In Tel Tzion in Binyamin, coronavirus struck the Buchris family in an extreme manner: Both parents tested positive for infection, as did 3 of the children.
The father ended up in with a severe response to the disease and was hospitalized & put on ventilation.
The mother, only 2 weeks after her ninth(!) birth, experienced a much easier response to the infection, but still could not be at home.
Even worse, 3 of the 9 children, including the oldest (a 13-year-old girl) who tested positive for coronavirus were also removed from the home, leaving the home without a capable caretaker.
Who would care for the 6 remaining very young children during this pandemic — and only a couple of weeks before Pesach?
That's when 16-year-old Tamar Heinman stepped up to plate.
Tamar also lives in Tel Tzion and when she heard about the desperate situation, she volunteered to go live in the Buchris home and care for the children for as long as necessary.
Not only did this up her risk for infection (remember, the virus remains alive on some surfaces for an extended time), it meant that in addition to caring for 6 young children whom she never met and who don't know her either, she must clean their home & ready their kitchen for Pesach, and also prepare and conduct the Pesach Seder — all by herself.
No help & no reprieve, no matter how tired or stressed she felt.
In an interview that took place outside as Tamar stood on the Buchris porch, Tamar said,
The father ended up in with a severe response to the disease and was hospitalized & put on ventilation.
The mother, only 2 weeks after her ninth(!) birth, experienced a much easier response to the infection, but still could not be at home.
Even worse, 3 of the 9 children, including the oldest (a 13-year-old girl) who tested positive for coronavirus were also removed from the home, leaving the home without a capable caretaker.
Who would care for the 6 remaining very young children during this pandemic — and only a couple of weeks before Pesach?
That's when 16-year-old Tamar Heinman stepped up to plate.
Tamar also lives in Tel Tzion and when she heard about the desperate situation, she volunteered to go live in the Buchris home and care for the children for as long as necessary.
Not only did this up her risk for infection (remember, the virus remains alive on some surfaces for an extended time), it meant that in addition to caring for 6 young children whom she never met and who don't know her either, she must clean their home & ready their kitchen for Pesach, and also prepare and conduct the Pesach Seder — all by herself.
No help & no reprieve, no matter how tired or stressed she felt.
In an interview that took place outside as Tamar stood on the Buchris porch, Tamar said,
Ultimately, I knew I'll fall ill too...Was I scared? Yes, a little bit. It's corona and everyone's talking about it and everything.
But I'm young and I have, baruch Hashem, a healthy immune system.
I ultimately decided this [her healthy immune system & youth] outweighs that [the certainty of infection] and to come and help and everything. That outweighs the fear.
It's wasn't easy for Tamar.
She needed to be both father & mother to all 6 children from morning until night.
The children didn't know her and she needed to establish gentle, loving authority without the on-hand support of the children's parents (who are in phone-contact with their children, but cannot provide backing any other way).
Tamar's parents helped as much as they could from the outside: laundry, supplies, shopping, etc.
It has been very difficult for them as parents themselves to allow their daughter into such a situation, but Tamar was so committed to the idea of helping, plus the thought of leaving 6 young children on their own was chilling.
Social services also assisted in whatever they could.
In an interview three days before the Pesach Seder, Tamar said,
She needed to be both father & mother to all 6 children from morning until night.
The children didn't know her and she needed to establish gentle, loving authority without the on-hand support of the children's parents (who are in phone-contact with their children, but cannot provide backing any other way).
Tamar's parents helped as much as they could from the outside: laundry, supplies, shopping, etc.
It has been very difficult for them as parents themselves to allow their daughter into such a situation, but Tamar was so committed to the idea of helping, plus the thought of leaving 6 young children on their own was chilling.
Social services also assisted in whatever they could.
In an interview three days before the Pesach Seder, Tamar said,
I knew I would make the Seder night here.
I said it would be sadder if they'd make a Seder without any parents.
I hope everything will work out okay. I'll get sick and...we'll see, with Hashem's Help.
Probably some people think that Tamar took too big a risk.
But she speaks intelligently about the virus, clearly knowledgeable that the death rate (especially in Eretz Yisrael) is pretty low and also affecting only those who are decades older than she, and with underlying health problems.
For what it's worth, I think Tamar's decision to help the family shows good sense, plus tremendous compassion and fortitude.
Ultimately, I hope she merits as shidduch who is as sensible, compassionate, and dedicated as she obviously is, b'ezrat Hashem.
She seems so quiet & tzanuah and just like any other frum girl, but what an amazing person she is!
Also, it's worth noting that Tamar & the Buchris family are not of the same ethnic group. Clearly, they also follow different rabbanim, which includes different customs for Pesach. There's no doubt Tamar received halachic guidance about everything and that local rabbanim made themselves available for any halachic issues that came up, but putting everything together, Tamar shows profound ahavat Yisrael.
Mi k'Amcha Yisrael? Who is like Your Nation Israel?
(BTW, the father is healthy now and I believe the Buchris family is back to normal.)
But she speaks intelligently about the virus, clearly knowledgeable that the death rate (especially in Eretz Yisrael) is pretty low and also affecting only those who are decades older than she, and with underlying health problems.
For what it's worth, I think Tamar's decision to help the family shows good sense, plus tremendous compassion and fortitude.
Ultimately, I hope she merits as shidduch who is as sensible, compassionate, and dedicated as she obviously is, b'ezrat Hashem.
She seems so quiet & tzanuah and just like any other frum girl, but what an amazing person she is!
Also, it's worth noting that Tamar & the Buchris family are not of the same ethnic group. Clearly, they also follow different rabbanim, which includes different customs for Pesach. There's no doubt Tamar received halachic guidance about everything and that local rabbanim made themselves available for any halachic issues that came up, but putting everything together, Tamar shows profound ahavat Yisrael.
Mi k'Amcha Yisrael? Who is like Your Nation Israel?
(BTW, the father is healthy now and I believe the Buchris family is back to normal.)
This was all reported in the Hebrew Hidabroot, except for the information about the father's recovery, which my son heard from a cousin of the Buchris family.
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