Bonei Olam 2022 Auction

There are yellow globs on the kitchen floor, and fifteen-month-old Simi is hurtling another egg into the mix. Splat! Splat! Splat! It’s sheer delight - to see a neat white orb shatter into sunny brilliance! The look on her face is priceless – and so is her mother’s scream when she discovers the mess.

Half-shocked; half delighted, her “ahhhh” sounds like the scream of a kid on a coaster. It’s the culmination of years of waiting – of patiently (or not so patiently) waiting on line for her turn on the ride. Others came to the line way after her, and got to ride eons ago. But she finally got there – thanks to Hashem’s great kindness, and Bonei Olam’s tireless efforts.

We’re working to get others into the park.

Come along for the ride.

DEAR FRIEND,

Few things excite children as much as a trip to an amusement park. For some reason, hurtling down a track at breakneck speed, and being propelled through twists and turns and upsidedown loops, is considered fun.

For Bonei Olam, a roller coaster is something else. It’s the ride our couples take through infertility. There’s the nerve-wracking crawl to the top, hoping for a yeshuah. There’s the plunge that takes their breath away, when things don’t work out. And always, there’s the sight of another mountain looming ahead, with unseen twists, turns and surprises.

Bonei Olam helps our couples through the ride – and when they emerge holding their precious babies, nothing can compare to their euphoria and excitement.

Infertility is not a simple ride. But with incredible siyata dishmaya, we’ve been blessed to find new routes and pathways to our ultimate goal. I’m so excited to share that in the past year, Bonei

Olam has opened four groundbreaking programs. They are bringing people closer to parenthood, every day!

The Bonei Olam Advanced Andrology Lab conducts searches that find hope, where other labs said there was none.

Your World Tomorrow is enabling singles to ensure their futures, despite their age.

Kesher, Bonei Olam’s shidduch program, matches singles with medical conditions, so that they, too, can build Jewish homes.

And perhaps most mind-boggling, ground-breaking, and exciting, the Transplant Program, which is, for the first time, giving hope to hundreds of women who, just a few short years ago, could never, in their wildest dreams, dare to believe that they would one day have a biological family.

Bonei Olam could not do all this alone. You’ve been with us through this adventure, since the day we helped our first couple, twenty-three years ago.

Today I ask you to once again join us in Great Adventures – because there are so many couples with empty arms who so badly want to delight in the thrill of having a family.

In the zechus of bringing excitement and laughter to so many homes, may you be blessed with siyata dishmaya, joy and wondrous thrills.

Schlomo Bochner

TOUCH CONTROL NIGHT LIGHT/ BLUETOOTH

SPEAKER

It’s a night light! It’s a speaker! It’s the color-changing room-enhancing item every kid or teen will love!

FREE GIFTS

OPTION 2

BRACHOS BOOK

“A brachah tzi machen.” Beautiful, large Yiddish book on hilchos brachos, with stunning photos and a comprehensive list of foods and their brachos rishonos and acharonos.

OPTION 3

LUCITE TISSUE BOX HOLDER

Classy, convenient, companyworthy. This contemporary Lucite tissue box is the perfect accessory for any guest room or bathroom.

OPTION 1

TOTALLY KOSHER

Chanie Apfelbaum's new cookbook, Written by the founder of Busy in Brooklyn

OPTION 4

MITZVAH KINDER IN ERETZ YISROEL + CD

The beloved Mitzvah Kinder are in Eretz Yisroel – and your kids can join them for a magnificent tour. This hot-off-the-press masterpiece is sure to become a family classic.

OPTION 1

LUCITE WALL CLOCK

Art meets function in this stunning 16” Lucite wall clock with mirrored numerals.

OPTION 2

PLUGIN SCENT DIFFUSER

Unplug from the ordinary with this plug-in diffuser that’ll give 800 square feet a scent-sational lift.

*diffuser oils not included

Your generosity makes a huge difference to couples. We’re pleased to show our appreciation, by offering you free gifts. Please treat yourself to any gift at or below your donation amount.

Ordering Information

Web Orders: Boneiauction.org

Phone Orders: 718.534.0054

Fax Orders: 718.534.0054

Email Orders: Orders@boneiolam.org

Mail Orders: Bonei Olam Headquarters 1755 46th Street, Brooklyn, NY 11204

Bonei Olam will ship your free gifts at no charge.

Please allow 2-3 months for your gifts to arrive.

The winner of some prizes shall be responsible for the payment of all applicable Federal, State and local taxes.

No purchase or donation necessary to enter or win. A purchase or donation will not increase your chances of winning. For more info call : (518) 203-2587.

FREE SHIPPING Within the USA $50 $75 GET TICKETS WORTH DONATE 7

Some of the prizes are not as pictured. Some gift certificates may expire 6 months after date of drawing. Restrictions apply to some gift certificates. Orders received after drawing will be considered a donation.

GREAT ADVENTURES

RIDE TO MOTHERHOOD

We’re on the Ride to Motherhood, The track is straight, I think, ‘Most everyone I know gets there, Almost before they blink.

But wait, there’s something coming up, The road, it’s getting curvy, Hang on tight, hold for dear life, The track’s gone topsy-turvy.

Up! Up! Up! We’re given hope, This treatment’s sure to work, We chug along, song in our hearts –But then, things go beserk.

Plunge! Down, Down, Down

The mountainside, Noooooo! This can’t be! We’re screaming, Wind whips our tears, the pain, it sears, Our car, it keeps careening.

We’re tipping!Please! Just let me out! But no – not back to town! To have a child, I’d go this wild, Ahhhhh! We’re !

