As Rabbi Karlibach wisely noted: “Every child needs one person who believes in him.” Ideally, each child would have two parents and an extended family who believe in him or her. That’s the premise that the staff at Emunah Bet Elazraki Children’s Home hold to in everything they do. And it’s something Ira Riklis wholeheartedly believes in as well. He might also extend that statement into something like, “Every organization working for the good of others needs people who believe in them.”
That’s one reason Ira Riklis makes it a point to support organizations like Bet Elazraki. He was impressed with them on his very first visit years ago when he attended the Bar Mitzvah of the son of a friend. It was immediately apparent that the home was just that—a true, loving and caring home for the disadvantage children placed in their care. Every child who arrives there becomes “their” child and will always remain part of the Elazraki family. Even when they grow up to be giving, independent adults with families of their own, they retain their life-long links with their home.