Intel Gift Pushes Israeli Youth Club Closer to Goal

A youth club in the economically distressed southern Israeli town of Kiryat Gat received 10 new computers from Intel, a gift that has given more opportunities for 85 children from the surrounding area to relax with their peers at the local Chabad House.

The allotment to the Tzivos Hashem club run by Chabad-Lubavitch Rabbi Shlomo and Ahuva Butbul came at just the right time. According to the rabbi, the twice-weekly program – which formed alongside the city’s first Chabad House 25 years ago – gains in popularity each year, and the children need a variety of activities to keep them busy.

Almost half of the children come from secular schools.

“The integration has an unbelievable impact on the kids,” said the Butbuls’ son, Aharon Butbul, who now directs the program. “It ends just before afternoon services, so we also encourage the parents to stay and pray.”

As a testament to the program’s impact, the younger Butbul studies with a rabbi who attended the youth club as a kid.

Calling the computers a welcome addition, Butbul said that the club needs even more, and much more space.

“The room – it’s really a storage room – is very crowded,” he explained. “In fact, crowded is an overstatement.”

Because of lack of space, the club can only meet twice a week.

“We would be happy if we had the funds to build an extension to the Chabad House just for the club,” stated Butbul, who estimated the renovation would cost $10,000. “My dream is to have a space that we can open every day for the children.”