UPSIDE DOWN

Then right side up, through twists and turns, What’s this? It’s a DEAD END] Our hopes are dashed, we got nowhere, And cannot comprehend!

BACKWARDS, now, at breakneck speed, And look! another hill!

There’s hope again, p’rhaps finally, We’ll end up with a thrill.

But no, another plunge, a loop, Freefall – oh, this is wild, But you can help us reach the base, Holding our precious child.

Join us in Great Adventures, it’s the greatest thrill on earth, And be part of the miracle, of our dear baby’s birth.

GRAND PRIZE $ 10,000

SPONSORED BY

NIGHT MARE

There’s a nightmare

the beep is more relentless this time, and it must be my car because it’s right near me, until I realize it’s my alarm clock.

In one, I’m meeting a classmate I haven’t seen in years. She says something to me, and suddenly, I’m running, running, feet pounding the ground, heart thumping, mouth panting, and I feel like I – can’t – run – anymore, but I must, because there’s something chasing me, and I need to –pant – get away.

I hear pounding steps behind me, and – no – my pursuer’s catching up to me! My knees are jelly, but I must outrun this – monster! My feet can’t carry me anymore, and I can’t breathe, and I’m panting, panting, panting, and my legs buckle, and everything goes black.

I wake up, and feel not hard pavement, but tangled blankets; and I’m shaking, and my heart is still racing, and I remember that the first part of the dream actually happened, because I’d met Esty Berkowitz, who sat together with me in sixth grade, and she’d asked me what she thought was an innocent question:

In another nightmare, I’m in this huge parking lot, and can’t for the life of me find my car, and I need it now, because my appointment with the fertility doctor is this afternoon, and it’s a visit that could determine my entire future.

So I walk up the first row in the lot, and my car’s not there, and I walk up the second row, and it’s not there, either, and I start to panic. I press the button on my key fob, and none of the cars beep in response. And then I hear a car beeping and I rush to it, but it’s red, not silver, and a stranger is getting behind the wheel and backing out, and my car’s still missing.

And the sun’s glaring on every car in the lot, and I’m craning my neck, and running over to every silver car I see, but mine’s not there. And there’s a giant rock in my throat, and I’m frantic because without my car, I can’t see the doctor, but this parking lot is endless, and it could be anywhere.

And the sky’s getting dark and I’m missing my appointment and I’m an automaton searching, searching, searching. I run to a car that looks like mine, but there’s a car seat in the back, so it can’t possibly be it. And then I’m pressing my key fob, and hearing it beep, and for some odd reason,

I’m so relieved that my nightmare isn’t real, until I remember that it is, because the doctor said he’d be searching our lab results for hope, but warned us it would be like finding a needle in a haystack - or the equivalent of finding a lost car in a parking lot as big as Brooklyn.

In a different version of my dream, I’m five years old, and we’re playing hide and seek in my grandmother’s house. I crawl into the huge old chest in the attic, close the lid, and laugh to myself, because no one’s ever going to find me here.

I get a little hot, and I push on the lid, and it doesn’t budge. And I push harder, but it still doesn’t open. And I bang and bang and bang, but no one hears me. And I hear my cousins screaming my name and I want nothing more than to run out, but I’m stuck, trapped in this old wooden box, and I’m so afraid.

And the panic rises in my chest, and tears run down my cheeks, and I daven to Hashem, and promise Him I’ll be very good, and won’t ever fight with my sister again, and will let my brother play with my toys, and could He please, please, please get me out.

And I feel myself getting very tired and hot and sweaty, and passing out. I wake up suddenly and find myself in bed in a too-hot room, and I’m so grateful it was just a dream, until I remind myself that I am stuck, because our last treatment failed, and nothing we try seems to work, and I’m not sure we’ll ever get out of this box called infertility.

I tell myself that dreams aren’t real, and nightmares aren’t either. Because while I always dream alone, in real life, Bonei Olam’s with me, every step of the way. And I believe with all my heart that one day, I’ll wake up in the middle of the night, not to the sound of a key-fob-turned-alarmclock, but to the sound of a real live baby crying beside me.

Bonei Olam funds the treatments that help patients escape a reality where every conversation can be a nightmare. Our Advanced Andrology Laboratory finds hope where others fail, and our extensive knowledge and connections with the world’s greatest fertility specialists give hope to those who feel trapped in the crushing challenge of waiting for a child.

I keep having, with different variations.

“How many children do you have?”

STILL WAITING

We’re standing in line for the coaster, We got here at quarter past eight, We’re inching along now for hours, And fear we won’t ride, at this rate, And though we’re so hungry and tired We stay, ‘cuz it’s worth any wait.

We wonder when we, like the others, Would ride with a brood, but to date, While strangers strap in, clatter upward, Scream with joy; fly round each figure eight; ‘Most everyone seems to be riding, But us - we seem destined to wait.

We watch as the cars fill with riders, Friend, sister, niece, cousin, classmate, We’re panicked; scream, “don’t leave without us,” We also want to celebrate! They look at us, babies beside them, But we can just stand there and wait And wait And wait And wait And wait.

We’re still waiting.

ŃANSWER

A QUESTION

This isn’t a story about a couple waiting for children. It isn’t even a story about Bonei Olam. It’s a story about our mission – the way we answer every person who knocks on our door and asks, “Did we do everything possible to have a child?” Rabbi Bochner heard the story from a firsthand witness, and told it to Bonei Olam’s staff. “The story obligates us,” he said. “It obligates every member of Klal Yisroel.”

