It's a cool motzei Shabbos in downtown Yerushalayim. It's
full of people at this hour. They are mostly young and non-
religious, and some are sitting in the cafes or window-
shopping -- but mostly just "hanging out."
Surprisingly, among the immodestly dressed throng one can
make out more than a few black yarmulkes. It turns out
that the black yarmulke wearers are actually yeshiva
bochurim. What are they doing here? one wonders. They
may have taken off their hats and jackets in a vain attempt
to blend in to their surroundings, but they still stick out
like sore thumbs.
That same night, the rosh yeshiva of a famous institution
leaves the beis medrash and heads to Yerushalayim's
Malcha Mall -- certainly not his usual routine. In fact, he
has never set foot inside this American-style shopping
center.
He is there for one reason, and one reason only: one of his
students, he has heard, has gotten into the habit of spending
time at the mall. At first the rosh yeshiva was incredulous
("That bochur? Impossible!"), but then again, he
thought, one never knows these days. And so, he is at the
mall to see for himself whether the rumor is true.
At the mall, a scene similar to the one at Ben Yehuda assails
his spiritually honed senses. He is horrified by the sheer
number of yeshiva bochurim who are easy to spot in the
crowds. He threads through the throng and passes by the movie
theater -- where he spots his talmid waiting in
line.
The rosh yeshiva steps out of the mall and excitedly calls
Lev Shomea, Lev L'Achim's division for at-risk youth. A
senior member of the group takes the call and calms the rosh
yeshiva down. But he also tells him the truth -- that what he
saw is not unusual.
"That rosh yeshiva came face-to-face with what our Lev Shomea
division has known for a long time," says Lev L'Achim
Director Rabbi Eliezer Sorotzkin. "The problem is everywhere,
including many homes that no one would suspect."
Lev Shomea was founded five years ago at the request of the
gedolim who felt a program needed to be developed for
the need. Today, Lev Shomea has 55 employees and more than
100 volunteers who reach out to religious boys and girls who
are experiencing difficulties at home or school and are
grappling with issues of conscience, guilt, frustration or
hashkofoh.
Lev Shomea's flagship program is its hotline, which gives
teens a place to turn for support. The hotline handles an
average of 10 calls a night, or more than 3,000 a year. Some
teens call on a one-time basis, while others call regularly
for months, even years.
Through this program, Lev L'Achim has helped prevent hundreds
of religious boys and girls from quitting school, running
away from home or turning away from religion. It has also
helped many boys who have already been expelled from yeshiva
by placing them in yeshivos that better serve their needs.
But according to Rabbi Sorotzkin, more has to be done to
address the needs of boys from across the religious Jewish
spectrum.
"The teens calling the hotline are not just from Litvishe
homes," he says, "many of the callers are Chassidishe. Until
recently, most of our case workers were Litvishe, but we
noticed that Chassidishe case workers had better results with
Chassidishe bochurim, so the time came to set up a
separate Chassidishe division that will handle all such
incoming calls."
The idea was brought before HaRav Yosef Shalom Eliashiv, and
he agreed with Lev L'Achim's leadership that a separate
division for Chassidishe boys should be established
immediately.
Lev Shomea expanded its program and developed the new
division for Chassidishe bochurim, and last Sunday its
staff met with leading Chassidic rabbonim, roshei yeshiva and
mashgichim to report on the division's work and
acquaint them with some of Lev Shomea's chassidishe staff
members.
In attendance at the meeting were the Tolna Rebbe; HaRav
Shalom Dernfeld, rosh yeshiva, Yeshivas Torah Ve'Emunah-Belz;
HaRav Shlomo Weinberg, menahel ruchani, Yeshivas Beis
Avrohom-Slonim; HaRav Yosef Binyomin Wosner, rosh yeshiva,
Yeshivas Chachmei Lublin, and rov and av beis din,
Khal Chassidim Elad; HaRav Menachem Mendel Paksher,
menahel ruchani, Yeshivas Nezer HaTorah, and rov and
moreh tzedek of Chassidei Vishnitz; and HaRav Tzvi
Rabinowitz, ram, Yeshivas Tiferes Yisroel Ruzhin-
Boyan.
According to Rabbi Tzvi Greenbaum, Director of Lev Shomea,
much of the success in recent years is a direct result of the
good relationship its staff has developed with local
mechanchim.
"We recently held a Yom Iyun for roshei yeshiva and
mashgichim," he said at the gathering, "and it was
attended by a hundred people. We have built up a great deal
of trust with these mechanchim. That's why our program
works."
Breaking Down Communication Barriers
"Trust" is the key word at Lev Shomea, where staff members
reach out to at-risk youth by offering them advice and a
listening ear on a strictly confidential basis.
