Click here for more details on JCNY 2020 - the Arutz Sheva Jerusalem Conference in NYC
Efrat will be receiving a special prize at the Arutz Sheva Jerusalem Conference on May 22 in New York City.
Efrat was founded in 1977 by Dr. Eli Schussheim OBM who decided to make it his life’s mission and vision to help pregnant women who were struggling with their pregnancy, due to financial and social pressures, keep their babies.
“In 1977, abortion was a hot topic politically at the time. That was the year abortion was legalized in Israel,” Ruth Tidhar, social worker, director of the assistance department of Efrat, tells Israel National News.
She told of a woman who came to Dr. Schussheim’s general surgery clinic in 1977 and explained that her son was saved because of his advice for her to continue with the pregnancy even though other doctors has told her that she shouldn’t have a baby because she would have a terribly deformed infant and said she had to have an abortion.
“Dr. Schussheim said that this is what was thought at the time, but later research showed that you can go ahead and have the baby. And the baby was born healthy. Right now he’s a man with a big family. Dr. Schussheim was amazed by how with a few words of medical advice he saved an entire human being, a child, a person, and all of his generations. He was very moved by that.”
That story of one baby became an enterprise.
“I think it was a turning point in his life. He realized, as someone who invested his entire life to save lives, that a few words of encouragement, just seeing what a woman needs, can actually make a difference between this woman having a child or not having a child, and he started dedicating his life to helping these women,” Nir Salomon, executive director of Efrat, tells Israel National News. “And as it grew, it became this big enterprise.”
Efrat’s mission is not about convincing women. It’s about making the existing information accessible.
“Women who turn to us have a feeling in their heart that abortion is not the right solution for their troubles,” Tidhar explains. “They’re at a stormy intersection in their lives. They have to make a decision. They didn’t mean to get pregnant for all kinds of reasons, and they’re under terrible pressure from the people around them, those who should have given them support but are pressuring them to have an abortion. When they don’t feel in their hearts that [this is what they want to do] it’s the volunteers, many of whom have gone through a similar situation and have been helped by Efrat who help them. The volunteers share similar stories and similar cultural backgrounds with the women they help.
“Efrat is not about convincing. It’s about enabling the woman to choose what she actually wanted to choose, when nobody around her is enabling that,” Salomon says. “We are giving her the opportunity to choose what she wants.”
Tidhar adds: “We get thanks for years. It’s very moving. I get phone calls all the time. ‘You don’t remember me but you made such a difference in my life, and this child is the light of our house.’ It’s just amazing.”
Tidhar explains that the vast majority of the women they help are married with a family and children.
“The financial pressure is hurting the family atmosphere. And when the pregnancy comes it feels like a catastrophe at the time. But when she gets the answer that Efrat is going to help her, she’s not alone, the whole atmosphere in the house calms down,” Tidhar says.
Salomon comments that all around the Efrat offices are photographs of babies that have been born and thank you letters from mothers.
“What’s more remarkable is we’ve saved almost 81,000 babies to date,” he say. “All of them are being raised by their birth mothers. These are women who wanted to have that child and felt they had no choice. When they came to us, they got the empowerment to be able to choose what they wanted.”
Efrat provides not only spiritual and emotional support, it also helps the mothers financially.
“The financial issues are what deters them from having a baby, or give them a feeling they’ve under terrible pressure to have an abortion,” Tidhar says. “Efrat comes in with real meaningful assistance. We give them a crib and a stroller and a baby bath and two years worth of monthly packages, diapers and wipes and food when necessary. This help is very meaningful to the women.”
They have a new project called “Working Moms” where they are helping women return to the workplace. Fifty five women are already enrolled.
“The idea is that we have an occupational social worker who gives the women who have received Efrat’s assistance occupational counselling,” Tidhar says. “She helps them decide where they want to work, she encourages them to go back to work and we help pay for the daycare which is a huge expense.”
The prize at the Jerusalem Conference is in memory of Dr. Schussheim but also looks to the present and the future, as his dream is continuing to be fulfilled, Tidhar explains.
“After Dr. Schussheim passed away so suddenly, the volunteers were very anxious. How is this going to continue? We made promises to women who are depending on us. I calmed everybody down by saying that Dr. Schussheim left an organization that works. We’re just going to continue in the same way and grow and do more,” Tidhar says.
Salomon adds that they are grateful to their supporters around the world.
“Our supporters around the world echo that same vision,” he says. “Dr. Schussheim built this empire. We need to make it grow stronger and they’re here to continue supporting us. We’re thankful for that.”
Click here for more details on JCNY 2020 - the Arutz Sheva Jerusalem Conference in NYC