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Zeh LaZeh is a unique organization that cares for the needs of over 1300 widows and their children in Eretz Yisroel, under the auspices of Rebbetzin Raizy Rottenberg. More than a dsecade ago, Rebbetzin Rottenberg founded Zeh LaZeh to answer the silent cries of women and children who have nowhere else to turn. |
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The Rebbetzin has been propelled into a position of responsibility, beyond the realm of expectations for her shoulders.
Rebbetzin Rottenberg often mentions her father, the late Toldos Aharon Rebbe zt"l, and the responsibility he placed on her shoulders before his petirah - to dedicate herself to helping widows and their children.
She also often alludes to her Tatte in Himmel, her Father in Heaven, saying she is nothing but His messenger, His sh'liach, His simple servant.
In 1995, Zeh LaZeh started with just eight widows and their families and has since evolved into an organization of tremendous proportions, servicing an unprecedented 1,300 widows and their families.
For the average person, it is impossible to fathom the scarred emotional landscape of a widow's mind; her fears, her struggles, her concerns, her issues, her insecurities. How she worries about her children whose world has crumbled; they have no father to guide them, inspire them and discipline them. What will happen if the children stay home from school? Who can speak to the children; who can speak to the teachers. An widow's worries, both mundane and bizarre, the weight on her shoulders -spiritual, emotional, physical and intellectual responsibilities are magnified one hundred fold. They can occupy her nights and her days as they rob her of normal life.
Zeh la Zeh understands the mindset of widows of all ages and circumstances - whether they are young women with newborns, mothers of little ones, women with children or marriageable age, or those who wait for their grandchildren to visit - and they tailor initiatives all through the year to give support, comfort and chizuk.
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| Zeh LaZeh is Rebbetzin Raizy Rottenberg |
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Rebbetzin Rottenberg takes the pleitzos (shoulders the burden) of more than 1300 widows and their children
Rebbetzin Raizy is numero uno, second to none in the lives of the hundreds of lives she touches. She is the one all the widows are drawn to and they trust her implicitly.
Her dynamic personality and charisma are a reflection of the genuine empathy she feels for each of the more than 1300 widows and their families she has taken under her wing.
She understands that widowhood is a long term situation and the widows she takes under her wing become her concern through thick and thin, not only for today and tomorrow, but for the long road ahead.
Rebbetzin Rottenberg, who calls the widows her sisters, plays a major role in the lives of these widows who she treats like her own family. Through raising and educating the children and marrying them off, to assisting during medical emergencies and making Yom Tov, Rebbetzin Rottenberg is a "rock solid support system." She is even there to mediate uncomfortable situations between family members and solves problems before they get out of control.
Leading Rabbanim, Rebbes and Roshei Yeshiva, consult with Rebbetzin Rottenberg on delicate issues and trust her intuition. Just like a mother understand what is best for her children, the Rebbetzin understands all aspects of the needs of widows who are willing to accept assistance from her without feeling undignified. She shoulders their burdens, pleads their causes, whether it is getting children into yeshiva or seminary or taking up an issue with a teacher or principal.
It is "Rebbetzin Raizy" that the widows want, need and search out. She is the Rebbe/Rebbetzin/Mother/Father/Sister figure all rolled into one for the widows and their children, all the while carrying the enormous financial burden on her shoulders.
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| WHAT MAKES ZEH LA ZEH DIFFERENT? |
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Often imitated but never duplicated
Zeh LaZeh is an unusual organization, sensitive to the needs of the individual while providing unconditional service 24 hours a day which means that the mother and her children will get, for as long as they are in need, everything they require from one source.
She has made it Zeh LaZeh's policy to do whatever is humanly possible to help widows and their children from the second when darkness descends on their world after the loss of the husband and father. Her team includes dedicated volunteers and remunerated avreichim and professionals.
The Rebbetzin's goal in the very early days is to give the mother koach hanefesh to carry on, to put a smile on her face, and to continue with her life with dignity, as she begins to fulfill her new tafkid, as the family begins to function in some sense of normalcy.
It is impossible to fathom the scarred emotional landscape of a widow's mind; her fears, her struggles, her concerns, her issues, her insecurities. How she worries about her children whose world has crumbled they have no father to guide them, inspire them and discipline them. What will happen if the children stay home more days from school? Who can speak to the children; who can speak to the teachers?
When a child loses a parent he feels that he has lost the foundation of his entire existence; there is no hope; there is no one to make it all better; there will never be anything good in his life. He feels life is over. If his father passed away, his mother can't talk to him about these feelings, because to some degree, they are her own as well. Days can pass, then weeks, then months, and the boy will not learn, will not go to shul, will not smile. Seconds can pass, then minutes, then hours in which the mother will not be able to cope, she will not be able to see a future different from the here and now.
Zeh LaZeh offers life after death to widows and their children.
When a seven year old boy walks into shul and sees that his Tatte's nameplate has been removed from the seat in which he sat until his petirah.
A few weeks ago, that child feels like he doesn't exist, like he has been erased.
When a nine year old boy walks into shul and sees all his friends sitting with their fathers who are davening with them, learning with them, worrying with them and pinching their cheeks with love, that child feels that no one is looking out for him and he feels like a nebach.
Zeh LaZeh works tirelessly to anticipate such circumstances and prevent them from happening, or to nip such incidents in the bud quickly and effectively.
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