Jewish Family Services is an old friend from the Old Country, in a wonderful new presentation here in Israel. Like any good story, let's begin at the beginning...

In 2002, a counseling office was opened in central Israel (first in Beit Shemesh, and then in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv) fulfilling the dream and plan of a new oleh, one of the early Nefesh b'Nefesh arrivals. The office grew in scope, and became an agency with non-profit status -- and a growing ability to reach out to English speakers in Israel.

With kind and generous funding from some Federation offices in America, and many private donors as well, Jewish Family Services Israel was born -- an agency just like the hundreds of JFS offices in North America. JFS Israel is built around English speaking clinicians, trained to American standards. And with the influx of English speaking families moving to Israel, the need for customary good therapy and mental health services was, and is, very great here.

Beyond that, our first many years in operation brought to us some national challenges in Israel that threw huge numbers of families into trauma and into our care.

First, the Gush Katif families were suddenly dis-located from their homes and communities. Shock swept the population, and JFS had clinical staff on-site and available for help over a several year period.

Almost before our nation could catch it's breath, in 2006 war broke out in the north, displacing huge numbers of families who needed both trauma support, and also basic emergency needs. Massive international JFS fund raising was successful, B"H, and our work was able to succeed.

War, however, is never over for Israel. The years of fighting in the Gaza war in 2008, and also dealing with terror attacks in and from Gaza and elsewhere, have touched our JFS "family" deeply -- and again we have provided services and support as needed.

Against this backdrop, we are thankful to have also delivered uninterrupted services in support of "normal" daily life JFS families. These are native English speakers in Israel who are visiting, or who are building a new life here. They call daily for therapy services for adults, teenagers, tots, and older members of the family. Our Fair Share Fee Schedule has made it possible for every family to find quality help at a fee they can afford.

As the years have passed, our growth in staff and services has continued -- and today we cover a full range of very state-of-the-art services under our agency roof. At our ten years of service mark, we now offer: