OUR STORY
THE BEGINNING
The Jewish Family Centre was founded by Rabbi Yaakov Lieder in 2003 in Sydney, Australia. Rabbi Lieder founded the Melbourne branch of the Jewish Family Centre In 2013. During that time, Rabbi Menachem Dadon was the director of the Sydney branch of the Jewish Family Centre. Now that Rabbi Lieder has moved back to Sydney, he is the director of the Sydney branch and he travels to Melbourne regularly to keep up activities in Melbourne.
How the Jewish Family Centre started
Rabbi Lieder has been involved in education since 1976, first as a teacher and later as a Principal. He took a special interest in children who were not functioning to their full potential, or were getting into trouble.
He discovered that quite often the child’s problems led back to a dysfunctional family situation.
In such cases, it was clear that the child’s issues would not be resolved until assistance was provided to the family as a whole.
Rabbi Lieder identified ways
in which families could be helped:
Restore and foster a feeling of dignity
Help with all family matters
Helping to implement them
Using a networking system to help find work
For clothing and school supplies
Fun when most needed
So no family has to suffer
So that children can enjoy a genuine festivity
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The Jewish Family Centre’s aim is to treat a problem at its roots. Our goal is to support children and their families before their situation becomes chronic or catastrophic. We endeavour to set families on their feet so that they and their children can thrive with dignity.
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To raise someone before he falls is a commandment to help a person in need before he (or she) falls. This is because once a person has collapsed, it is much harder to pick him up.