Retired CPA invests in 'mitzvah heroes'

Charitable fund backs work of those who help others in Israel

LOU HIRSH
Managing Editor

Since 1984, Scottsdale resident Stan Mayersohn has been running Tzedakah Fund Inc., which supports social-service programs in Israel.

Chances are, you've never heard of Hadassah Levy, an Israeli woman raising 38 children with Down's syndrome who were abandoned at birth. Or Trevor Gurewitz, a paraplegic leading a team that designs equipment to help others like himself lead normal working lives, including a doctor at Hadassah Hospital.

You likely don't know of the work of Rachel Chalkowsky, an Israeli hospital midwife, who with other volunteers, operates a welfare system funded by private contributions, headquartered in her kitchen. Then there's Clare Hammer, the "Chicken Lady" of Jerusalem, who delivers free chickens and other food to impoverished families for Shabbat. At age 87, she tends to 93 families.

They are known to few people in the United States. But to Scottsdale resident Stan Mayersohn, they are heroes - "mitzvah heroes" to be exact.

Since 1984, Mayersohn has been running Tzedakah Fund Inc., a nonprofit organization certified by the Internal Revenue Service to receive tax-deductible contributions. Mayersohn sends money raised by the fund to Israel, where it goes to help individual "mitzvah heroes" carry out good works for those who fall through the cracks of larger social-service programs.

"The mitzvah heroes devote their lives to caring for the members of the family - everyone is a member of the family - who are physically or mentally hurt, whether by accident or genetic misplacement or terrorist bomb," says Mayersohn, 77. He adds that the people helped by the Tzedakah Fund include the blind, the lonely elderly, the poor and hungry, and battered women and children.

The retired certified public accountant says he was inspired to create the local Tzedakah Fund, which is one of only about six such programs in the U.S., when he heard of work being done in Maryland by philanthropist Danny Segal. Mayersohn says his long-term goal when he created the fund was to raise $8,000, but the reality has far surpassed that dream. The fund has raised and given away about $285,000 since its inception - with $45,500 of that distributed in the last fiscal year alone.

The fund's success is due not only to the generosity of donors, he says, but also to the wide network of "mitzvah heroes" carrying out their work in Israel.

"Sometimes it's just one person running a soup kitchen in Jerusalem," Mayersohn says. "There are one-person organizations like that all over Israel."

About 30 organizations in Israel are able to make use of the funds. Programs helped during the past fiscal year, which ended June 30, included: Beit Tzipporah, a battered-women's shelter; Ezrat Avot, a social center and kitchen providing meals and education programs for the elderly and poor; Independent Living, a volunteer organization that helps the disabled become self-sufficient; and The Roof, a program that cares for demobilized Israeli soldiers with no families to turn to after military service.

But there is still much to be done, Mayersohn says, and operating the fund consumes much time and energy for him and his wife, Betty, who have been Valley residents since 1970. So Mayersohn recently arranged to have Phoenix resident Nina Targovnik take over as administrator of the fund, while Mayersohn continues to hold the title of director.

With some of his time freed up, Mayersohn plans to pursue other Israel-oriented interests, including "Restovus News," which he's been publishing for the past year. The newsletter, which is not connected to the Tzedakah Fund, carries news, features and political commentaries that emphasize positive developments coming out of Israel.

"The mainstream media often just doesn't paint a true picture of what is happening in Israel, and what Israel is up against," says Mayersohn, adding the newsletter now has about 300 subscribers and is funded through volunteer contributions.

But just because he's giving up some of the administrative duties of the Tzedakah Fund, that doesn't mean he'll stop indulging in his "mitzvah-hero" worship. Mayersohn says he's only lightening his workload, not his commitment to the cause.

"It's been very fulfilling to do this. It's the culmination of my life's work," he says.

For more information on Tzedakah Fund Inc., write to 1030 E. Keim Drive, Phoenix, AZ 85014; or contact Mayersohn at 945-5354 or by e-mail at smayersohn@juno.com.

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