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Who should be called back first? The couple who have been married for two years, embarking on their first round of fertility treatment; or the couple who are twenty years down the line and haven’t yet been successful? Who should receive the last meeting slot for the week? Which call should be answered first? The team at Tahareinu are presented with dilemmas of ‘dinei nefashos’ throughout the day and there are no simple answers. When time and resources are limited, yet the demand is increasing at a dizzying speed it is impossible to be available for everyone at their time of need. When Rabbi Melber turns off his phone an hour before Shabbos, it is with a feeling of unease, knowing that after Shabbos he will have a long list of missed calls from couples counting down the minutes until he has a chance to get back to them.
The phones are also ringing off the hook in Tahareinu’s call center while the medical advisors calmly give each caller all the time necessary to discuss their situation and offer solutions. At the end of each shift there will inevitably be a list of numbers to call back, as the demand is exceeding Tahareinu’s limitations.
Tahareinu is regularly asked ‘why didn’t I know about your organization two years ago?’ ‘why does no one in my community know about this organization?’ The answer is simple; advertising and spreading awareness increases incoming phone calls drastically. But the incoming calls are already exceeding Tahareinu’s capacity. The time has come for Tahareinu to expand in a big way; enabling every couple to receive the help, medical information and guidance they seek at the most professional level.
The aim is threefold: To improve the service currently being offered to Tahareinu’s users, to offer additional local services in several countries and to spread awareness so that every Jewish family has access to help when they need it. To facilitate this expansion, Tahareinu is holding it’s first ever global fundraising campaign starting today – January 29th and 30th, aiming to raise $1,000,000 in just 36 hours.
If Tahareinu manages to reach their goal they will be able to train in an additional cohort of medical advisers as well as a team of case managers for more complex cases. They will open offices in the USA and UK to serve the communities on a local level, compile and maintain a comprehensive database of treatments, medications and service providers internationally and provide education and awareness around the world on a regular basis. The senior team will be able to participate in regular medical conferences in order to stay on top of updates and innovations and make personal connections with specialists internationally.
‘I have difficulty sleeping at night,’ said Rabbi Melber, director of Tahareinu, ‘knowing that there are couples waiting to hear back from me with time-pressing questions about their IVF cycles, couples who are still waiting for their first meeting and yet more couples who simply don’t know that help is available.’
