Hundreds of youth-at-risk in Israel,  originally from the former Soviet Union, have received a Jewish education at Yemin Orde Youth Village, a residential youth village serving 500 at-risk youth from 22 countries. 

The Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta has supported Shv'ut Am for over 10 years. Shv'ut Am was created to give each teenager a specialized, intense Jewish education and help with conversion, even accompanying the youngster to the Beit Din. Shv'ut Am, which literally means "return of the people," is an open-minded, pluralistic approach to Jewish education that addresses a severe problem of many of Israel's young immigrants: they arrive in Israel under the Law of Return, but once in Israel, they are labeled "not Jewish." This has a negative effect on their self-esteem and creates difficulties absorbing into Israeli society.

Tanya is such a case. She is a student at Yemin Orde, originally from the Ukraine. Her father's father was Jewish, but Tanya was raised without any religion. When she was 14, her father revealed to Tanya her Jewish roots. Tanya quickly began reading everything she could about Judaism, finding herself drawn to it. She decided she wanted to move to Israel to explore her roots further, and came to Yemin Orde. 

However, once she arrived in Israel, she received the upsetting news that she was not considered Jewish under Jewish law. Undeterred, she immediately enrolled in Shv'ut Am, and is now spending her time perfecting her Hebrew and learning the Torah. She will complete the program and formally convert to Judaism at the end of the school year.

Shv'ut Am brings youngsters who have  little or no previous knowledge of Judaism into a world of religion, spirituality and history. Dr. Chaim Peri, the director of Yemin Orde, explains that "we are bringing sparks back to the fire!" 

JFGA allocated $50,000 to Yemin Orde in FY04.