Almost all 42 deaths from COVID-19 in Israel have been elderly people with multiple pre-existing medical conditions.
But last week, 49-year-old 49-year-old Tamar Perets-Levi, a widow from Lod, died of the virus, leaving her twin 4-year-old boys as orphans.
“It is our collective responsibility to care for these young orphan boys,” says a Hebrew and English donation page established for the boys that raised more than NIS 2m in 24 hours.
According to JGive, the organization that both set the account and marketed it, 14,113 people have donated to the fund. The average gift was NIS 157.
JGive is a nonprofit project whose primary goal is to encourage charitable giving in Israel.
“The family came to us the morning after she died,” CEO Ori Ben Shlomo told The Jerusalem Post, “and we started immediately.”
In addition to the money donated, Ben Shlomo said donors asked if they could give items to help the children. Some people offered to adopt the orphans.
Ben Shlomo said the boys will be adopted by their aunt, but the campaign highlighted that “people are really looking for how to help.” He said that since they cannot go out and volunteer, they find meaning before Passover in giving virtually.
Now, JGive is running many Passover fundraising campaigns under the hashtag #Stronger_Together to help Holocaust survivors and those at risk, especially during this coronavirus pandemic.
Perets-Levi was the country’s 17th coronavirus victim. Her husband, Shimon, had died of a heart attack shortly after the twins were born.
In a statement disseminated by the Lod municipality, Perets-Levi was described as a heroine who spent many years fighting to start a family and bring the twins into the world. She died one day after being hospitalized.