Motivated by the disabilities of their own adopted daughter, Moshe and Chaviva Tzahor established a child development center to assist special needs families in the Hebron area.

When Moshe Tzahor arrived at his office on a warm summer day in 1976, an advertisement in the newspaper on his desk caught his eye. He cut out the ad and put it in his pocket. Meanwhile, his wife Chaviva, pregnant with their eighth child, was shopping at the local grocery store and noticed a newspaper with an ad that grabbed her attention. She purchased the paper and brought it home.

That evening, Moshe and Chaviva sat down to talk. Moshe showed Chaviva the advertisement that drew his attention. It was the same one that captivated her at the grocery store.

The advertisement said that a seven-month-old infant had been abandoned and needed a home. It also mentioned that the baby girl was blind. The coincidence was just too much for Moshe and Chaviva – they saw it as Divine intervention and decided to adopt the child. Two months later, Chaviva gave birth to their youngest son.

They named the baby girl Liat, which means “you are ours.” They were in love, but it didn’t take long for the couple to realize that Liat’s physical and developmental problems were far beyond visual disability. Yet they would never consider the possibility of relinquishing their responsibility to the little girl, whom they considered to be a gift from God.

Motivated to Help Others

Rather than despairing, the Tzahors were inspired by Liat’s disabilities. They dreamed of establishing a village for special-needs youth from religious families.

Meanwhile, they began to notice that in their own community of Kiryat Arba, a suburb of Hebron, there were families of children with special needs who were lacking even the most basic resources. So Moshe and Chaviva established a non-profit organization called Neve Avraham, which means the “dwelling place of Abraham” or “Abraham’s Oasis.” They named it after the biblical Abraham who was a man of loving kindness and had lived in Hebron.

Neve Avraham was created to provide occupational, speech and physical therapy as well as remedial assistance in Hebrew language arts, English and math. Children in need of these services acquire the necessary support to help them succeed in the mainstream educational environment.

Neve Avraham’s location became especially advantageous over the years. Because the security situation in this part of Israel has, at times, made it impossible for families living in the Hebron area to travel to other cities, such as Jerusalem, the close proximity of Neve Avraham has been a true blessing.

Over the past 25 years Neve Avraham has served more than 4,000 children who receive dedicated, professional treatment, paving the way for success in life.

By: Penina Taylor, United with Israel

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