From Mea Shearim Homelessness to Electrical Engineer: A Young Man's Journey
Moshe Avraham survived years of homelessness after being expelled from his ultra-Orthodox family at 13. Through the Otot association for at-risk youth, he rebuilt his life, graduated as an electrician, and found a secure future.
Growing up in the ultra-Orthodox Neturei Karta community in Mea Shearim, Moshe Avraham was taught from a young age to fear and distrust the outside world, the state, and its institutions. Born to divorced parents, he felt alienated from his environment, participating in protests where stones were thrown at police officers. At age 13, after his family relocated to Romema and discovered he secretly owned a mobile phone, his life took a harrowing turn. His family locked him out of the house for good, leaving him homeless.
Surviving the Streets and Finding Shelter
For years, Moshe lived a nomadic existence, sleeping in bomb shelters, public restrooms at the Central Bus Station, forests, and occasionally with friends. During the Sukkot holiday at age 14, while everyone else celebrated with their families, he and his sister slept rough in Gan Sacher park. To this day, the holiday remains a painful trauma, a vivid reminder of his rootless childhood.
"Since then, Sukkot has been a trauma for me, because it is essentially my whole life story—that I had no home, nowhere to be," Moshe recalls. "Everyone goes out dressed in white, dressed nicely, and you are the only strange one. You cannot understand that feeling."
Eventually, welfare authorities intervened, assigning him a social worker who connected him with Otot, an association operating nationwide frameworks for at-risk youth. Initially terrified of the secular and Zionist staff due to his upbringing, Moshe was stunned by the warmth and care he received.
Rehabilitation and a New Beginning
Despite relapsing into periods of homelessness over three years, Moshe eventually settled into one of the association's long-term hostels. There, he completed his high school education and later earned a degree in electrical engineering. Today, at 22, he works as a qualified electrician, supports himself financially, and is in a committed relationship.
Yoav Hartal, head of development and partnerships at Otot who accompanied Moshe throughout his journey, praised his incredible transformation. Hartal noted that providing a safe physical roof is merely the first step in a complex, long-term process of rebuilding trust, closing educational gaps, and preparing youth for independent lives.
As the holiday season approaches, Moshe still feels a lingering shadow of past trauma, but he now has the tools to cope. Having met his partner Ben Chen a year and a half ago, he plans to celebrate the upcoming Sukkot with her and her family. Reflecting on his dreams, Moshe returns to the memory of Gan Sacher park, determined to break the cycle. "I want a family, and for my child to always be with me in the sukkah," he says. "I will never let him leave the sukkah. Neither the home nor the sukkah—never in my life."