It happened in an instant. One moment, Pinchos Steinberg was standing on line at the makolet; the next, he was lying in a crumpled heap on the floor, surrounded by rolling tomatoes and tuna cans. Hatzalah arrived almost immediately – but by the set of the volunteers’ jaws as they strapped the young man to a stretcher, everyone could see things weren’t good.

The ambulance screamed its way through the streets of Yerushalayim, but Pinchos remained still. Beside him, his wife wept and wept. “Is he going to make it?” she cried.

No one answered.

“Tell me!” she begged the men huddled around her husband. “I need to know! He’s twenty-nine! I have a house full of pitzalech! Will they have a father?” The men could say little to calm her – only that at this moment, he was alive. But one Hatzalah member said he would get her an audience with the gadol hador.

“On Friday afternoon, no one can get into Rav Elyashiv, but I can. I’ll take you for a brachah. Ask the tzaddik to bless you.” Hours later, she stood before the gadol. Rav Elyashiv listened to her tale and gave her a brachah that everything turn out for the best. The woman whispered amein, and walked to the door, tears streaming down her face. Then she turned back.

man they’d written off, and though Shabbos had already descended upon Yerushalayim, Pinchos was on the next flight. The person who told Rabbi Bochner the story shook his head in awe.

“I danced with him at his son’s wedding. He recovered completely!”

Later, someone asked Rav Elyashiv what had changed. Why had he suddenly advised the woman to change course, when moments earlier, he hadn’t said that a different doctor could help? The answer was astounding.

I know when Shabbos is. This is pikuach nefesh. Travel now!

“To give a brachah is one thing,” the gadol said. “To answer a sheilah is something completely different. A sheilah must have an answer. It’s an obligation!” When this woman asked if we did everything to save her husband, there was an obligation to make sure that, indeed, we did everything we possibly could.

“We have an obligation!” Rabbi ‘Bochner told his staff. “When we have a couple in front of us, we need to be able to answer the question, ‘Did we do everything possible to help this couple have a child?’

Did we explore every option? Did we try the most cutting-edge treatment? Did we search the world – at any price – to grant them hope?’

“I have a sheilah for the rav,” she said. “I understand very well what’s happening. Soon I’ll be an almanah. I’ll have to raise four yesomim. All the children will be broken, but I’m thinking of my oldest son. On the day of his Bar Mitzvah, he will put on tefillin alone, and go to shul alone, and he’ll miss his father more than at any other time. He’s going to ask me, ‘eifoh Abba?’ Where’s Abba? What happened to him?’”

“I’m afraid of one question,” she said. “What if he asks, ‘Did you do everything to save him?’ What will I tell him then?”

Rav Elyashiv paled. Then he looked up and said –“Take the choleh out of the hospital and send him to New York, right now. You’ll find refuah.”

“But - it’s an hour to Shabbos!” the woman said.

“Ven Shabbos is, veis ich,” the gadol said, I know when Shabbos is. “This is pikuach nefesh. Travel now!” And though the doctors thought it ridiculous to transport a

And today we pass the question to you. Are YOU doing everything possible to help Bonei Olam, so that we can help waiting couples have children? It’s a sheilah. We need you to answer. Because you, too, have an obligation.

Fulfill your obligation to those who ask, “Are you doing everything to help us have a child?”

Join Bonei Olam in funding:

Exorbitant fertility treatments

Genetic testing

Andrology lab services

Shidduchim for singles with medical issues

Onco-fertility preservation

Cryo Preservation

Uterine transplants

And so much more!

GREAT ADVENTURES

KIDDIE LAND

Come, enter! The adventure, Starts right behind the door, Life’s a ride, take it in stride, With kids, nothing’s a bore.

Neat cartwheel, a Ferris Wheel, Don’t crash! That’s my new vase!

Little girl, turned Tilt-a-Whirl, Twirled Shabbos dress, such grace!

A water flume, in your bathroom, The floor’s become a pond, Landlord at door! Bring towels! More! This really is beyond!

Peek-a-boos and trips to zoos, Go get yourself a ticket, Not alone, go buy a cone, To share, and even lick it!

Oh, the wunda of Shmuel Kunda, Uncle Moishy’s so much fun, No more missin’, you can listen, Sing along now, everyone!

Shoulder rides, and laps-turned slides, You’re the main attraction, Popcorn-popping, bunny hopping, Never-ending action.

There’s a thrill, in every spill, Waiting couples want it, too, So please enter Great Adventures, Share our mission, we need you.

TO BE A Mother

Real-life GREAT ADVENTURE:

Mazel Tov to Bonei Olam’s first transplant baby!

Not long ago, Bonei Olam embarked on one of its greatest adventures ever – the facilitation of a transplant that would bring about the birth of a healthy baby. This summer, the long-awaited dream came true. A woman in our community gave birth, after just such a transplant. It was the first ever in the frum world. In the not-so-distant past, such a story would sound like science fiction – but today, it is reality.

Bonei Olam worked very closely with transplant teams, fertility specialists and rabbonim; and with incredible siyata dishmaya, was zocheh to help bring about this miracle that grants hope to so many couples with no other apparent path to parenthood.

('א ד"נ 'יעשי) הרקע ינר Sing! Rejoice! Celebrate! She sat in the school auditorium, frozen as ice. To her right and left were her very best friends – but today she felt completely alone. They’d come to hear a Rosh Chodesh speech from a world-famous speaker, and hundreds of girls’ eyes were glued to the dynamo at the podium.

“I’m not talking to sixteen-yearold girls,” Rebbetzin Feldman* thundered. “I’m talking to the mothers of the next generation! I’m talking to the future of Klal Yisroel!”

