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It’s Time You Became A ‘Jewish Tooth Fairy’

June 28, 2012 by

Allow us to introduce you to the ‘Jewish Tooth Fairy Fund,’ ATZUM’s newest initiative.  The project is focused on providing a full range of dental services to Israeli survivors of terror attacks and their families who cannot afford the treatments and have no access to dental insurance.  Survivors of terror attacks often require dental intervention as a result of their injuries.  Additionally, many terror survivors who have reached advanced age require dentures they cannot afford, while those of any age often have teeth negatively affected by their long stays in hospitals and rehabilitation facilities and suffer pain and poor self-image as a result.

In each of these cases, ATZUM serves as an address to which these individuals can turn for financial and practical assistance in obtaining the dental care they so urgently require. However, we need your help to make the Jewish Tooth Fairy Fund a reality.

We are seeking a community that is willing to be a Jewish Tooth Fairy for ‘Nachum’. He is a 47 year-old husband and father of three who was seriously injured in a 2003 bus bombing in Jerusalem while on his way to work. Prior to the bombing, ‘Nachum’ owned and operated a vegetable shop, and was able to provide for his family. However, ‘Nachum’ is now unable to work as a result of his severe post-traumatic stress, and his family is struggling financially. His recovery is a long and difficult process, and he still has a long way to go.

ATZUM will partner with Israeli dentists willing to donate their time to provide ‘Nachum’ with the care he requires. One dentist met with ‘Nachum’, and they are eager to begin a treatment that will ease his pain. The dental work is extensive and the necessary materials are costly. In order to treat ‘Nachum” appropriately, $4,000 must be raised in short period of time.

We appeal to you, your friends and your community to help us bring relief to ‘Nachum’ and his family.  It’s time you became a Jewish Tooth Fairy.

Sincerely,

Levi Lauer
Founding Executive Director, ATZUM

Gila Berdichev
Coordinator, Survivors of Terror Project

Rebecca Hughes
Assistant Coordinator, Survivors of Terror Project

Filed Under: Blog

SAVE THE DATE: ‘Women To Go’ Chicago

June 26, 2012 by

In October 2010, TFHT staged the first ‘Women To Go’ live installation in Tel-Aviv to raise public awareness about sex trafficking and garner support for legislation to criminalize the purchase of sexual services.  Israel’s Women To Go campaign drew much local and international attention and was highlighted by Israeli news coverage and a feature on CNN. 

Chicago’s installation will take place Sunday, July 1, at Williams Next Door, 706 Church St. in Evanston, Illinois.  The specific call to action will be a petition to pressure Village Voice Media, owners of Backpage.com to discontinue their “adult” services section, the largest venue in the U.S. for trafficking of women and girls.  You can sign the petition here.

The Women-to-Go Campaign features women posing “for sale” in a display window, complete with price tags and detailed specifications such as age, weight, and measurements. Volunteers explain the display to onlookers and circulate petitions.

The problem of sex trafficking is not isolated in a few faraway countries.  It is a global issue affecting us all. Join us on July 1 in raising public awareness of this flagrant violation of the most basic of human rights.  Together we can put an end to this brutal form of modern slavery.

Filed Under: Events and Announcements

The Leo Baeck Education Center Righteous Among the Nations Project

June 14, 2012 by

The Jewish Press

June 11, 2012

By Yocheved Golani

Yael Rosen, Director of ATZUM‘s Righteous Among the Nations Project speaks with pride of the astonishing accomplishments made in a joint project with the Leo Baeck Education Center in Haifa.

Students there launched a research project about specific remarkable, heroic acts during World War II, focusing on the heroism of the Van Hall and Boissevain families from Amsterdam. “The beauty of fostering the inter-generational, cross-cultural relationships that resulted from this effort is indescribably valuable,” Yael says. She has much more insight to share.

“The research project began in 2009, culminating in a heartfelt, sometimes tearful opening ceremony for the exhibition held May 21 at the Leo Baeck Education Center in Haifa. ATZUM is involved with improving Israeli society in various ways. One branch of our work is an attachment to the Righteous Among the Nations, gentiles who risked their own lives by saving Jews during the Shoah. The public sometimes hears of this group of people through Yad VaShem. Several RAN members reside in Israel. We at ATZUM believe that these now elderly survivors, aged 77-95, deserve whatever financial, legal and bureaucratic help they need. Since the Leo Baeck school has impressive social action programs of its own, we joined forces.” [Read more…]

Filed Under: In the Press

Righteous Gentiles saved an entire world

June 5, 2012 by

Canadian Jewish Tribune

June 5, 2012

By Atara Beck

HAIFA – At a moving ceremony honouring Righteous Gentiles, their merit was epitomized by child survivor Rivka Nordheim, who said:

“It is written in the Talmud: ‘He who saves a life, it is as if he saved an entire world.’ You could take out the words ‘as if.’ I have 14 children and 110 grandchildren, attended 19 grandchildren’s weddings and have 38 great-grandchildren. I was saved by the Baracs family at their great risk. They saved an entire world.”

The packed event took place on May 21 at Leo Baeck High School in Haifa, and it was the culmination of three years of extensive student research into the rescue activities of the Boissevain and Van Hall families, and by extension the Baracs (the families are all related), who were recognized as Righteous Among the Nations (RATN) by Yad Vashem Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Authority in Jerusalem.

It was the launch of an impressive 10-day exhibition, titled The Light in the Darkness, which included documents, testimonies and other discoveries at Yad Vashem and Lohamei HaGeta’ot (Fighters of the Ghettos), among other museums, as well as related art and literature. [Read more…]

Filed Under: In the Press