From time to time we have written here about Zeev Birger who, with his late wife, Trude (z’l), helped so many poor families in Jerusalem. Trude’s work (and then Zeev’s) goes back to the days of Teddy Kollek, Jerusalem’s colorful mayor. Teddy knew of Trude’s amazing energy and spirit and asked if she and some friends might want to help very poor families living in the city’s Romema neighborhood. With the same can-do attitude that Trude always showed, soon families were helped with all kinds of needs…food, clothing, funds to pay for the heat in the winter. But, in truth the very best gifts Trude and Zeev gave to those families were the times they spent talking to them, and the funds they contributed to underwrite higher education for their children. Dozens and dozens of kids broke through the poverty that encompassed their families and many became professionals, tradesmen…supporting themselves and their families.
With Trude’s death several years ago, Zeev continued the work. It was not easy. In recent years he would share how hard it was to raise the funds but he knew he must because that was what Trude would have wanted.
A few hours ago, an email arrived announcing Zeev’s death from a tragic traffic accident. The only person in his family to survive the camps, Zeev was hit by a motorcycle and died from his injuries. Trude and Zeev’s legacy is huge…so many lives changed for the better because two people turned their own personal tragedies into goodness and justice.
May Zeev’s memory be for a blessing. He will be missed.