"Often, I don't even know the name of the person I'm speaking
with, even after we meet in person," said Rabbi Moshe Blau, a
caseworker in the newly established Chassidishe division.
"And I don't ask, either. This gives us credibility with the
boys; it builds trust. They know they can speak openly with
us and that we won't tell on them to their rosh yeshiva or
mashgiach."
Rabbi Blau explains that the boys who call are at varying
stages of spiritual decline: some have doubts they need to
air out, while others call when they are headed for trouble.
Still others call when they are already "knee deep."
"There aren't really any substantial differences between
Litvishe and Chassidishe bochurim," says Rabbi
Greenbaum, the Lev Shomea director. "The problems bochurim
encounter are essentially the same, and the methods we
use are equally effective. The only problem is one of
communication -- in these ultra-sensitive situations, when a
teenage boy calls an emergency hotline number anonymously to
express his anxieties, communication cannot be an obstacle.
He has to hear the shprach he feels familiar with,
especially a Chassidishe boy, who may have grown up in a more
insular community and who has a natural distrust for
outsiders."
Rabbi Greenbaum says that Lev Shomea's staff conducted an
experiment: Chassidishe mentors began handling the
Chassidishe callers and, as they had suspected, their success
rates soared.
"A Chassidishe boy will know in two seconds whether the
person on the other end of line is Chassidishe," says Rabbi
Tzvi Kopolowitz, a senior member of the Chassidishe division.
"If a bochur tells me he's from a Chassidishe yeshiva,
I throw in some Yiddish, and he opens right up."
Rabbi Kopolowitz adds that the Lev Shomea staff has also
found that there are certain subjects that come up often with
Chassidishe bochurim that require a different approach
than with Litvishe bochurim. The division has
developed "position papers" on these subjects.
But the staff also came to the realization that even when a
Chassidishe mentor is paired with a Chassidishe bochur,
barriers can still exist.
"Each Chassidishe sect has its own unique minhogim,
hashkofoh and sensitivities, and you have to know the
difference between them in order to help the bochurim,"
Rabbi Kopolowitz says. "If a staff member does not
appreciate the difference between Vishnitz Chassidus and
Belzer Chassidus, this could lead to a culture gap that will
result in the boy hanging up."
Just how great is the need for Lev Shomea's new division?
According to Rabbi Kopolowitz, the division now handles five
calls a night, on average, which would translate into more
than 1,500 over the course of a year.
"We even had one Chassidishe bochur who called us all
the way from his yeshiva in Canada," he says. "He saw our ads
when he was in Eretz Yisroel, saved the number, and called us
from there the first chance he had. His calling card ran out,
so we called him back."
An Objective Voice -- And Someone Who Cares
People often wonder what makes Lev Shomea succeed. Is there
some sort of magic formula? Are they telling the bochurim
something new?
Rabbi Blau, the Chassidishe division caseworker, says no.
"All I can really give him is a sympathetic ear, a
willingness to help, and an objective voice," he says. "The
other day I was talking to a boy who, Boruch Hashem,
is now back on track and growing in yiras Shomayim
and limud and I asked him, `Actually, what did I
do for you?' He replied, `I had already heard everything you
had to say from my rosh yeshiva and mashgiach. But when I
heard it from an outsider, it hit home.'"
Once a Lev Shomea caseworker develops an ongoing kesher
with a caller, they often meet in person. They then work
together to find a solution to the boy' s problem, whether it
involves resolving his doubts, helping him to enroll in a new
yeshiva or placing him in a foster home. Often, Lev Shomea's
staff members play an active part in their callers' lives.
"The staff members demonstrate tremendous mesiras nefesh,"
says Rabbi Boruch Shapira, a member of Lev L'Achim's
hanholo. "Sometimes, they'll go out and meet with a
bochur at two in the morning at some street corner, only to
get up at the regular time the next morning and head to
kollel."
Rabbi Sorotzkin, Lev L'Achim's director, recalls how one
yungerman who serves as a Big Brother recently called
him to ask for a loan. He wanted to use his ma'aser
money to buy a couple of white shirts for the boy under
his care so that he would fit in better in his yeshiva. He
had only colored shirts and felt very out of place. The
yungerman explained that as soon as he got his
kollel stipend, he would pay Rabbi Sorotzkin back.
This, says Rabbi Sorotzkin, is another very real reason why
Lev Shomea is succeeding.
The hotline numbers are: Yerushalayim: Boys: 056-
445833; (02)537-6277, M-Th 9-11 pm; Girls: (02)651-2222 M-Th
9-11 pm, S 9-11 am. Bnei Brak: Boys: (03)574-2742 M,
W, Th; Girls: (03)616-1083 M,W 9-11 pm,
