Bayit Lepletot, which means a home for refugees, was founded in 1949, soon after the Second World War, when the European holocaust refugees came pouring in, legally or illegally, to the shores of our Homeland. There was then a desperate need for a warm and understanding home for stranded, broken, orphaned children - children whose parents were killed by Hitler, sometimes a single survivor of a family or a couple of an entire city. This institution started with 7 little girls in a small basement apartment, where the floors got flooded during the rainy season. These refugee girls were raised, cared for lovingly, cured, married off and started on raising new families.
Our "Home" has grown with the needs of the times and situations.
The refugee children have grown and are today happy mothers and
grandmothers. We now care for hundreds of children in three
dormitory buildings: Bayit Lepletot, in the heart of Jerusalem,
a smaller building behind it and Girls Town Jerusalem. The children
there come from 32 different countries all over the world: Iran,
Morocco, Yemen, Tunis, England, Belgium, South Africa, Russia,
Ethiopia, our local Israeli children, etc. etc. ... and from varied
tragic backgrounds: complete orphans, part orphans, children from
broken homes where a mother or father is physically incapacitated
or mentally or emotionally ill, children who have never known the
security of a close-knit family or the love of parents. These children
enter our Home from the tender age of 3 and up and stay until they
are married and/or are old enough to go out and start independent lives
of their own. when they become brides they are outfitted for life
outside the "Home". An average of 25-30 weddings are celebrated
here annually.Our Educational Center, which was established 20 years ago on the premises of Girls Town Jerusalem, enables the girls to choose from a variety of subjects - both Academic and Vocational - the vocation most suited to them. when leaving the Orphanage, the girls are secure in their confidence of being self-supporting.
We are not only recognized and licensed by the board of Health and Ministry of Welfare in the State of Israel as an orphanage and a Home for homeless children, but we have also received recognition in Great Britain, Switerland, South Africa, the U.S.A. and Canada.
to find out how to become a part of our FOSTER PROGRAM, to send donations, or just to find out how you can help out.