Beit Yedidut - Fellowship House
Beit Yedidut was built thanks to a generous donation from the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews under the leadership of Rabbi Yechiel G.Eckstein, Founder and President and thanks to Miriam Fierberg-Ikar, Mayor of Netanya and Honorary president of the Netanya Foundation.
It will serve as a bridge between the older generation, who was educated in the Jewish -Ethiopian tradition, and between the younger generation, who was born and raised in Israel. It will also bridge the gap between the unique 2,500-year-old Ethiopian culture and the native Israeli culture.
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Netanya has the largest community of Ethiopians in Israel – over 15,000 members, out of which 6,000 are children. The idea was to concentrate all the special services specific to the Ethiopian community in one place, in order to render them more easily and readily accessible. That is why Beit Yedidut is in the Dora neighborhood, which has a population of 30% of people from the Ethiopian community. In addition, Beit Yedidut will also provide services for the general non-Ethiopian population.
The two storey building is one of the very few in Israel devoted to the Ethiopian community. Beit Yedidut was planned together with Shlomi Waroner, CEO of the Netanya Foundation, Bat Sheva and Shlomo Ronen- the architects, the Kais Amha and Advocate Zeev Kaso -representatives of the Ethiopian community in Netanya and George Dubin, Director of Immigrant Absorption in the Netanya Municipality.
The architectural design of Bat Sheva and Shlomo Ronen, is modern and equipped with the latest technology, but also reflects the traditional Jewish
Ethiopian culture and tradition. It has an auditorium seating 150, a lobby suitable for art exhibitions and the second floor has classrooms and computer rooms which will be used to teach professional courses. The spacious courtyard can contain up to 400 people and will be used for mass gatherings.
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At the entrance to the building is a round bench, symbolizing the meeting place of the “Shamgalla”, the council of the elders, where the community’s problems and disputes were traditionally discussed and solved. Beit Yedidut is run by Elias Mahari, a member of the community, who currently runs the Netanya municipality’s Ethiopian immigrant desk.