord with a bunch of cynical, accomplished Israelis?” I did not plan my speech. I admit that too. I had all the data I needed, yes, but I knew that was not enough. It was the energy in the room that led me to simply share what everyone apparently needed to hear; that Elem Entry is made of do-gooders like them; that we operate with no budget and that we all have completely satisfying lives even without volunteering, but….we are all there because we want to give back: to our Country, to our Community & also feel a little closer to Home this way.

I was not sure where all this was leading to, but as soon as I finished, the “Good Fellas” opened their cheque books & their Hearts! And mine leaped! We managed to raise $2,900 for Awake at Night that magical evening!

After we were done washing all the dishes and putting everything away, we were all exhausted but oh so very Happy!

Thank you Ronny & Yoel for being such gracious hosts & such great supporters of Elem!

Thank you all the guests for showing up and speaking up!

Ishar Koach!

Written by: Rinat Israelovich-Yaloz (February 4, 2012)

Photography: Ofir Yaloz

All Money Raised goes Directly to ELEM’s Awake at Night Program

New York –(Feb. 7, 2012)—Last Sat., Over 100 guests gathered in 7 upscale residences across the NY metro area to raise money for ELEM’s Awake at Night program to help troubled Israeli youth who are working as prostitutes.   Locations included: Soho, the East Village, the Upper West Side and North Bergen, N.J. Over $16,000 was raised, making it the most successful Community Dinner.

ELEM-Entry activists, a group of NYC-based American and Israeli young professionals arranged the dinner.  Activists secured residences and worked with the homeowners to prepare delicious Moroccan, Georgian and other feasts.  Each home was filled with attendees interested in learning how they can help distressed Israeli youth.  After watching a riveting DVD highlighting the youth prostitution problem in Israel, guests were willing to open their hearts and wallets.

“Helping young Israeli children find relief from working in prostitution is cause all ELEM-Entry activists strongly believe in,” stated Yuval Sheer, co-president, ELEM-Entry.  “The money raised is a testament to the efforts of ELEM-Entry’s dedicated volunteers.  While this was our best Community Dinner, none of us are willing to stop our work on behalf of our most vulnerable children.”

The target population this program assists includes boys, girls and transgender, who are involved in prostitution between the ages of 13-21. Awake at Night provides unique response to youth with minority gender identities or cultural backgrounds.

Thousands of youth in Israel become involved in prostitution as a result of severe distress; a physically or emotionally abusive environment; have a scarring experience of rejection. Demographics of child prostitutes include native Israeli, Ethiopian and from the former Soviet Union.

About Elem
ELEM was founded in 1982 by a group of American and Israeli professionals and lay volunteers to help Israel’s population of at-risk youth become productive citizens. Today ELEM is Israel’s leading non-profit organization dedicated to the treatment and rehabilitation of abused, neglected, and adjudicated Jewish and Arab Israeli youth. The youth ELEM serves face tremendous hurdles; many live below the poverty line or struggle to assimilate as new immigrants. With a network of 250 professionals and almost 2,000 volunteers, ELEM is able to reach tens of thousands of youth each year. ELEM provides a unique brand of non-judgmental, innovative aid including group and individual therapy, mentoring, occupational and educational placement, and vocational training. ELEM also operates a wide network of counseling and support centers, as well as a fleet of outreach vans that take to the streets to reach the hidden “children of the night”.

Contact:
Liat Berko, Elem-Entry, PR chair, 646.643.4140, liat@elem-entry.org
Mitchell Slepian, 718.984.0817, mitch0903@yahoo.com

Elem-Entry,

Third dishwasher is running, tablecloths are in the laundry machine down the hall, the last of the guests left a few minutes ago and there is a high stack of donation cards which needs to be sorted through. The fourth community dinner at the Heiman residence has come to an end!

Our guests were more plentiful and more diverse than in previous dinners. We had Emily, an adorable five-year old friend, Bar, an Operations professor, two classmates who graduated with me last week from Columbia Business School, Germans, British, Americans and Israelis. In total, 16 lawyers, economists, bankers, academics and toddlers sat close together around our dinner table and has an assortment of Middle Eastern and European dishes, including fresh egglplant and Tahini salad, black rice in mushrooms. grilled asparagus, acorn squash with warm couscous, okra in tomato sauce, salmon in fresh ginger and chutney, cod in Moroccan harissa and a 35 spice-blend and chicken in fresh tarragon and garlic. Red and white wine by Tishbi Winery in Israel help the food go down and fresh fruit and an assortment of blueberry, pecan and apple pie with French Vanilla ice-cream ensured no one went home hungry.

Tal started the evening by talking about Elem and the ‘Awake at Night’ program. After the main course, the guests moved to the living room and saw the (amazing!) 6-minute video that Avital prepared. We spoke about statistics on youth in distress in Israel based on Elem’s annual report and then Tal and I led a conversation on what we could do, if we were the Israeli government, to totally abolish child-prostitution in Israel. A very creative collection of ideas relating to laws, enforcement, public opinion, NGO work and parental supervision filled the discussion. People shared their own knowledge about distress youth matters around the world and several asked how they could join Elem to help reduce the awful statistics presented. One couple, donated $1,000 (!) and offered to host community dinner #5 at their home!

Our guests were eager to support the cause and over $2,200 was raised for ‘Erim Balayla’.

Congratulations Elem-Entry activists for keeping this great project alive!

