February 17, 2009
Paying It Forward
Last November (November 5, 2008, The Righteous Among Us) we described the good work carried out by the Israel-based organization, ATZUM which was founded by Rabbi Levi Lauer. Rabbi Lauer’s efforts are dedicated to the welfare of terror survivors, foreign workers and Righteous Gentiles—a small group of truly blessed people who are living out their last days in Israel. When we met with Levi and Karyn London, the social worker who works with terror survivors, we were moved by a story that was shared about one of these Righteous Gentiles, Viktor Polischuk. Viktor and his family sheltered Lev and Arkadiy Burshtein during the 1943 extermination of a ghetto in Ukraine. Later that year, as the Germans approached, Viktor and his family moved the father and son to a safer place under Romanian control and it was there that they remained until the liberation. In 1995 Viktor was recognized by Yad Vashem and then moved to Israel.
How did Rabbi Lauer find a way to try to repay this gentle man for what he had done to save two Jews? Nothing we could write would come close to the heartfelt words Levi composed as he tries to gather funds to perform this profound mitzvah…
Viktor Polischuk risked his and his family’s life to save a Jewish father and son during the Shoah. His 23 year old grandson, Antosha Polischuk, was recently diagnosed with a virulent, life threatening leukemia. Antosha moved from Ukraine to begin a course of treatment in Moscow which his family does not have the funds to continue.
Antosha is in need of a bone marrow transplant. The head of the Hematology Department at Hadassah-Ein Kerem has assured us Antosha’s chances of survival will be far greater if the transplant is conducted in Israel. Hadassah, in generous recognition of his grandfather’s heroism, has agreed to accept the case immediately at one-third the usual cost. As Antosha’s family does not have the wherewithal to pay and will exhaust all its resources coming to Israel, ATZUM has accepted responsibility for securing $80,000 to facilitate hospitalization and treatment at Hadassah-Ein Kerem.
In this recession smitten, Madoff (ATZUM’s funds are invested directly in plain vanilla government bond and money market funds) bitten time, this was likely a risk ill taken. But a life is at stake and we cannot imagine a more fitting tribute to a grandfather who risked all to save Jews and allow their future generations to come to life.
This moving story reminds us of how we never know just when a kindness or brave action can be repaid despite the passage of perhaps decades. We whole-heartedly agree with ATZUM’s decision to step in here and have sent some funds to help them underwrite this life-saving action.
