Avromi* and Chaya* were married all of two months when they landed in Ben Gurion Airport this past Rosh Chodesh Elul. Bleary-eyed with exhaustion, they made their way to their new apartment in an unfamiliar neighborhood. Chaya started dusting while Avromi ventured outside to find food and a cell phone plan. When he finally got back two hours later, he found Chaya in extreme pain. With the little knowledge they had, they suspected it was a women’s health crisis. Luckily, they had cell phones by then, and they’d had the foresight to come prepared with MDA’s number. An ambulance took them to the hospital. They staggered into the ER and took a seat. But they had no knowledge of the language and no clue how to get a nurse’s attention; it looked like you needed a secret code just to be noticed! It was 4 am in America, but Chaya called her mother anyway. Her mother was hysterical. But she had no idea what to do.
Suddenly, a friendly looking woman walked into the emergency room. She was clearly not part of the hospital staff but she seemed to be looking for someone. Her eyes scanned the crowd until they settled on the bewildered couple. She strode over and said, in English, “I’m from Chaim V’Chessed. We’re here to help English speakers in Eretz Yisrael. You look American. Can I help you?”
They nearly cried with relief.
Some newcomers only find out about Chaim V’Chessed the hard way. But Chaim V’Chessed’s hotline number - 072-CHESSED - is catchy for a reason: every English speaker should memorize it before they step foot in Israel for any length of time.
For over 20 years, Baltimore native Rabbi Paysach Freedman was involved in numerous tzedakah and chessed initiatives that serviced the English-speaking public in Eretz Yisrael. His work opened his eyes to a desperate need. Eretz Yisrael was full of chessed initiatives, but Anglos who were unexposed to Israeli society needed help that was easily accessible. They needed a one-stop, English-speaking organization that would be the first responder in any form of challenge or crisis, holding their hands and helping them navigate every aspect of real life in Eretz Yisrael.
In 2014, Chaim V’Chessed was conceptualized and planned by a team of rabbanim and askanim. Under the leadership of Rabbi Freedman, the team identified the areas that were potentially most challenging for English speakers in Eretz Yisrael: medical logistics, hospital navigation, women’s health, special education and children’s therapies, mental health referrals, bureaucracy, death and bereavement, and geriatrics. By the summer of 2015, Chaim V’Chessed was staffed with experts in every field and opened its doors to the public.
The response was incredible. The calls jumped from ten a day to twenty, then quickly doubled and tripled. Today the organization is averaging 100 new inquiries each day. Its rapid growth reinforced what a critical need it served to fill. Chaim V’Chessed quickly earned a reputation for warmth, professionalism, and effective responses to situations ranging from the most mundane to literally life threatening.
According to Harav Nissan Kaplan, longtime maggid shiur in Yeshivas Mir and a prominent leader in Israel’s English speaking community, Chaim V’Chessed’s role is critical. “Chaim V’Chessed has helped my own family many, many times. They have helped hundreds of my talmidim as well. Their work is vital and I strongly encourage people to support them.”
It is a concerted effort on many fronts. In the medical department, Chaim V’Chessed helps with scheduling appointments, expediting urgent appointments, and advocating for insurance coverage. A designated expert offers sensitive, confidential guidance on issues pertaining to pregnancy and women’s health. Additionally, three Chaim V’Chessed hospital representatives circulate throughout Jerusalem-based hospitals to ensure that English speakers have an advocate and a caring presence to be there for them when they are otherwise lost and alone, like Avromi and Chaya were. Tourists have called to say that their lives were literally saved by Chaim V’Chessed when their trip turned sour with a medical crisis and they had no one to turn to for support or advocacy.
At Chaim V’Chessed, parents can discuss special education and therapy issues with an expert who “gets” the American mentality, has her finger on the pulse of the Israeli system, can walk them through the application process and can mobilize high-level contacts if need be. In the mental health department, an American social worker working in Israel offers guidance, insights and personalized referrals.
The inevitable challenges that virtually every new arrival encounters – visas, property tax, water bills, work permits, and more – are dealt with by Chaim V’Chessed’s trained bureaucratic advisers. Even established families run into bureaucratic challenges, especially when it comes to government benefits for disability, unemployment, old age and the like. Chaim V’Chessed has helped dozens of families file for tens of thousands of shekels in yearly benefits.
Yeshiva bochurim, young couples, and seasoned residents have all reported that they feel like Chaim V’Chessed is their caring mother or their ingenious big brother, always ready to put themselves out on a limb for a Jew in need. It is a nonstop chessed operation enabling English speakers to successfully navigate and integrate into the fabric of life in Eretz Yisrael. Chaim V’Chessed lifts the challenge of being alone so that all that is left is the ability to soak up the remarkable avira d’kedusha in Eretz Yisrael, and to enjoy it for as long as possible.
Contact Chaim V’Chessed within Eretz Yisrael at 072-CHESSED (072-243-7733). To call from outside Israel, dial (718) 407-2448. To learn more or to donate to Chaim V’Chessed, visit www.chaimvchessed.com.