Oren and Tal

Supporting “Awake at Night”

By Mitchell Slepian

Last night, 22 people arrived at the stunning Tenafly, N.J. home of ELEM activists, the Mizrahis. All were there to learn about ELEM’s Awake at Night (Erim Balayla) program, which provides assistance to Israeli children and teenagers who are working as prostitutes, which is an ever-growing problem in Israel.

Around 8:00 p.m., the house, which should be featured in a photo spread in Better Homes & Gardens, filled up with lots of interesting young people eager to become more knowledgeable about ELEM’s charitable work. This was one of 7 locations across the NY metro area hosting a “Community Dinner”. It was my second and the organization’s fourth. It marked my one-plus year anniversary as an ELEM activist, which has been an enlightening experience. I only hope to do more.

Guests were welcomed by the amazing musicianship of Harvey Valdes who teased our ears with his oud all evening. Upon arriving, all were treated to a great selection of Barkan wines and great chatter about Awake at Night.

The night moved on and a sumptuous buffet style Moroccan feast was served. There was more food than you could imagine. Valdes’ music kept us smiling. As an activist, I got to walk the room and make small talk about ELEM’s incredible work. Yeah, chitchat ran from Broadway, art and music. But it always circled back to the Israeli kids in need and how we can help them.

Liat and Ifat took the “stage” and made dazzling speeches about the important work Awake at Night Does. For example, in 2010, the Tel Aviv operation treated 81 youth (from which 34 were new to Awake at Night), while Haifa operations treated 45 youth. The team is working on harm reduction mainly to minimizing threats to their health and livelihood of the youth (i.e.: providing condoms, physical check-ups and AIDS blood tests).

After their speech a DVD, which Avital worked so hard to create rolled. Our attendees got a bird’s eye view of how drastic the situation is and how much these children rely onto ELEM’s Awake at Night program for a better chance.

The night wound down. Everyone had a great time. Our honorable guests all opened their hearts. All made donations to support Awake at Night’s work. Many were so inspired they asked to be kept informed about our work. Hopefully we cultivated a few new activists.

Special thanks goes to Ronen and Violette for opening their generosity in opening their home to ELEM. Ronen’s speech was heartfelt. I’m anxiously wait to hear how my fellow activists Community Dinners turned out.

Go to http://elementry-dinner-feb2012.blogspot.com/ Choose one of the gorgeous pre-war and modern homes, RSVP to abaumgart@elem.org (by telling her your apartment of choice). Dinner is a $100 contribution to ELEM and seating is limited. Home # 1 – The Goldberger Residence – Upper East Side, NYC One of two penthouse apartments in this lovely family-oriented homey Yorkville building, steps from Carl Schurz Park…(read more) Home # 2 – The Horowicz-Mehler Residence – SoHo, NYC The Horowicz-Mehler Residence is the quintessential old SoHo loft with apparent pipes and freight elevator….(read more) Home # 3– The Shaoul Residence – East Village, NYC Elem entry finance committee member Michael Shaoul and Nirit Weiss  welcome you to their  their East Villageduplex apartment …..(read more) Home # 4 – The Mizrahi Residence – Tenafly, NJ The Mizrahi family would like to invite you to an evening of perfect contrasts. A traditional Moroccan dinner in an ultra-modern setting, accompanied by an unusual combination of …..(read more) Home # 5 – The Kochan Residence – Closter, NJ Ayala, the founder of one of Elem’s programs in Israel named Hafuch Al Hafuch& Sharon  are generously opening their warm authentic house for this event. …..(read more) Home # 6 – The Heiman Residence – Upper West Side, NYC Elem-Entry Founder Oren Heiman & activist Tal Shapsa  have been living in this newly redone building, with its famous tri- directional views to Lincoln Center, Central Park and Columbus Circle……(read more) Home # 7 – The Piotraut Residence – Tenafly, NJ The Piotraut Residence is a contemporary ranch style house, designed and built by the home owners……(read more) For more information about ELEM-Entry, please follow us at www.elem.org/entry

Our Saturday, February 4, 2011, Community Dinner will be dedicated to “Awake at Night”, a program that helps teenagers and children who are prostitutes in Israel.

Awake at Night has been in the headline recently for its advocacy efforts on behalf of these children.  Haaretz reports that this year Elem identified 620 youth, as young as 12 are working in prostitution. This is a five fold increase from the amount of children the organization identified last year.  ELEM, according to the article, says that the phenomenon of youth prostitution involves thousands of young people that social welfare does not know about.

The manager of the “Erym Balaila”, Asaf Rajuan, wrote a powerful opinion piece in Haaretz that appeared, Nov. 28, 2011 stating that:

Thousands of children, teenage girls and boys, learn that the only way to survive is to provide sex services. Sadly, we as a society, instead of truly embracing them, instead reject them. We call them names, such as prostitutes and escort girls. We close our eyes, and conduct discussions where we wonder whether they chose this way of life and how much they make. We don’t want to ask about their well-being or to know their life story, which would shake our understanding. We don’t wont to hear the horrible statistics published by the Center for Research of the Israeli Parliament, which says that the average age for involvement in prostitution in Israel is 13. And there are thousands of these children.

If you want to learn more about Awake at Night, check out Nitzan Levy’s post about her visit to the program and Ayelet Levron’s post about a chat with Dvir Marco, who volunteers at the program.