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Category: Zefat Personalities

  • The Ben Baruchs

    There are probably few people who can point to an exact moment when their life’s direction was decided. These things tend to develop over time, as one’s path becomes clearer through circumstances and events.

    For the Ben Baruchs of Tzfat that path has taken more twists and turns than most. Yet their goals are clear – to create a l

    The Ben Baruchs-A Special Family

    oving home for as many special needs children as possible in their small Tzfat apartment.

    Starting Out

    Chaya and Yisrael Ben Baruch were married in Fairbanks, Alaska, and the births of three boys quickly followed their marriage. Their third son was born with Downs Syndrome, and soon after his birth, the Ben Baruchs decided that it would be to his benefit to grow with another child who was similar. So while Avichai was still small, they adopted a little girl with Downs Syndrome.

    Avichai and Keren grew through toddler hood together, and at the same time, the Ben Baruchs were thinking of other c

    hanges that they wanted to make in their lives – they wanted to make aliyah (immigrate to Israel). So with their four children in tow, they arrived in Tzfat. Most Tzfat residents who were in the city 12 years ago remember quite well the sight of the Ben Baruchs, each with a Downs child in a backpack, walking down the street with their two older sons on either side of them.

    A Growing Family

    As Avichai and Keren were entering school, and life should have started easing for Chaya and Yisrael, they heard a rumor about an infant with Downs who had been abandoned in the Tzfat hospital after birth. Within a few weeks, the new little girl, Shalhevet

    , was settled in the Ben Baruch’s home, and the local Social Work Department began harassing the Ben Baruchs, insisting that they could not possibly give proper care to three Downs children. As Shalhevet grew and thrived, the social workers went into hibernation, but several years later, the Welfare Department declared all-out war on the Ben Baruchs when they accepted an infant boy, named Ori, with Downs whose family was unable to care for him.

    At the same time that the Ben Baruchs were battling the Social Work Department, they were fighting for Ori’s life – as with most Downs children, he was born with many health problems, and more developed almost daily. While Yisrael and Chaya juggled their young family at home with almost weekly hospital stay-overs, they fought for Ori to stay with them, hiring a lawyer and taking the Social Services of Tzfat to court.

    Frequent email alerts were sent out to the Tzfat community, asking them to pray, not only for Ori’s health, but also for a victory over the social workers who preferred to institutionalize him rather than leave him in the Ben Baruch’s loving home. Shortly af

    ter Ori’s open-heart surgery, when he shared his hospital room with a little girl with Downs who had been abandoned, the court granted the Ben Baruch’s foster care of Ori…..and the Ben Baruch’s lawyer adopted the girl from the hospital.

    Last year, an Israeli family asked the Ben Baruchs to take in their Downs baby, and Chaya and Yisrael agreed – little Nechama lived with the Ben Baruchs for seven months before she died from an infection, but not before she touched the hearts of so many people around Safed, as all the children have.

    Presently, Chaya and Yisrael would like to develop a home where more special needs children could be cared for in a loving, home-like atmosphere. In the meantime, they admit that they don’t know what, or who, the future might drop on their doorstep. But they’re ready.

  • Lev U’Neshama

    Tzedekka  – Righteousness

    Lev U'Neshama

     

    If ever an organization deserved its title, Lev U’Neshama, “Heart and Soul”, this is it.

    When Yaffa and Moshe Smolensky made aliyah, they began to think about how they could help the community in Tzfat. The answer came rather quickly, when a friend told them about a situation that she’d witnessed in a local grocery – an elderly woman had come in to buy baby formula. When she was congratulated over the assumed birth of a grandchild, she admitted that she was buying the Materna for herself….she could not afford food, so was buying the formula for nutrition.

    Lev Neshama Today

    Thus was born Lev U’Neshama’s Food Program. Beginning with 11 families in 2001, the fund today delivers food packages to 1200 people (595 of them children) — food baskets of nutritional foodstuffs, specifically fruits and vegetables which are usually the first food purchases to be discarded when budgets are stressed.

