Givat Shmuel Summary

accepting-constructive-criticismAs a Givat Shmuel "lifer", and one of the more vocal (read: in-your-face) members of the community, I get tens of questions, comments, and critique in a given week, a good amount pertaining to life in Givat Shmuel, and the going-ons of the GSC.

So in an effort to clear the air and set the record straight, I've taken it upon myself to discuss some of the biggest critiques and misconceptions about community life, and the nonprofit that works tirelessly to help sustain it.

DISCLAIMER: This post has not been approved by the Nonprofit's leadership, and solely represents the views of the author.

While I plan to cover many more (and likely controversial) topics in the future, for this post, we're going to start

- and the community started to grow and diversify at an exponential rate. Suddenly we weren’t just BIU students anymore, but students from other universities, young families sending their kids to Gan, professionals trying to start a career with a degree from overseas, and even some lone soldiers who were just looking for a friendly place to spend their free shabbatot. The needs of the community became varied and complex, the community grew fragmented, and people began slipping through the cracks. The cohesiveness that made the community great was crumbling, and we were left with a single common denominator - we were all lone Olim.

Fast-forward a few years, and initiative after initiative to help rehabilitate the community was met with little success. Our experiences showed that "top-down organizing" was ineffective - community strength can only come from within the community, and when one group tries to meet the needs of everyone, they end up helping no one.

And so, after marathon conversations with many passionate community members, The GSC was formed. Instead of trying (and failing) to dictate the needs of everyone, we’d function as the logistical backbone of the community, and enable people, in grassroots fashion, to provide for their own