The Boy Who Called a Children’s Home and Found Hope

The secretary at David Children’s Village, a warm and caring center for at-risk children in Jerusalem, answered the ringing phone. She was surprised to hear a small voice on the other end.

“Is this the children’s home?” the boy asked.

“Yes, this is David Children’s Village,” she replied kindly. “How can I help you?”

“I want to speak with the director,” said the child.

“The director is busy right now,” she answered gently. “Maybe I can help?”

“No,” insisted the boy. “I need to speak to the director himself.”

She transferred the call to Rabbi Yehoshua Weingartn, the director of the home, and explained the situation.

“Hello,” said Rabbi Weingartn warmly.

“Are you the director of the children’s home?” the boy asked.

“Yes,” replied Rabbi Weingartn. “How can I help you?”

“I’m a child too,” the boy said firmly. “And I want to come to your home!”

It was unusual. Children are usually sent to David Children’s Village by the Welfare Department, after professional evaluations and approval. A child requesting entry on his own? That was unheard of.

But the boy sounded sincere. He gave his name and address, which turned out to be in the south of Israel.

That same day, the staff at David Children’s Village reached out to the local welfare office. It turned out the caller was a boy named Gershon, the child of deaf-mute parents who struggled to care for him. He was living in severe neglect, physically, emotionally, and educationally. His parents, although loving, weren’t able to meet his basic needs like regular meals, a stable home routine, or a safe environment.

After going through the proper approval process, Gershon arrived at David Children’s Village just as he had requested.

When he first came, Gershon had trouble adjusting. He had frequent outbursts of anger, struggled with trust, resisted rules, and often acted out. But the devoted staff gave him what he had never truly had before: stability, care, love, and structure.

He was given nutritious meals, a consistent daily schedule, guidance with schoolwork, personal hygiene routines, and most of all, kindness and patience. Over time, the staff worked with him and his family using professional interpreters to help communicate with his parents so that they could be part of his healing and new life.

A Story Rooted in Generations of Kindness

Rabbi Yehoshua Weingartn grew up in Jerusalem and comes from a family deeply involved in caring for children. His father, Rabbi Yechiel Fishel Weingartn, ran the Weingartn Orphanage for Girls, and his great-grandfather, Rabbi David Weingartn, helped lead the development of the Jewish community in Jerusalem generations ago.

Seeing the dangers orphaned girls faced, Rabbi David established a general orphanage for girls, which he led for forty years. Thousands of girls passed through its doors, each with her own painful story, each finding comfort, support, and hope within its walls.

There’s a famous story from those days. A woman from Tzfat came to Rabbi David’s home with her three-year-old daughter. Rabbi David wasn’t there, so his wife told the woman to wait. The woman handed over the child and said she’d return shortly.

She never did.

That “shortly” turned into 14 years. The little girl stayed and grew up in the orphanage, her new home.

“I grew up in an orphanage myself,” says Rabbi Yehoshua. “Not because I was an orphan, thank God I had loving parents but because my father managed the orphanage. Back then, people assumed that only children who had lost a parent needed help. But today we know that even when parents are alive, sometimes they can’t give their children what they need. That’s why David Children’s Village was founded, to give children a safe, loving place to grow, even if their home isn’t able to provide it right now.”

David Children’s Village is located in the Ramat Shlomo neighborhood of Jerusalem. It’s built around the idea of community. Most children live at home with their families and come to the village after school each day. They stay until the evening and then return home, unless there’s a specific reason for them to sleep over.

“It’s important to us,” says Rabbi Weingartn, “to keep the child in their family as long as it’s safe and possible. Even a broken home is still home to a child. Our job is to help strengthen the child while maintaining that connection.”

From “At Risk” to “Full of Potential”

One night, as Rabbi Yehoshua was walking home, he heard a voice calling, “Rabbi Yehoshua! Rabbi Yehoshua!”

He looked over and saw a small hand waving at him from a nearby restaurant.

It was Gershon with a few friends from the children’s village. They were sitting around a table with their house parents and a big, festive cake.

“We have birthdays this month!” the children shouted with joy. “Every month we celebrate all the birthdays together.”

Their happy, glowing faces showed just how meaningful these moments were to them.

Rabbi Yehoshua smiled, wished them a happy birthday, and was about to continue on his way, when Gershon suddenly turned to him with a serious question:

“Rabbi Yehoshua,” he asked, “why are we called ‘children at risk’?”

The words hit hard. Rabbi Weingartn stood there, thoughtful and quiet.

Yes, that’s what the term says “children at risk.” But what does it mean to the children themselves? And is it really true?

He looked around at the hopeful faces waiting for an answer. His own staff, the house parents, were also watching him, wondering what he would say.

“I paused for a moment,” Rabbi Yehoshua later shared. “I knew I had to answer carefully. These children have been through so much. They need truth. But they also need reassurance.”

And then the answer came to him honest, kind, and full of light.

“You’re not children at risk,” he told them gently. “Children at risk are the ones who haven’t yet reached David Children’s Village.”

For a moment, the children were quiet.

Then their faces lit up with joy and pride. The adults around them breathed with relief. Something had shifted, a small but powerful healing had taken place.

“I felt like I had given them a great gift,” Rabbi Yehoshua said. “In a world full of confusion, I had helped them feel safe, valuable, and seen.”