The city of Rehovot, Israel, near Tel Aviv, is home to a large community of recent immigrants, mostly from Ethiopia. These African Jews, who had been in imminent mortal danger from civil war, starvation, disease and antisemitism, were airlifted to safety in Israel, largely in two covert military operations in 1984 and 1991. Well over 20,000 people were rescued and given new lives.

Despite Israeli government assistance programs, and substantial charitable campaigns among Jewish communities worldwide, this immigrant community has experienced many difficulties in the course of its transition from an agrarian, poverty-stricken environment to a highly technological, westernized society. Elementary schools in Rehovot have been struggling to address the special needs of children suffering from the effects of broken homes, weakened extended family structures, poverty, language barriers, and cultural transplantation.

These photographs of elementary school children in Rehovot were made during two visits in 2001 and 2007, as part of a fundraising effort based in Amherst, Massachusetts, to provide assistance.