In 2009, after Dr. Schussheim reached out to Rabbi Garzon, the latter organized a groundbreaking meeting in Madrid with about a hundred community members who came to hear about EFRAT. “Dr. Schussheim moved us all with his particularly vibrant speech, as he outlined five primary objectives,” Rabbi Garzon recalls. Those objectives, foundational to EFRAT, included providing emotional, financial, medical, and physical support to pregnant women in distress, and empowering them to confidently continue their pregnancies. Additionally, Dr. Schussheim proposed that Rav Gazrzon and his community members promote the work of EFRAT in Spain as well as in other Spanish speaking countries. “The notion that fired us up and really captured our imagination was the lofty Torah ideal of contributing to the demographic growth of the Jewish population in Eretz Yisrael,” explains Rav Garzon. “As soon as we heard Dr. Schussheim’s impassioned plea to help save Jewish babies and support their mothers’ decisions to continue their pregnancies, we introduced the doctor to additional communal leaders who became equally enthused.” That conference, held over 15 years ago, led to the creation of a legal framework for Rabbi Garzon’s multi-pronged life’s work on behalf of EFRAT: the EFRAT Foundation, Spain, which enjoys state supervision and thus inspires greater confidence in its donors. The Rav’s core group became trustees and ambassadors for EFRAT, drawing upon their contacts with presidents, CEOs, and influential people across various communities, and inviting them to participate in the cause.
By Chana Weissman When Dr. Eli Schussheim zt”l joined EFRAT in 1977, he could not have anticipated that one of the organization’s most dedicated allies would emerge from an unlikely source: Rabbi Baruch Garzon, then the Chief Rabbi of Madrid. This connection was remarkable not only because Rabbi Garzon was Madrid’s first Chief Rabbi since the expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492, but also because of his formidable background. Born in Tetuan, Morocco, Rabbi Garzon is a man of extensive Torah and secular knowledge, deeply involved in various communal activities, and strongly committed to the well-being of a Jewish community spread thin across Spain. In the 1970s, Spain’s Jewish community numbered a total of 15,000 people scattered across 17 different communities, all united under the Federation of Jewish Communities of Spain. Given his numerous responsibilities, it would have been understandable if Rabbi Garzon had declined to take on additional burdens. How, then, did such a leader and his community become such staunch champions of EFRAT’s holy work? EFRAT Reaches the Shores of Spain
“Over time, we extended our work to North and South
An EFRAT benefit concert in Madrid
Rav Baruch Garzon
14
Made with FlippingBook - Share PDF online