The Noam Family Center

Additional Topics for Lecture and Discussion

Additional Topics for Lecture and Discussion Led by the Center’s Staff
• Dealing with change in the family
• Connecting with teenagers
• Ahavat hinam – the Jewish outlook on the art of loving
• The role of the home in education
• Women and the Jewish holidays

“While various community groups seek funds to increase the number of police officers in Eilat, we seek to work from the ground up and eliminate the need for police altogether.”
—Uriel Cohen, administrative director of Yeshivat Ayelet HaShahar and the Noam Center

Family Center Future Programs

Future Programs
• Communicating with Your Teenager – workshop in four sessions
• Husband and Wife Relationships – four part lecture series
• Nutrition Workshop (including: Changing Attitudes and Habits within the Family)
• The Yachdav Center: Raising Children by Yourself – a series of eight to ten workshops for single parents
• Preparation for Jewish holidays – events and creative workshops for mothers and children
• Lectures on various relevant topics
• Parenting lectures given at the Children’s Center
• In depth series on the laws of family purity and family relationships (30 sessions)

Programs Conducted by the Noam Family Center

• Parenting workshops conducted at the Yemin Herzog School and in several kindergartens
• Classes on family values for local high school students
• Training course for counselors who help prepare young couples for marriage; topics include: love, child rearing, partnership, acceptance, and so forth
• One-on-one preparatory classes for men and women engaged to be married (hadrakhat hatanim, hadrakhat kalot) – 6-8 meetings

About Noam

Noam was born in Jerusalem to Chaim and Gila Meirson, שיבדל"א. He learned in the “Chorev” elementary and junior high school and then continued his studies in the yeshiva high school in Mitzpe Ramon.

After completing his studies he joined Yeshivat Ayelet HaShachar in Eilat and learned in the yeshiva for six years. In the army he served in tanks in the 7^th battalion 82^nd unit and completed an officers’ course and became an officer in the armoured units.

Noam was called up to the war in Lebanon on the eve of Tisha B’Av, when he was in Eilat in the midst of preparations for his upcoming marriage. When he reached his unit he was told that the missile loader of another unit was sick and not functioning. Noam volunteered at once to replace him, and since he had been trained for that job he was chosen to fill in. Noam was placed in one of the leading tanks in a force moving northward in the area of Bint Jabal. Noam and another officer stood, exposed on the outer part of the tank in order to lead the force forward. As soon as an anti tank missile hit the tank they were both injured badly. The tank was demobilized by the missile and unable to move or to receive help by air as the area was covered with trees. Soldiers stood guard over the tank for close to 36 hours until help arrived.

The Noam Meyerson Memorial Family Center

The Noam Family Center was established by the Orot Bamidbar organization in cooperation with Yehsivat Ayelet Hashahar in Eilat as an effort to strengthen the family unit on the basis of Jewish values. We believe that young people growing up in a healthy family environment are far less likely to become involved in drugs, violence, and crime and far more likely to become constructive citizens and good parents themselves. The center is directed by Mrs. Chana Meir. It reaches families by conducting parenting workshops in schools, synagogues, and community centers throughout Eilat.

Yeshivat Ayelet Hashachar lost three students in the Second Lebanon War (summer 2006). With the encouragement of the Mayerson family, we have named the family center for our student Noam Mayerson of blessed memory. Noam was engaged to be married, and his wedding was scheduled to take place just one month after he fell in Lebanon.

It is hoped that the Noam Family Center will serve as a model for similar programs throughout Israel and in Jewish communities throughout the world.