HADASSAH LEVI

A baby is born – joy and celebration? Not this time. The parents, upon seeing that their child has Down Syndrome, decide to abandon their child and leave the hospital without their newborn. Fortunately for this child, Hadassah Levi was sick, and in the hospital at the same time. Whenever Hadassah was in the hospital, she always headed to the maternity ward. “It cheers me up,” she said. She noticed that one child there was not being given as much attention as the others. She asked the staff, and they told her that his parents abandoned him in the hospital. Hadassah said she would take him, adopt him and raise him. Almost as an aside, the head nurse said, “We see about 30 of these a year.” Hadassah said, “If I recover, I will take them all.” And she did. In 1973, Hadassah created Maon Latinok – A House for Babies, with 38 Down Syndrome babies.

Most people would say that raising one child, whether typically performing or one with special needs is a handful. But 38 with Down Syndrome? It takes a Hadassah Levy to do it. Without any training – medical or otherwise – she developed a strict dietary regimen which actually reduced some of the external features often associated with Down Syndrome children. After all the naysayers tried to shut her down, have the kids put in an institution, or ruled against giving her government funding, she slowly became recognized as a respected expert in her field. 

Those children have all grown up now, and if you hang out in Jerusalem, you can see them working in restaurants, at the Knesset, and many other places. 

Hadassah passed away in 2020. She was the sister of Yekutiel Adam, one of Israel’s most celebrated war heroes – the highest ranking officer ever killed in battle (Lebanon, 1982). Hadassah herself had been part of the Underground pre-State, having worked in David Ben Gurion’s office as an aide. But it’s her rescuing of those 38 children and the legacy she left behind that makes her a true Mitzvah hero.

RABBANIT BRACHA KAPACH

A young girl learned by example from her mother about helping others, and often helping them anonymously – bringing them food late at night and hiding a sack of money mixed in with the food. This impression never left Bracha Kapach, who created a world filled with doing good. She started and ran for 40 years: a summer camp for kids at risk, a wedding dress gemach for brides who couldn’t afford to buy one, a weekly food distribution program (and on Passover, she would give out over 6000 packages of food!), a weekly Torah class for older women, a used clothing storeroom of not-so-used clothing, a weekly swimming class for single mothers, annual around-the-world trips for elders, and more.

Born in Yemen, and married at 11 to a cousin (15) who was trying to avoid being drafted, she and her husband made Aliyah in 1949 with four children, although one died on the journey from Yemen (by donkey and then boat) to Israel. Rav Yosef and Rabbanit Bracha Kapach were both awarded the Israel Prize (Israel’s highest prize), each for their own work. His was for his work with Maimonides’ original manuscripts, and hers for her all-encompassing Tzedakah work. While Rav Kapach was studying, he also worked as a jeweler and in the rabbinic court system, eventually attaining the position of chief justice. The Rabbanit learned to read and write along with her children, and she, too, became a highly educated, brilliant scholar. As if that wasn’t enough, she opened a factory for Yemenite embroidery with 40 employees. And one year, she was even asked to sew the IDF’s flag. She took no money for that, and when asked what they could do for her, she said she wanted to bring some friends to the recently captured Golan Heights. And so it was arranged that the Rabbanit and her friends (three buses full!) were among the first civilians allowed in. She could be seen in her kitchen at 3am Fridays, baking and cooking enough food to distribute before Shabbat. 

Rabbanit Bracha Kapach passed away in 2013, and many of her programs continue to this day.