[COMMUNICATED]
Parents in a quiet and peaceful Beit Shemesh neighborhood were delighted to send their little ones to “Morah Yocheved.” Teacher Yocheved Kraus was a loving and experienced teacher, with many children of her own, married to Rav Pinchas Kraus, the head of a local kollel. Everyone knew the family and they were beloved community leaders in their own right. That’s what made it all the more shocking when, last year, security camera footage of the kindergarten captured a shocking sight: Morah Yocheved collapsing on the floor, mid-day.
The childrens’ parents were bewildered when, halfway through the school year, their childrens’ caretaker suddenly disappeared. They had no inkling of the heartbreaking home life which the Rosh Kollel and his wife hid.
After several tests, doctors confirmed their fears: Yocheved was suffering from cancer, and it had spread to her brain. Six months ago, she underwent a seven hour brain surgery. For seven long hours, she stayed awake while they operated within her skull. She bravely survived the procedure and its after effects, as well as aggressive cancer treatments, and they believed she may survive. Until recently when it was tragically discovered that the disease had spread to her spine as well.
In the true spirit of motherhood, Yocheved’s primary concerns are not her overwhelming pain, or low chance of survival. What she worries about most are her seven children. The seven Kraus kids, the youngest of whom is only 2, have far more on their shoulders than children should bear. They live with the constant fear that they will lose their mother, combined with the poverty that comes with having lost her income for the past year and a half. In a heartbreaking photo, 2-year-old Mati stands by her mother’s bedside in the hospital. Yocheved’s face is so swollen and pale, her body so frail, the toddler can not even recognize her.
Next month, the Kraus family will unite for a simcha more meaningful than any they have ever attended: The eldest Kraus child, Chana, is engaged to be married. Given their circumstances, they have nothing to give her. In a video message, Yocheved weeps over her helplessness, unable to help the young kallah. As of now, Chana does not even have a wedding dress.
Funds are being urgently collected to help the Kraus family survive, to give Chana a simple wedding with dignity. If they can manage to raise the funds for everything they need, it very well may be Yocheved’s last celebration with her children. With the help of strangers around the world, she can walk her daughter to the chuppah with the sense that she is leading her to a future that is safe, without her.
CLICK HERE TO HONOR REBBETZIN KRAUS’S FINAL WISH
CLICK HERE TO SEE HER VIDEO MESSAGE
One last simcha?! May it be the first of many.