“The mothers of the next generation?” Suri* thought, and the words were a knife twisted in her heart. “The future of Klal Yisroel? Every single other girl here could be a mother of the next generation –but what about me? What about my future?”

Suri’s story began in her early teens, when a simple scan for a minor condition turned into a nightmare. The doctor had called her parents, and asked them to come down. Then he’d dropped a grenade into their otherwise-perfect lives.

“The issue you came for is not serious,” he’d said, “but the scan revealed something we weren’t even looking for.” He’d paused, in deference to the enormity of what he was about to say. Then he’d forged on.

“Your daughter has a serious defect,” he’d said. “She’s missing a critical organ – and won’t be able to bear children.” And he’d swiveled his computer screen to show them the source of the problem.

The couple stumbled out of his office, too shocked to speak. Their Suri? Charming, wonderful, brilliant Suri? The teen who loved nothing

more than to play with her baby nieces and nephews and neighbors – born without the ability to bear a child?

The news was enormous. Like a giant monster, its tentacles grasped everything in sight. Shidduchim! Family! Eternity! But right now, the only thing they could think of was how to break the news to their precious daughter. Thankfully, she’d just gone to camp, so they didn’t have to face her right away. Although he knew the situation was hopeless, and there was nothing Bonei Olam could do to help, that Shabbos afternoon, Suri’s father knocked on the door of Rabbi Bochner’s bungalow.

“It was a scorcher,” Rabbi Bochner recalls. “He’d braved a terrible heat wave, and walked on the country roads for an hour, zich oistzireden dos hartz – to unburden his broken heart. His face was bright red from heat.” Rabbi Bochner listened to the sad story. Suri’s father hadn’t yet fully absorbed the news – but one dilemma was pressing hardest on his heart.“How will we tell her?”

Rabbi Bochner advised the father to take his daughter to Eretz Yisroel, and break the news to her at the Kosel. “She’ll unleash her pain in tefillah,” he advised. “The Kosel will absorb her tears.” And so it was. Suri was thrilled at the unexpected trip with her parents, and could not possibly imagine that it was truly “the trip of a lifetime” - because it would mark the beginning of a life scarred with the terrible awareness that her future would be so different than anything she had ever imagined.

With the ancient wall looming before her, Suri’s parents broke the news. She threw herself at the Kosel, and wept and wept, until she could cry no more. Suri and her parents traveled around Eretz Yisroel, unburdening their hearts at mekomos hakedoshim. At Mearas Hamachpeila, they felt an overwhelming sense of connection to Sarah Imeinu.

“The pasuk says, Sarah was an akarah, ‘ein lah v’lad’ – she was barren, she had no child,’ Suri’s father said. “Chazal say, it’s a

double lashon – barren, without a child –because she was physically unable to give birth. Apparently, she had the same issue as young Suri.”

But deep in their hearts, the trio knew that although Sarah Imeinu merited one of the greatest miracles in the Torah, and gave birth in spite of her physical limitations, it was medically impossible for their own Suri’s story to have a similar ending.

Over the next few years, Suri became a master actress. By day, she laughed, studied, and shopped with her friends; at night, she wept and wept.

“I feel so different than my friends,” she said. “They’re so carefree; so looking forward to life, but I have nothing to look forward to. You know how girls talk. They’ve already figured out how to raise their children. But me? Every time someone starts talking about children, my heart twists again. I’m always on edge. Every conversation could turn dangerous.”

“Once, someone said something, and my eyes welled up. I rushed to the bathroom and cried for an hour. I couldn’t stop! The tears just kept coming and coming. I had to sneak out the side entrance of school and run home while everyone was in class, so no one would see my face.”

“I know I’ll never have a family. I may not even be able to get married. Who would marry a girl who can’t have children?”

Then, last year, in a story that sounded like science fiction, everything changed. A frum woman born with the very same issue had a transplant – and gave birth to a healthy baby! It was a medical breakthrough; an unimaginable triumph. This was one of the very first births in the world after such an operation! And Bonei Olam had facilitated the entire process!

Such transplants are extremely complex. They involve a host of specialties, and since they are not considered life-saving, and are still in an experimental stage, they are not covered by insurance. The cost is an astronomical $250,000. But Bonei Olam would not let dollars stand in their

way. Not when they knew tens of women whose lives could be transformed by such a surgery.

When Suri’s parents heard the news, they called Rabbi Bochner, and asked if she was a possible future candidate. After much consultation with experts, the answer came back: Yes! Suri’s father described the moment.

“We were sitting around the table, tears streaming down our faces. It was a miracle – our kriyas Yam Suf. In a moment, we’d gone from having zero chance of salvation, to hope! Everything changed. We’re going to look for a shidduch for Suri. She has a future! She’ll have a life! Suri has this to say about the change in her destiny:

“I must go back to Mearas Hamachpeila, to Sarah Imeinu. Because I feel she heard my tefillos. It’s incredible! The miracle of birth is possible for me. I am being given a chance to be a mother Sarah, to be a mother in Klal Yisroel.”

*name and identifying details have been changed

Since the first Bonei Olam transplant, tens of women have reached out to us for help. During the last Charidy campaign, Bonei Olam raised $2,000,000 specifically for this procedure. We’re already working with several women– at a cost of at least $250,000 per case. For these women, life has gone from darkness to light. Suri has every reason to be hopeful that one day, like her namesake and forebear, she will be a mother.

GREAT ADVENTURES

GRAND PRIZE!

“Welcome,” said the man, “Choose a stool, pick a place, Two dollars will let you Take part in this race.

The winner today Wins this soft cuddly prize, For this round, we’re going For super-cute size.”

I swallowed hard, plunked down My hard-earned green cash, Though it was quite nearly The last of my stash.

