[COMMUNICATED]
Another morning begins, and Yehuda Zak opens his eyes. As his mind hazily leaves his dream state, for a moment he expects the day to be as typical as before: He will grab his tallis bag and head out to shul, saying goodbye to his wife and kids. However, as the sobering reality of the morning comes rushing in, he remembers once again that life is not, cannot, be typical again: Two weeks ago, Yehuda lost his wife to cancer. Batsheva Zak fought bravely against illness. She left behind six devastated children, the youngest of whom is just 4 years old.
Now, Yehuda’s days are a logistical impossibility. Despite his own overwhelming grief, he helps each child to dress and begin their day. The children are deeply uprooted by the loss of their mother – Yehuda is left to manage all of their individual struggles simultaneously, alone.
Their problems, however, are not only emotional: During Batsheva’s treatments, the Zak family survived solely off of the stipend allocated by Israel’s national insurance. Now that she has passed, they are left without any income. Yehuda must now undergo the extensive process of restructuring their lives so that he is able to support his children, while also tending to their needs. This process is made more difficult by the daily struggle to survive.
Donations are being accepted via emergency fund to help cover the family’s modest, yet significant, expenses. The campaign includes video footage of Yehuda reading to his children on the couch. The young father does his best to make the kids smile, and for those brief moments, they almost seem to forget their devastation.
It is a glimpse into the life and role of a father: forever striving to provide for, and bring comfort to, his family. At this stage, Yehuda cannot succeed in providing for his family without help to enable him to navigate this transition. It is the family’s greatest hope that strangers will unite to honor Batsheva’s memory, by giving this essential help to her grieving children. Donations are being accepted here for a limited time.
This story sounds strange. Of course, they stopped her benefits, she isn’t alive anymore. No government pays a disability benefit for a deceased person. What happened to the children’s’ survivor benefits from Bituach Leumi?