Don't Give Up

Yosef and Yehudit had great dreams and hopes for their future together. They were both idealistic and wanted to build a special home in a special place for the Jewish people and so they moved to a yishuv in Gush Katif in order to join the unique community there.

They were so happy and this only increased when Yehudit became pregnant and gave birth to a baby girl. All seemed well and the couple were delighted when Yehudit became pregnant soon afterwards with a boy. 

When the boy was born he also looked healthy, but it did not take too long for the dream to burst. The doctors noticed that Yosef and Yehudit's son did not react to stimuli in the normal way. They ran a battery of tests and it was discovered that he was suffering from a very serious medical condition that affected his reactions and his learning abilities. 

Yosef and Yehudit were concerned and they decided to look into the condition deeper, they had themselves checked and found that they were both carriers of a serious genetic mutation. They quickly realized that this may have affected their daughter as well, who was then also tested and was found to have a somewhat milder form of the condition. As she got older her symptoms became more pronounced and Yosef and Yehudit found their home now filled with two children with serious learning disabilities and special needs. 

In the midst of all this, the Israeli government made the decision to withdraw unilaterally from Gush Katif and within a few months they were homeless and remain so until today.

The Puah Institute has accompanied this couple since they discovered their son's condition and the Rabbi who dealt with them has spoken to them numerous times and guided them through all of their personal trials. 

Yosef and Yehudit underwent a treatment to try and have a healthy child, but after having great expectations, the treatment was not successful and even suggested that they would need more invasive treatment. The couple were distraught and again the Rabbi at Puah was called upon to give them hope and not allow them to give up.

They underwent two more treatments until they were successful - a couple of weeks ago they celebrated the birth of their healthy baby boy together with many of their old friends from the yishuv and, of course, the Rabbi from the Puah Institute.