Saving lives, one baby at a time

Two organizations help pregnant women through a difficult time

By Malka Eisenberg

Issue of Jan. 30, 2009 / 5 Shevat 5769

Rachel and her husband had already decided to end her pregnancy; he was unemployed, she worked part time and they were making very little money. Her friend convinced Rachel to take Efrat-C.R.I.B’s number, but she had no intention of calling; she already had two kids. The morning of her scheduled abortion, she thought, “maybe I shouldn’t do it,” and grabbed the number off the refrigerator, calling on her way to the clinic. She also called her husband.

“Rachel,” he said, “maybe we are not doing the right thing,” and agreed with her, saying, “Mazal tov, we’re having a baby!”

“It was at the last moment,” stressed Tzvi Binn, program director of Efrat-C.R.I.B. (the Committee for the Rescue of Israel’s Babies). “Now a baby was born because of a number on a refrigerator door.”

Efrat, founded in Israel, and Just One Life (JOL), which originated in America, are organizations dedicated to helping pregnant Jewish women in Israel overcome financial, emotional and physical difficulties to welcome a new baby into their lives. They differ slightly in their method, and, when asked “why two,” Binn said, “You can say why only two? They both do beautiful things and are both yotzai with the mitzvah.”

Holocaust survivor Herschel Feigenbaum founded Efrat in memory of the over 1.5 million children who were murdered in the Holocaust. The organization took shape under the voluntary guidance of Dr. Eli J. Schussheim, formerly a senior surgeon in Shaarei Zedek and Hadassa Ein Kerem Hospitals. A woman who brought her son to Dr. Schussheim for a routine check-up thanked him for her son’s life, explaining that he had counseled her not to abort her son.

“Her story changed my life,” explained Schussheim. “I studied medicine to save lives. Here, with this simple piece of advice, I had saved this boy’s life and the life of his children and grandchildren.”

Since 1977, Efrat has saved 25,000 children. When women who register for an abortion cite financial reasons for terminating the pregnancy, they are given Efrat’s number. They have two part-time workers, including Binn, who also works as the bookkeeper and a full time secretary. They have 3,000 volunteers throughout Israel and although they have no American staff, their 800 number rings in in a volunteer’s house in the U.S.

Most of the office work in their Jerusalem office is done by Sheirut Leumi National Service volunteers. The organization is funded only by donations, half from Israel, half from abroad. They state that their annual budget of $3 million supports about 3,000 pregnant women, saving 3,000 children, with the average cost per child at $1,200. Binn said that 90 cents of every dollar donated goes to the women.

When a pregnant woman who calls is found to be in need, Efrat provides them with monthly packages for a year, delivered to their door. These packages include diapers, formula, canned and dry foods worth over $850, and free baby equipment, including a crib, bassinet, stroller, baby bath and a baby kit with blankets, baby clothes, bottles and other items worth about $350.

Every woman is also matched with one of more than 3,000 volunteers for social support during the pregnancy. “Many become friends for life and become religious through Efrat,” said Binn. Although 95 percent don’t need help beyond the year, Binn pointed out, the organization does help with finding jobs and vocational training if necessary.

Just One Life/Nefesh Achat B’Yisrael was founded in 1989 by Rabbi Solomon Sharfman z"l, the Rabbi of the Young Israel of Flatbush, along with Carole and Jack Forgash, Renee and Steve Adelsberg, Elaine and Hillel Weinberger, and Miriam and Joel Gold.

“There are over 30,000 pregnancies terminated in Israel per year with a good percentage due to financial distress,” said Rabbi Etan Tokayer, executive vice president of JOL. Binn cited a number closer to 50,000, pointing out that 23,000 abortions are done through kupat cholim, and an unknown number are done in private doctor’s clinics.

Rabbi Sharfman, who also had the children of the Holocaust in mind, said Tokayer, “felt that it was a fixable issue. The idea was to help the mothers have their children. We are helping to replenish the Jewish people. Any mother who wants to have her child should not be prevented due to financial crisis.”

JOL has a development office in New York and a service office in Israel. The director of 18 years, Rabbi Martin Katz is “reducing his role,” said Tokayer. The staff in Israel is comprised of a team of four social workers and four social work students who do field placement internships with JOL.

“They get credit,” noted Tokayer. “We don’t pay them but we get their services.” He noted the professional counseling and services provided by JOL, and that current administrative costs of 30 percent are fixed with all additional funding going to services.

JOL has helped save close to 12,000 children to date, assisting the mothers with individual counseling, a monthly financial subsidy, support groups, information regarding government entitlements, workshops for mothers, and baby supplies when necessary. They have a mother and infant center where classes are given in women’s health, nutrition and home economics.

“The goal is not just to throw money at the problem,” explained Tokayer, “but rather to help the mother be empowered at life and to give the mother the skills she needs to manage her life better, to help the whole person, not just help the mother have the baby.”

JOL’s client load is increasing by 10 percent each year with 1,300 cases in 2008. When there was the war in the north, they saw a spike of cases in the north; now they are seeing a spike in the south.

JOL pegs the cost per baby at $1,800 for prenatal and postnatal care. Most of the funding comes from U.S. donations, some from Europe, the U.K. and Israel.

Both organizations point out that not one of the mothers regrets having their babies, but most women regret having an abortion.

“We are making a demographic difference,” emphasized Binn. “It’s a very good solution to the problems of assimilation and demography. If we were fully funded we could save more babies and bring more Jews to inner aliyah.”