Belev Echad’s mission is simple:
“אוהב את הבריות ומקרבן לתורה”
(Love your fellow Jew and draw him closer to the Torah)
Where it began
In 1997, Rabbi Nosson Kohn, a soft-spoken British Jew living in Bet Shemesh, paid a visit to a nearby secular moshav. Encountering a young man, Rabbi Kohn asked him if he wanted to learn some Torah. The fellow looked at him strangely, but agreed.
The next day, Rabbi Kohn got a call. "I have 3 friends who also want to learn. Can you come back and teach us?"
Ground too fertile to ignore
Secular Israel encompasses different demographics. Many, like those filling high-tech offices and secular kibbutzim, have zero connection to Judaism.
The moshavim around Bet Shemesh are different. Founded by religious Sephardic immigrants in the mid-19th century, faith and tradition were originally prominent features.
Tragically, the immigrants’ abject poverty and inability to organize an educational system geared to their culture led them to send their children to secular public schools.
Communities at-risk
A generation or two later, commitment to Torah had all but faded into the gritty grind of low-income rural Israeli life.
But with their grandparents’ connection still simmering inside them, they proved — and continue to prove — enthusiastic candidates for drawing close.
The numbers today
Moshavim
Rabbanim, Rabbaniyot and Madrichim
Monthly shiurim
Recreational trips per year
The dream for tomorrow
Spreading Belev Echad to all 451 moshavim in Israel
Belev Echad's fuel: אהבת ישראל (love for your fellow jew)
We lost our land to undue hatred. Belev Echad stands on the front lines of restoring Jewish unity.
Relationships First
Before teaching a word, Belev Echad staff channel their love for their fellow Jews into genuine, everyday friendships. These relationships carry no conditions and no end-date, holding people through every stage of their lives and Jewish journeys.
Building Bridges of Unity
With their care and sweetness, Belev Echad staff transform moshav members’ perception of religious Jews – and religion. Through their example, moshav members discover that Torah is sweet, relevant, enriching. Love for G-d and Torah blossom alongside respect for fellow Jews, weakening stereotypes and spreading unity.
Endorsements from Rabbanim
“Rabbi Kohn works tirelessly and selflessly to be personally involved in all aspects of the many programs provided and has a cadre of very qualified teachers and mentors to aid him. Please offer him any assistance you can. Helping to support his efforts makes you an active partner in the great mitzvos Belev Echad generates.”
“Knowing the organization’s activities and its head the energetic achiever Rabbi Nosson Kohn who is always first and foremost in every holy endeavor, I can say that they are increasing the honor of heaven with their tremendous activities and are successful in enlightening the eyes of the masses in the path they are going and the manner in which they do it.”
“Their success in “Kiruv” has been nothing short of phenomenal and it is largely due to a loyal cadre of rebbeim and teachers who have demonstrated “mesirut nefesh” to reach out to these unaffiliated Jews. The financial burden has become astronomical and therefore it is urgent that all assistance that you can possibly offer to Rav Kohn be given as expeditiously as possible. Hundreds of families and their “Jewish identity” are dependent on this organization.”
“Belev Echad has single handedly revitalized many communities in our municipality bringing new hope to an area of Israel that has experienced socioeconomical hardships. Belev Echad has shown that they understand our constituency and have totally intergrated into the structure of the life we have here, providing a vital social and educational service tailor-made to the particular sector it serves.”