[COMMUNICATED] The Vaad HaRabbanim offices are a busy hub of applications, phone calls, and checks. One family at a time, the details are checked and those in need are able to get help. One phone call in the hachnasas kallah department recently however, left an employee speechless. “It was absolutely heartbreaking.”
Blumi Yaverbom*, a smiley young kindergarten teacher with glasses, has been through more than most girls her age. For most of her life, abuse and chaos wreaked havoc on her family. Ultimately, rabbanim got involved. The 9 Yaverbom kids now live with their mother, who works full time as a cosmetic salesperson to support them.
Now that Blumi is engaged, she has no family support with which to make a simple chasuna or cover the other basic expenses of getting married. It is a source of great pain and embarrassment to a family that has already endured living nightmares.
Tragically, in today’s day and age, abuse and mental health concerns are not uncommon. We who are blessed to have stable homes have a choice: Will we turn our eyes away, or reach out to help?
Blumi’s hachnasas kallah fund offers readers the chance to choose which side of history they would like to be on.
*Details changed to protect the family’s privacy.