Shmuel is a regular teenager living in Jerusalem with his parents, sisters and goldfish. His family decided to move to a new community where he was having a hard time finding friends. Eventually, he found a group of friends whom he finally felt able to connect with. The problem was that this group of friends was a troubled group of boys well known to the local police. Shmuel was a kind, gentle, and loving young man but he felt the need to prove himself to his new group of friends by joining in with their activities. He ended up in court where the judge decided to make an example of him and sentenced him to jail. Shmuel was soon released to house arrest. Unable to go out, he stayed at home in despair. He knew that he had ruined his life and didn’t know where to turn.
Shmuel’s father called Kav L’noar, asking for help. Kav L’noar received special permission from the court for Shmuel’s mentor, Eran, to meet with Shmuel outside of his home twice a week. Guided by his clinical supervisor, Eran encouraged Shmuel to explore his sense of anger, shame and guilt over what had happened as well as his need take responsibility over his own life. With his sentence over, Shmuel’s parents tried to get Shmuel into a new school which had come highly recommended. Shmuel was rejected due to his sordid past. Upon hearing about the rejection of his mentee, Eran traveled over 3 hours to meet with the principal of the school to convince him that the boy who he had been mentoring was worthy of a second chance.
With Shmuel away at school, Eran has been calling him every week to make sure that he stays on track. He comes to visit him on some weekends and they spend time together during the summer. They remain close friends to this day.
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