I picked up my water gun, Aimed for the dot, A horse was ahead, But alas, mine was not.

This wasn’t loss one, Or loss two, or loss three, If there was a winner At losing – ‘twas me!

On to the claw machineConcentrate! Aim! Steel claws grasp at air, Pinch my heart! Ouch! Such pain!

I had to win something, Come home with a prize, No matter the cost Or the number of tries.

By now, I was frantic, My pockets were bare, No cash meant no hope –And my heart filled with fear.

But then Bonei Olam Pressed cash in my hand, We’ll help you, they whispered, ‘Cuz we understand.

They stood at my side while I spun at a spinner, Were there when the mike screamed“Yay! WE HAVE A WINNER!””

I’d finally gotten my prize –what a win, My precious new baby, and her cuddly twin.

BORO PARK: 4217 13TH AVE / 718.431.2800

MONSEY: 27 ORCHARD ST / 845.352.9202

WILLIAMSBURG: 162 WALLABOUT ST / 718.387.8660

GREAT ADVENTURES

REFLECTIONS

I’m in the house of mirrors, How strange! It does appear, Turn right, turn left, look up or down, My mother’s everywhere.

I see her in the things I do Even the ones that (gasp!) I promised that I’d never do, Like the way my hands clasp.

The way I fold a towel, Dunk sweet cubes in my tea, And wave my hands when I tzind lecht, Admire every tree.

This mirror house is really strange, It reflects things she’d say, I find myself repeating them, I hear her voice all day.

“Remember where you’re coming from,” And “Family comes first,” “The dishes will not run away,” “It could have been much worse.”

She’s reflected in who I am, And in my family, And thanks to Bonei O, one day, My kids will reflect me!

Dedicated to all the mothers whose tefillos, actions and wise words are reflected in the lives of their children and grandchildren.

4706 16TH AVE 718-853-8789

An

incredible milestone for Bonei Olam; An astronomical achievement for Klal Yisroel.

It’s the greatest thrill on earth: to hear that another Bonei Olam couple gave birth, another roller coaster ride to parenthood reached its climactic conclusion. And you share it with us. Bonei Olam reached it’s 10,000th mazel tov this year. As we go to print, there are 10,565 babies – with new additions virtually every day. That’s incredible. But though 10,000+ is (10!) grand, it’s a bit misleading. Because the real number is one.

1 baby, Suri, born in Boro Park in 2001, after 6 years.

1 baby, Yitzchok, born in Lakewood in 2006, after 17 years.

1 baby, Mushky, born in Crown Heights in 2017, after 4 years.

Mazel tov! we reached 10k babies!

Bonei Olam is thrilled with every new addition to our family.

And through the excitement and celebration and joy, we never forget that it’s YOU we need to thank.

Because you join Bonei Olam in partnering with Hashem in helping 1 couple and 1 couple and 1 couple and 1 couple – 10,000 times!

Thank you for being part of our Great Adventure.

The Real Number

The official Bonei Olam number may be 10,565, but it’s really much higher. There are 10,000+ confirmed Bonei Olam cases. These are babies whose births we funded. The number doesn’t include the babies’ siblings (sometimes as many as ten!), born because we helped their parents get a treatment that enabled them to continue having children. It doesn’t include babies born after we gave their parents advice, without opening an official case. It doesn’t include babies born to couples we helped with shidduchim.

The real number is astronomical! It’s the fulfillment of the pasuk: הבבר יפלאל ייה תא וניתוחא

Our sister, may you be to thousands and to tens of thousands (ס ד"כ תישארב')

MY TURN ON THE MERRY GO ROUND

One fine afternoon, in the middle of June, We went for a stroll in the city, And found, to our pleasure, that there was a treasure, A carousel, playing a ditty.

“Let’s ride,” cried my boy, and I laughed with great joy, As I hoisted him up to the seat, A galloping horse, brightly colored, of course, With stirrups just right for small feet.

Up and down, up and down, and around and around, Horses pranced, and the sight of my boy, Made my heart simply swoon, on this fine day in June, Thanks to you, I’m a Mommy! What joy!

FUN WITH THE MITZVA KINDER

HOUSE BUCKET NEW SHUL SIMCHA SET NEIGHBOR SET CHANUKA COLORING BOOK BOOK- PESACH IN YIDDISH BOOK- SHABBOS IN ENGLISH PUZZLE- CLASSROOM 24 PIECE PUZZLE- PLAYROOM 100 PIECE PURIM MENCHIES

SPONSORED BY MITZVA

KINDER

AT HOME WITH MITZVA KINDER

HOUSE

5 TYPES OF ROOMS

NEW- CHILDREN'S ROOM SHABBOS SET

PUZZLE- CLASSROOM 24 PC

PUZZLE- PLAYROOM 100 PC FAMILY COLORING BOOK

NEW-PAINT PENCIL

BOOK- PESACH IN YIDDISH

BOOK- ZIMMER IN YIDDISH

Kesher: To Tie tthe Knot

“Bonei Olam was our Shadchan”

When Chaim Goldstein was diagnosed with cancer, his mother felt like she’d been caught in a war zone. Frightful realities hit her. Chemo. Radiation. Surgery. Family. Work. But one word hit her like a bomb.

Shidduchim.

Chaim was a wonderful Chassidishe boy, and at nineteen, had already been ‘on the market’ for half a year. And now this. They had to focus on survival, of course. But through all the pain and disruption, she couldn’t put the fear out of her mind:

How would they find Chaim a shidduch?

