JDC Youth Project in Israel Proves that Walls Can Speak

The Hamsa, a hand-like talisman symbolizing peace and protection, is often utilized as a sign that unites Jews and Muslims, as well as Israelis of all walks of life—secular and religious, Ashkenazi and Sephardic, rich and poor.

In the city of Hadera, it’s the amulet chosen by a group of young leaders involved in a course in social entrepreneurship. They are having human-scale images of Hamsas painted on the walls surrounding the town’s soccer field, with the aim of beautifying Hadera while offering a stage to the local artists who are designing them. They are letting the walls speak.

This latest activity is part of the Young Adults Centers project, an innovation of JDC's Immigrant Integration Division. These Centers are established in cities with large immigrant populations, where young adults often have trouble finding direction and transitioning from educational frameworks into army service, and then into training and professions. In most cases, their parents cannot mentor them through the process because they themselves did not experience that phase of life in Israel.

The Centers, with more than 10 localities in Israel, collaborate with a range of partners including: local municipalities; the Defense Ministry’s Unit for Released Soldiers; the Ministry of Housing and Construction’s Unit for Neighborhood Rehabilitation; the Ministry of Education; the Ministry of Immigrant Absorption; and the Council for Higher Education in Israel.

The Hamsa project was initiated by four individuals ranging in age from 20 to 22—an "incubator" leadership group at the Center for Young Adults. They are taking a course in social entrepreneurship that will provide each participant with the tools to eventually create and manage their own social initiative. For the Hadera team, that meant learning how to come up with ideas, fundraise, find volunteers and work with professionals, all with the purpose of giving back to their city in an effective way.

Six months after the incubator group program began, these young leaders proposed the Hamsa project to Hadera’s mayor and JDC representatives, having worked first with the municipal architect and a local artist to formulate the plan. The municipality gave them part of their funding and the group turned to local stores to donate the rest of the paint, brushes and other materials. After creating a brochure inviting local artists to submit their sketches, they publicized the project on the Internet, by phone, through word of mouth and in local newspapers.

By mid-July, there were five Hamsot on the soccer field walls, and more have since been added.

The best part, say the participants, are the reactions from Hadera residents who congratulate and are grateful to these youth for their contribution. "People are excited, stop their cars when they’re passing by, and say ‘Kol Hakavod’."

September 2007