‘Under Your Wing’: New Project Honors Israeli Foster Mothers  

Pioneering exhibition and book delve into the complexities of foster care and adoption in Israel; some 70% of foster kids end up getting adopted, Orr Shalom organization says  

By Maya Margit/The Media Line  

“We had 24 hours to make a decision about fostering a baby girl,” says Galia Ben-Haim.  

With three biological children of her own at the time – 13-year-old twins and a six-year-old – Ben-Haim one day received a fateful call about a one-week-old baby girl who was in urgent need of a place to stay. The call came from Orr Shalom, an Israeli organization established in 1980 that has helped thousands of foster kids find homes.  

“We were told that we had up until tomorrow evening to decide whether or not we would foster her,” Ben-Haim recounted to The Media Line. “In those 24 hours we found many reasons why we shouldn’t do it. There was only one reason we could find about why we should do it, and that was connected to finding meaning and giving back.”  

Now 12, Hila was formally adopted into the Ben-Haim family several years ago, after spending several years as a foster child.  

Along the way, Ben-Haim said that she received help from friends and family, as well as from professionals via Orr Shalom. Adopting a child was a long-time dream of hers, she says. “I always knew that when I had my own children that I’d also take it upon myself to raise a child in need of a family,” she explained. “My husband joined my dream and together we decided that the right moment had come.”  

Ben-Haim’s touching story is one of eight that are being unveiled to the public for the first time as part of a unique project called “Under Your Wing,” named after a poem by the famous 20th century Jewish poet Hayim Nahman Bialik.