Enter Kesher Networks, Bonei Olam’s new shidduch initiative. Kesher Networks maintains a massive online database of boys and girls with every type of medical condition, from serious to innocuous. The database includes users from every country on the globe, and opens users to shidduch possibilities they would never have known about otherwise.

“Shidduchim are very nuanced. There are so many factors at play. You can’t just take a boy with diabetes and a girl with diabetes, and presto, a shidduch!” says Mrs. S. Schwartz, who worked with Bonei Olam to establish Kesher Networks. She explains how it works.

“The website has filters. A user – a parent or single – creates a profile, and can select what he or she would find suitable.” A typical search would feature an age range, Judaism type (Litvish, Chassidish, Mizrachi, etc.) ethnicity (Ashkenazi, Sephardi, etc.), and other relevant questions, including a list of medical conditions the boy or girl would possibly consider in a spouse.

The “conditions” list reads like a medical manual, with well-known and obscure conditions alike. Cancer, anxiety disorders, diabetes and celiac are listed alongside rarer diseases, such as genetic illnesses and fertility disorders. Cancer, genetics and fertility disorders are Bonei Olam priorities – which partly explains why Bonei Olam established the program.

“Everyone knows me for my work at Bonei Olam, but not many know that I’m also a shadchan,” Rabbi Bochner says. The twinkle in his eyes makes it obvious that he takes great pride in the title.

“It makes sense. People call, for example, many years after we helped them with a child that had cancer. They want to know, ‘do I know of someone who also had cancer who would marry their child? Or maybe someone with a different challenge who would take a cancer survivor?’ Very often, the answer is yes.”

“It’s the same with genetics. Our genetics counselors are top of the field. They know what conditions are hereditary, and they know how to work with couples after they get married, so they can have healthy children.”

But the real Bonei Olam connection runs deeper.

“Bonei Olam is about building families,” Rabbi Bochner says. “And building families starts with shidduchim. If a person isn’t married, he can’t start a family.” He points out that if a person waits for a shidduch, he or she could be missing out on crucial child-bearing years.

“If a girl with a condition, say, epilepsy, can’t find a shidduch until she’s thirty-eight, she’s losing precious time. Her chances at having a family are much lower than if she would get married in her twenties.” Kesher Networks opens the entire Jewish world to her and gives her a chance at finding a match – and starting a family – way sooner.

Kesher Networks is Bonei Olam’s second foray into the shidduch scene. The first was Ohel Sarala, which matches singles with waiting couples, bringing bracha to both. Ohel Sarala was founded at the behest of Harav Aron Leib Shteinman, zatzal, who said that two things give him no rest – the plight of singles and the plight of couples waiting for children. Kesher Networks brings the two causes together again.

PROJECT OF BONEI OLAM

The program is a boon to countless singles. But it’s much more than a high-tech solution to a problem. Kesher is a program with heart. Its biggest asset is the people behind it.

“This isn’t your typical database, where people can conduct their own searches,” Mrs. Schwartz explains. “The site is manned by specialized shadchanim. We review the data and speak to both parties.” That is a critical point, for two reasons.

Number one is confidentiality. Kesher will never release identifying details of any registrant until permission is granted – typically after phone conversations that determine basic compatibility. Many of the registrants keep their conditions private, so maintaining confidentiality is crucial.

Another reason we have a team of shadchanim on site is to guide our registrants in understanding the medical data that comes along with a potential match. Most people don’t understand the conditions listed, and might turn down a perfectly-suitable idea.

Already, Kesher Networks has been instrumental in bringing about multiple shidduchim. As word gets around and the database grows, the number of shidduchim grows exponentially. There is no limit to its potential.

“We just facilitated a shidduch between a Canadian boy who survived cancer and an American girl with a genetic condition. They’re from completely different circles and have almost no mutual connections – but are so suited to each other; you can see Hashem’s Hand at bringing them together. Bonei Olam provided the kesher. We were Hashem’s shlichim.”

Kesher Networks is the Jewish community’s answer to the daunting world of shidduchim for medically challenged singles. Kesher assists people suffering from every possible ailment – from the most serious, like active cancer, to mild conditions, like celiac. Confidentiality is guaranteed, so registrants have nothing to lose – and so much to gain! Shadchanim can access the shadchan portion of the site, but will not receive identifying information without the consent of the user and Kesher facilitator. To sign up, visit keshernetworks.org or call 212-330-7644.

NETWORKS

A

as mo t h ers stand in candl e l i g h t da v ening for their chil d r en some wonder

will I ever be a mother?

Three years ago, 18,000 women began helping one childless couple every week, by donating $1 a week at hadlakos neiros towards

47,025

STARS OF THE AUCTION

We call them Star Raisers, because they’re the true stars of Bonei Olam’s auctions: dedicated women who put their lives on hold and reach out to YOU – so that we can fund the treatments that turn women into mothers and couples into families.

Who are they? Why do they do it? How does it change their lives? What keeps them at it, year after year after year?

Everyone has a story. Everyone knows someone who waited or is waiting for a child.” She pauses, and adds – “It’s such a zechus. The raisers see such nissim!” So many times, she says, the siyata dishmaya is obvious – like a wink from shamayim.

One woman signed up as a volunteer as a zechus for her cousin, who was waiting for a child. She made an event in her house, and invited her cousin to help set up. One year later, the hostess made a bris – on the very same day her cousin made a pidyon haben!

Another woman says she volunteers as a zechus. She considers it “a good insurance policy” – a source of blessing in her life. One year, she did it as a merit for a friend who was struggling with secondary infertility for five years. That year, she and her friend both were expecting – and were due on the same date!

Devoiry recently met a woman in the pharmacy. She struck up a conversation, and mentioned Bonei Olam. The woman one-upped her.

