Prof. Jona Rosenfeld is one of Israel's pioneering social workers. This, his autobiography, is a vivid testimony to his long life dedicated to social work, sociology, psychotherapy and social action. Born in Germany, in 1933 he immigrated with his family to Palestine. In the nascent state of Israel, Rosenfeld very quickly made his mark on the field of social work that was still in its infancy. Then, through his drive, determination and creativity saw it develop and mature. Significantly, he clarified the task of social work: serving the excluded in our midst, and showed how they can be enabled by social workers to improve their lives. After aligning himself with ATD The Fourth World Movement, he worked internationally with families living in extreme poverty and exclusion. The book ends with a call to address two man-made evils, genocide and poverty, as a world-wide challenge for the future.

Table of Contents:
Preface Introduction Part I: My Origins I.1. The Beginning of Life: Six Weeks in a Hospital I.2. A Father to Follow I.3. The Ways of my Mother Part II: Formative Years 1933-1955: From an Immigrant in Palestine to a Citizen of Israel II.1. My Beginnings in Palestine II.2. Moving on: Training for Social Work in Post-War London II.3. My First Assignment: When the Army is a Place for more than just Waging War II.4. Well-Baby Centers in Jerusalem: Being there at the Beginnings Part III: Six Years in Chicago: “Unleashing Hidden Potential” for Learning the Craft of Social Work Introduction: Learning the Craft of Social Work from the Past and for the Future III.1. On Becoming the Social Worker I became at the School of Social Service Administration in Chicago III.2. To Be a Social Worker One Needs to Overcome the “Strangeness between Helper and Client” III.3. To Serve the Excluded in our Midst Requires the “Invention of Interventions” III.4. When an Outsider who Belongs Initiates Moves Beyond Exclusion III.5. Serving the Individual and the Collective: An Unresolvable Dilemma that Leads to Learning III.6. On Psychoanalysis and Social Work as the Key for Introducing Personal and Professional Reciprocity in the Present and thus for the Future Part IV: On Trails towards “Learning from Success”: Seven Examples Introduction: Seven Pursuits which in Retrospect was an Unexpected Precursor of “Learning from Success” IV.1. Training of Air Force Pilots in Israel (1954-55): How to Put an End to Excessive Flunking of Cadets IV.2. Serving Families of Sailors in the Israeli Merchant Marine, 1964 IV.3. The Unpredicted Mobility of Boys from a Low-Income Community: Which Patterns of Parenting Made their Resilience Possible? IV.4. When a Crisis is an Opportunity: What Enabled New York Families whose Homes Burned down to Achieve a Better Life IV.5. On Forced Evacuations: From Sinai (1982) and then the Gaza Strip (2005) IV.6. “To Be a 'Good Enough' Parent”: How Nurses in Well-Baby Centers in Israel Implement a Learning Program Addressing Early Childhood Neglect if not Abuse IV.7. “Out from Under”: A First Study on “Learning from Success of Organizations Serving Socially Deprived Families in Israel” Part V: Moving beyond Exclusion Means Initiating and Introducing Reciprocity V.1. On the Move from Exclusion to Reciprocity and how to Facilitate it V.2. On the Learning of Practices that Facilitate the Move from Exclusion to Reciprocity PART VI: The Evolving of Reciprocity: The Long Journey of Chaim who Survived the Holocaust at the Age of Three Part VII: My Acquaintance with ATD the Fourth World Movement: Where the Introduction of Reciprocity is a Means for Moving beyond Exclusion Introduction: On Initiating Reciprocity and Ongoing Learning VII.1. It's People Living in Poverty, Not Poverty VII.2. How I Got to Know the ATD Fourth World Movement: “The Man who was Shushed” VII.3. “Emergence from Extreme Poverty”: So You Want to Know about the Successes of the Families VII.4. “Artisans of Democracy”: What Might “Learning Companions” do to Enable Organizations to Contribute to Moves beyond Exclusion VII.5. From Learning that “Only the Best is 'Good Enough'“ to Introducing the 17th of October—The World Day for the Eradication of Poverty—into the Knesset (Parliament) of Israel VII.6. Learning for Action in an International Seminar Sponsored by the ATD Fourth World Movement VII.7. Reflective Ongoing Learning from Success: A Chance for a Movement and Others with a Mission of Change PART VIII: Epilogue: “Genocide” and “Poverty”: Two Collective Man-Made Evils of our Epochs: A Challenge for the Future Acknowledgements Appendices I. ATD (“All Together in Dignity”)—The Fourth World Movement II. The Unit for Learning from Success and Ongoing Learning in Human Services, Myers-JDC-Brookdale Institute III. The Three Methods of Learning from Success IV. The Components of the First and the Second Methods of Learning from Past Success References