Keep Riding With Hallel
The youth village was established by the Timora Association, the regional council, and the
Administration for Settler Education about eight years ago, as a solution for teenage boys from
religious families who, due to various emotional challenges, have dropped out of educational
frameworks and are often disconnected from other social circles.
The horse ranch is one of the areas of activity at the village. Out of all of the different spaces, the
ranch is the main outlet for growth and development. Each year, dozens of teenage boys
participating in this activity undergo a process that demands of them hard work and significant
responsibility. The connection with the horse, the opportunity for self-reflection that working with
the horse provides them, the perseverance, the need to constantly improve – all of these create an
educational-therapeutic process that includes reflection, precision, persistence, diligence,
responsibility, and more. The teenage boys embark on a challenging annual horseback riding
instructor course, building up their professional abilities and their sense of capability, and they
return to the village with a mindset of giving. This enables them to teach horseback riding to other
boys and to the children of the northern Jordan Valley.
We see, in a tangible and clear way, how the inner work that the teenagers do on the ranch changes
their lives, helping them break through and overcome many personal and practical challenges that
are not directly part of the work at the horse ranch.
*Halel Saadon, HY”D, studied at the village in its third year of operation. He stood out for his love of
life, sincerity, honesty, straightforwardness, and his great love for horses and hands-on creativity.
Halel was one of the pioneers of the horse ranch, devoting all of his energy to working with the
horses and building the site.
It was amazing to see how much the work on the ranch actually built Halel as a person, allowing him
to bring out his talents and cultivating tremendous diligence, determination, and perseverance.
After Halel’s passing, we felt it was only natural that the ranch be named after him, and that all of
these profound processes that teenage boys undergo at the ranch would be in his memory and
powered by his spirit.
Despite the fact that the ranch is critically important to the lives of these teenagers, for several
months each year, the ranch is inactive. In winter, when there are floods, and in the summer months
when temperatures are very high, it is not possible to work with the horses. This is why we have
decided to launch a fundraising campaign. We would like to adapt the ranch to the weather
conditions, so that the boys can grow here all year round and so that the therapeutic continuity will
not be disrupted. To do this, it is necessary to build stables and cover the riding arena, ensuring
there is shading and thorough handling of precipitation.
This upgrade will allow the boys to maximize the life-changing process they undergo by working at
the ranch.