Abraham Hostels live up to their name

The founders of the social business chain of Abraham Hostels and Tours like to say that the Biblical Abraham was “the first backpacker”: he schlepped his own belongings and lived in tents. Named after him, Abraham Hostels and Tours was founded in 2010 as a beacon of cultural integration and hope in Israel. The organization- which runs hostels in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Nazareth, and Eilat- also offers tours with professional educators who stress tolerance and co-existence.

Abraham Hostels also emphasize direct, fair, inclusive, and empowering employment. They impact the livelihood and opportunities of employees from underserved demographics, who get to train professionally, earn a wage, and become independent. The organization also supports smaller enterprises, making sure that economic benefits are fairly distributed in its surrounding communities.

 

In this way, Abraham strives to influence society, and particular communities, by building bridges and increasing tolerance through multi-cultural content consistent throughout all its efforts.

In over a dozen years of operation, Abraham has become a cultural focus point for tourists and locals during peaceful times, while providing refuge during times of crisis. Abraham Hostels go beyond conventional hospitality, acting as a hub for community organizations.

Then came October 7. Abraham Hostels’ co-founder Maoz Inon’s parents were brutally murdered in their home at Netiv Ha’asara. Even amid this great pain, Abraham opened the doors of their hostels to evacuees on the first day of the war, free of charge. Abraham provides for the evacuees at no cost, offering lodging, free food, professional, emotional, and mental health support, activities for children, and festive communal meals. The hostels now serve as a hub for various nonprofits supporting evacuees.

Like its namesake’s tents, Abraham’s hostels are open to all, regardless of whether a family meets the government criteria for evacuee funding, which hinges on the distance of their home from Gaza. Thus, evacuees at Abraham Hostels-many of them from lower socio-economic classes-include residents of cities on the “second layer,” as opposed to the kibbutzim directly on the Gaza border.

There are 900 evacuees in Abraham Hostels in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, and Eilat (the Nazareth hostel is too close to the increasingly dangerous Lebanese border). With only half of the evacuees eligible for government funding and limited funding for the rest, the Abraham Hostels’ owners initially covered the expenses.

 

A fundraising campaign to help with costs raised $500,000, but the needs were far greater, so JUF stepped up. After visiting the Abraham Hostel, meeting its owners, and reviewing the organization’s finances, JUF’s Israel Emergency Fund allocated $1 million to pay for lodging for 450 evacuees for a month. Our Chicago community showed its solidarity with the evacuees, while supporting a business that stepped up to help them as soon as the war began.

 

Thanks to your help, Abraham was able to come through for many in need, including the girlfriend of a soldier wounded in Gaza. Soon after he was hospitalized in Tel Aviv, the government stopped funding her stay at a nearby hotel. Unable to pay her own way, she turned to Abraham. Because of your support, she was given a room. Now, she can visit him every day.

Abraham Hostels, a very special example of a social business that supports communities and underprivileged populations, has been doing good for more than a dozen years. Now, it can do even more good-with help from JUF.

Kol Yisrael arevim zeh ba’zeh – all of Israel are responsible for one another. Especially now.

Ofer Bavly is a JUF Vice President and the Director General of the JUF Israel Office.