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We have pledged to help alleviate these families’s hardships by sending £75 per week to each of them. And we have been doing these since around February 2005. If anyone would like to contribute, standing order forms are available from the Shul office.
When Martin and Angela Seitler visited
Martin spoke in Shul two weeks later, summing up his feelings on the visit, and raising the profile of SOS to the community……
As a community we have all been stung and saddened by the terrible atrocities in
Though my wife Angela accompanied me we were admittedly apprehensive about meeting our adopted families, aware they may feel embarrassed at coming face to face with representatives of a charity which wants so much to help them. After all, these are proud and modest people who only through the force of terrible circumstances have found themselves relying on others for aid. What’s more, I only had a long forgotten classical Hebrew A level as a means of communication. How would I be able to express how much Stenecourt want to help?
Fortunately my 18 year-old Sabra nephew, Netanel Epstein, a student at yeshiva Hakotel in
Both families live in Pizkat Ze`ev, a modest suburb on the outskirts of Jersusalem, and each were heart- breaking to see in their own way.
Our first stop was at the home of Mr Moishe Chushi, a father of four - the youngest of whom is 12 - whose wife was killed by a suicide bomber while she shopped in Machane Yehuda ,
Though Mr Chuchi`s small flat was immaculate, as we stepped inside., the absence of a woman’s presence was agonisingly apparent. We visited him on a Friday morning and already he had bubbling on the stove,food he was cooking for Shabbat meals ahead. This is now his role. With three of his children still living at home - he has had to surrender his job as a school caretaker in order to run the house to fulfil the domestic needs of his household. Yet his hospitality was overwhelming as he spread out cakes and fruit on the coffee table insisting we were his honoured guests.
He spoke very little English but grief is an international language and as he showed us pictures of his family the intensity of his loss was tangible. Carefully and with great delicacy my nephew ventured questions on our behalf which he happily answered. His only income, apart from your donations, is a small pension from the city council and he could not impress upon us enough how much he appreciated the kindness of your assistance.
Mr Chushi is a man who has been used to providing for his family but told us that with so much time needed to look after the family home, there were only a few hours a day which he could spare to go to work. Not only did this make it difficult for him to find a job but it has placed him in the invidious position of being reliant on the state and on charity. Clasping my nephew`s arm he explained how much our visit meant to him -apart from his children he has little family in Israel and felt so comforted to think our shul cared and wanted to help. The worse thing about losing his wife, he explained through my nephew, was the loneliness as he has few social contacts When his children are out, he said, the silence is deafening.
Our other adopted family has been affected in quite a different way. Avraham Tarshandargan was shot in the leg 18 months ago on a bus in the French Hill district of Jerusalem . At the time his wife Rosa was heavily pregnant with the youngest of their five children. As surgeons operated on his wound his traumatised wife was in the same hospital in the maternity ward giving birth to their son now appropriatly named Avichai. - meaning my father lives.
Even before the shooting Mr Tarshandargan was in a fragile emotional state since a few years earlier he had been the victim of a terrible blackmailing racket after being the witness of an armed robbery close to his kiosk where he worked. His evidence helped put the perpetrators behind bars but the robber`s family exacted their revenge by threatening to harm his children unless he gave them money.
Unable to confide in anyone he drained his small savings to make the payments to the blackmailers until his wife finally discovered what was going on and the police were called in. So being shot by an Arab terrorist several years later only served to deeply fracture his emotional and physical health. As well as barely being able to walk he has suffered intense psychological trauma for which he receives psychiatric help. Needless to say he has been unable to work since then.
As we arrived at their home the greetings we received from Mr Tarshandargan and his wife were overwhelming. Their flat is so small for their growing family. When my nephew delicately ventured on our behalf if they had any specific things they needed, they hesitantly told us of the many things they just cannot pay for. Their television doesn`t work, their bathroom and kitchen are in a state of terrible disrepair. The cupboards have been flooded. But more than the material things
One of our members, Dr Wilkins, has paid a visit to the Tarshandargans, and Adina Collins corresponds with one of the daughters. These things, together with our visit, they said, give them the strength to continue. Mrs Tarshandargan fought back tears as she told us how hard it is for the family to function on a daily basis. They felt helpless and lost and really believed noone cared for their situation. Yet Stenecourt`s role in their life, she said, has given them so muchmeaning. They were so thrilled and delighted to see us. They even invited us to be their guests for Shabbat, so keen were they to extend hospitality as as a mark of their gratitude. When it was time for us to leave everyone was finding it hard to remain composed especially since Mrs Tarshandargan now let her tears flow freely as she hugged my wife and told her how much it meant that we had taken the trouble to visit.
In fact it had been no trouble. In fact it was the easiest thing in the world to do. Just to get in a taxi and convey some deeply sincere words, courtesy of our nephew on behalf of you, our generous members. As we travelled back to my brother-in-law`s house and the simcha that awaited us, I could only reflect on the good fortune that B.H we can enjoy.
Like all mass statistics, it is only when you confront individuals that a global tragedy becomes real. So I want to finish by expressing again, on behalf of the families I visited, how grateful they are for your support.