“There was no Bonei Olam when I needed help,” said Devoiry S., a longtime volunteer, when we reached out to ask her about her years of giving.

“We were on our own. Today it’s so different.”

Baruch Hashem, Devoiry’s story has a happy ending, but she’ll never forget the pain and desperation of waiting for a child. It’s what drives her to help others get the support that was so sorely missing in her life. And so, when Bonei Olam opened in 2000, she was one of the first to volunteer.

“I volunteer to thank Hashem for His great chassadim,” she says. “It’s a matter of hakaras hatov.” She considers the auction her pet project.

“In auction season, I become one-track minded. Whenever and wherever I meet people, I ask them for their contact information, so I can call and ask them to enter.” How do people respond to her solicitations?

“Oh, it’s incredible. People become so animated, so excited. They want to be part of what Bonei Olam does. And they want to share their stories.

“I’ll tell you about Bonei Olam,” she said. “I’m coming from the kimpatorin heim. I just had a baby after a seven-year break. I donated to the auction as a zechus - I wanted another baby so badly! I’m not the only one who was gebenched with a baby after many years.

“A nurse in the hospital asked me, ‘what happened nine months ago? We’re having so many Jewish babies!’” It was nine months since the auction!

In her years of volunteering, Devoiry’s had her share of encounters with women waiting for a yeshuah.

“One woman confided that she feels terrible to be taking tzedakah funds. I told her, ‘This is Hashem’s money. It’s money that was given to tzedakah by Klal Yisroel. It has zechus harabbim attached to it. That’s why Bonei Olam has such siyata dishmaya.” Devoiry concludes:

The heichal haneshamos, the heavenly hall of souls, needs to be emptied before Moshiach can come. By volunteering for Bonei Olam, I’m doing my part to hasten Moshiach’s arrival.”

ESTY W.

started volunteering for Bonei Olam just after she got married, when she was asked to reach out to her classmates before the auction.

“It was much easier then,” she says. “It was only my classmates, and I didn’t have a family.” Today, with four children underfoot, and work, simchas and other obligations competing for her time, it’s a major undertaking. But every time she entertains the thought of quitting, she can’t.

“I am so blessed not to have needed Bonei Olam,” she says. “I’m happy to be making calls FOR Bonei Olam, not TO Bonei Olam. But although she herself never experienced the struggle of waiting, she experienced the pain vicariously.

“My brother and his wife waited seven years for a child,” she says. It was excruciating to watch them suffer – especially because there was nothing she could do to help. Today, their experience accompanies her through every phone call.

“When I make phone calls and ask my friends to enter the auction, I know where the money’s going,” she says. “I just want to give others what Bonei Olam has given our family.” It’s not easy to keep up her volunteering – but Esty can’t stop. Not when she looks around her own home and delights in her family; not when she’s so aware of how badly the couples need the community’s support.

Last year, she was feeling very overwhelmed, and seriously considered giving up her list. But then she decided to continue, as a zechus for a particular couple.

“I just heard that they’re expecting!” she says. “It’s like a message from Above, letting me know that my calls are making a difference. I can’t stop volunteering. It’s too important.”

To our Raisers, who send emails and messages and texts; who call, and call back, and call back again; who reach out to relatives, neighbors, friends, friends of friends, country mates, business associates, and who-knows-who-else, because you care so much about our couples;

And to our donors – YOU – who open your hearts and pockets, and answer the phone for our Raisers, and give more than you really can, and tell us how much you care, and thank us for the opportunity to help, because you would do anything to help waiting couples; we say -

Thank you for joining Bonei Olam in our avodas hakodesh. Your efforts make you a partner with Hashem in bringing children to the world.

~ Bonei Olam

DONORS TELL US WHY THEY GIVE TO BONEI OLAM

I GIVE BECAUSE

“…I’m so grateful to have a family, without needing Bonei Olam.”

“…as a zechus for my newly married couple.”

“…When I give, Hashem gives back to me. Last year, on the day I donated to Bonei Olam, I was in a serious accident. I walked out without a scratch. תוממ ליצת הקדצ!”

“…as a zechus. My daughter was having a major fertility crisis, and the doctor was very pessimistic about her chances.

I gave a large donation, and the problem was resolved that month. She is expecting a baby.”

“…my sister is waiting for three years, and this is the only thing I can do for her, besides for daven.”

“…I’ll be honest. I want to win! The money is going to Bonei Olam, so I allow myself to buy more tickets.”

“… my friend cries to me about her daughter, who is married four years already. When she calls me for Bonei Olam, the least I can do is give a large donation.”

“…Bonei Olam wasn’t around when I was struggling. I want to help today’s couples, so they don’t go through what I went through.”

“…It’s my answer to Hitler, ש”מי He killed so many Yiddishe babies. I want to help new babies be born.”

“…Bonei Olam was there for me when I needed them.”

“…I want to do something for this incredible organization.”

CONCEPT & COPY

Frimet Blum 718.258.4426

FrimetBlum@gmail.com

Thank You!

WE COULDN’T HAVE DONE IT WITHOUT YOU!