    Other funds soon were initiated to address the needs in the community. A Shoe Program allows children who don’t ha

    ve shoes for school to receive free pairs of shoes – not only do they receive the shoes, but they go to the stores and pick them out at the shops of two local participating shoe merchants. They enjoy the feeling of “buying shoes like everyone else”. The Eyeglass Program helps purchase glasses for many people who otherwise have no opportunity to buy them. A Soldier’s Program insures that all soldiers who come to the local hospital for treatment receive toiletries and snack foods to sustain them until their families can come to fill in, if possible. A Discretionary Program allows Lev U’Neshama to fill in when emergencies occur – electric bills that can’t be paid, repairs on vital household appliances, taxi fares for trips to the hospital, textbooks for schoolchildren who cannot afford them, etc.

    Of late, much work has been done with the Ethiopian community in Tzfat, providing new Ethiopian immigrants with s

    ome basics to help them start their lives in Israel. The immigrants often fall between the bureaucratic cracks, and as a result, every winter, the children are left without the basics for the cold weather. Lev U’Neshama helps as many children as possible to get a new jacket, purchased locally at a discount, a hat, mittens, socks, and shoes. Before they stepped in, the children were coming to school in summer clothes and rubber sandals.

    Insuring the Future

    All of Lev U’Neshama’s budget comes through donations, but even in raising money, they have taken the initiative. They run a second-hand clothing store stocked with clothes donated by well-wishers from all over the world. Clothing items are sold for minimal donations and all the proceeds go to the Food Program. The “G’mach” though, like everything else with Lev Neshama, provides chessed, kindness, in other ways as well. Frequently, clothes are distributed free to those in need. Teachers from local schools have been known to stop by to take clothes for their students who they see coming to school improperly dressed. No one is ever turned away. Tourists and tour groups who know Lev U’Neshama come to Israel lugging an extra suitcase full of clothes for the G’mach. A representative of Lev U’Neshama meets their tour bus and whisks the clothes to the G’mach.

    “It is better to light a single candle than to sit and curse the dark” goes the saying. For many residents of Tzfat, Lev U’Neshama’s coordinators, Moshe and Yaffa Smolensky, Faga Weiss, Rena Cohen and Rabbi Yisrael Rothenberg, the Director, whose work is 100% volunteerism, have brought the light to the city, to their lives, and to the lives of their families.

  • Safed Personalities

    Get to know Safed like an insider and become acquainted with the people of Safed through our articles on Safed Personalities. Safed has many interesting and eccentric characters and you can begin getting to know the personalities that make up this mystica

    l city before you even begin your journey to Safed. By familiarizing yourself with locals before

    People Of Safed arriving in Safed, you can increase your sense of

    returning home and lessen your feelings as a foreigner or as a traveler while exploring this inspiring city.

    Kabbalah Inspiration

    As Safed is most famously known as the city of Kabbalah it would seem only right that we begin our introduction to Safed personalities by introducing someone whose life is directly influenced by this mystical book. Find out a little about Amanda Cohen, a local writer and teacher of Kabbalah and find out more about how the Kabbalah influences the local residents. Also meet Yehudit Goldfarb, well known throughout the city for expression through Jewish letters and a local Kabbalist.  Find out more about his point of view.

    Also check out our articles on the various religious communities in Safed like the Chabad community and the Breslev community, discover Hassidic Messianic thought, and learn more about the political ideology of Tzfat.

    From The Normal To The Eccentric

    For everything you ever wanted to know about Safed try getting in touch with the local historian David who is known throughout the tourist circles a David the Tour guide. Also get to known a native Tennessee residence, Batya Avraham, who now calls Safed her home. Find out more about how she made this incredible transition. And of course, no visit to Safed would be complete without an introduction to Banjo Billy, the cat lady, or to Nissim and his Dobermans, a local landmark.  Also check out our articles on charity in Tzfat, the Ben Baruchs, candle sculptures, legends of Tzfat, residents’ stories, the beggars of Safed, the Sterns, new immigrants, Reb Moshe, a British expatriate, Mimi Semuha, and the Tzfat Guide book.