Blimy Amsel

Shaindy Apter

Esther Beck

Leah Berg

CREATIVE + DESIGN + PRINT

Devoiry Berger Chaya Berko Shoshana Berliner

Chanie Bochner

Robin Bochner Chaya Peri Bodek

Leah Bornfreund Pessy Bornfreund

Devoiry Braun

Baila Frankel Chani Friedman Layee Friedman Leah Friedman Riki Friedman Suri Friedman

Zlaty Fruchter Raizy Gelbman

www.ptexgroup.com 1-888-977-7839

CREATIVE

Mushky Polak

Chana Snyder

Asher Lowy

Miriam Reifman

Yaffa Eichler

Mattie Holtzberg

Faigy Akda

PRODUCER

Motty Reisz

PHOTOGRAPHY

Naftoli Marasow

Esther Breuer Machla Cohen Melanie Dahan D'vory Dembitzer Shoshana Dembitzer

Raizy Deutsch Ruchella Eckstein Shlomit Eichler

Toby Engel Breindy Feig Gitty Feldheim Chani Feldman Malka Esther Fischl Rivkie Fishman Raizy Fogel Henna Fonfeder

Roizy Glauber Chaya Gluckstadt Chaya Goldy Green Bracha Sima Gobioff Itty Goldklang Temy Gratt Surie Greenbaum

Etty Gross Feigy Guttman Goldy Guttman Miriam Gutman Raizel Esther Hershkowitz Yenty Hershkowitz Rutti Hertanu Charny Herzog Dvoiry Herzog Chany Hirsh Yenty Hochheiser Rivky Hollander Chayala Horowitz

COORDINATORS

Miriam Blima Aker

Yitty Beilush

Esty Bernstein

Esty Bittman

Idy Bleich

Devoiry Braun

Esther Breuer

Hindy Brodt Malky Brody

Raizy Brull

Chaya Roizy Dana

Tziry Davidson

Zissy Derbaremdiger

Hinda Leah Ekstein

Etty Erps

Beily Fasten

Tzirel Fein

Bonei Olam would like to express deep appreciation to our outstanding medical advisory counselors, who meet this challenge 24/6.

Miriam Frank Chaya Esty Fried Breindel Friedman

Ricki Geller

Menny Gluck

Yachy Goldberg

Chaya Yenty Goldberger

Leah Esther Gordon

Baily Greenfeld

Mimi Greenfeld

Sury Grunbaum

Hudy Hecht

Chayala Herschlag

Libby Hershkowitz

Ruchy Hershkowitz

Yachet Hirsch

Maity Hirsch

Yenty Hochhauser

Ettel Horowitz Ruchella Horowitz Chany Illes Miriam Esty Itzkowitz Rochie Junik Goldy Kaff Toby Katz Aliza Klein Chanzy Klein Shevy Klein Rivkie Kleinbart Esther Ruchy Kohn Goldy Kohn Chaya Sura Langsam Shiffy Lebowitz Shaindel Levovic Ruchel Mirel Levy Gitty Lichtman Chany Linder Chayala Lowy Brandel Lunger Sura Zlata Lunger Chana Sarah Maimon Brana Mauskopf Rivky Meisels Shaindy Meisels Matty Mertz Perri Miller Bailu Moskowitz

Chaya Mossberg Devoiry Muller Rivky Muller Yitty Muller Miriam Myski Hila Nachmani Goldy Noe Maryam Nussbaum Shany Oldek Libby Oster Rivky Pasternak Idy Perlmutter Devoiry Pollack Mimi Rabinowitz Gitty Reichman Esther Rokeach Rivky Rokove Yehudis Rosen Esty Rosenberg Goldy Rosenberg Miri Rosenberger Pesha Raizel Rosenfeld Rechy Rosenfeld Chaya Rossman Leah Zissel Silver Esty Singer Devoiry Spitz Yitty Spielman Esther Raizy Steiner

Perry Steinmetz

Draizy Sternhell

Aliza Sturm

Miriam Leah Taubenfeld Chana Mindel Tauber Sara Todd

Reb. Chana Twersky Chaya Bluma Twerski Yocheveth Twersky Esty Tyberg

Chevy Ungar Esther Dassy Ungar Bruchy Vizhnitzer Esther Goldy Walter Mirel Weber Chaya Wieder Dini Weiss Esther Weiss Rivky Weiss Libby Wenger Etty Wertzberger Basya Wosner Yitty Wosner Lany Zajac Sura Rochel Zorger

Henny Mayerowitz Ruchy Mendlowitz

Toby Mertz

Tzila Monheit

Tzippy Moshkowitz Devoire Moskowitz

Devoiry Muller

Rivky Muller Shaindy Muller

Libby Oster

Faigy Spira

Devoiry Spitz

Chaya Sury Spitzer

Goldy Stark

Chana Hindy Stein

Ruchy Stessel

Chumi Tannenbaum

Chaya Sury Ungar

Chevy Unger

Devora Zeldy Horowitz

Esty Itzkowitz

Tzipora Yides Jacob

Goldy Kaff

Sura Shevy Katina

Ruchel Henny Klein

Sossy Knopfler

Nissy Krishevsky

Tova Krupka

Bruchy Landau

Chanie Lax

Mindy Levy

Dini Lowy

Faiga Ruchy Lowy Brana Mauskopf

Toba Pessy Porges

Hindy Rabi

Rivky Reinhold Shaindy Reinhold

Idy Rosen

Leah Rosenberg

Leah Chani Rothbardt Chany Safdie Rivky Samuel Bruchy Schonfeld

Miriam Schwartz

Raizy Schwartz Rochel Leah Schwartz Shoshana Segal Chaya Ruchy Spielman

Rochel Zissel Unger

Malky Weiser

Leah Weiss

Hindy Wertzberger

Sury Wertzberger

Yitty Wertzberger

Maity Wieder

Peri Wiesel

Itta Surie Wirtzberger

Shevy Wiznitzer

Chaya Suri Wolf

Rivky Wosner

Sura Rochel Zorger

Bonei Olam 1755 46th Street Brooklyn, NY 11204