Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital announced on Wednesday, that the Head of the NGO Efrat, Dr. Eli Schussheim was Niftar at the age of 80.
Dr. Schussheim Z”L, headed the organization known as Efrat, whose mission is to empower women who feel that they have no alternative but to end their pregnancy due to crippling socio-economic constraints.
Dr. Schussheim collapsed while davening for the amud during a family celebration last Shabbos. He was rushed to the hospital and put in the intensive care unit. He remained in critical condition until his Petira on Wednesday.
Dr. Schussheim was born in Argentina to parents who fled Europe prior to the Second World War. When he made Aliyah, he began working at Shaare Zedek as a surgeon. Then he began working at Hadassah Ein Kerem as well. He founded the senior’s residence known as Neve Simcha.
Dr. Eli Schussheim has headed the organization since 1977. Under his leadership, EFRAT has supported Jewish childbirth by supporting mothers who would otherwise abort their children if they didn’t have the support of Efrat. Since then, Efrat has assisted more than 75,000 mothers who otherwise would have had an abortion.
In addition to his work with Efrat, Dr. Schussheim was the personal doctor of more than 40 Gedolei HaDor including Rabbi Kaduri, Rabbi Aryeh Levine, the Pnei Menachem of Gur, Rabbi Mordehai Eliyahu, and the current Belzer Rebbe as well as many others.
Interior Minister Aryeh Deri spoke about Dr. Schussheim after hearing of his death and said: “It was with great sadness that I received the news of the tragic passing of my good friend, the head of the Efrat NGO Dr. Eli Schussheim Z”L. Dr. Schussheim, the savior of children, dedicated his life to saving lives and saving the lives of tens of thousands of Israeli children who all owe him their lives. He worked as the personal doctor of many Gedolim for numerous decades and the name of heaven was sanctified through all of the work he did. I send my sincerest condolences to his family. May you comforted by the legacy that he left behind him.”
Boruch Dayan HaEmmes…
(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
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4 Responses
Boruch Dayan Haemes – this is a great loss to Klal Yisroel!
Baruch Dayan Haemes
Dr. Schussheim saved the universe; many thousands of times.
i met him once , he had such a drive to help the ” pechusim shebeyisroel ” so many times there were philanthropists that werent so ethusiastic about his cause , even at times questioning maybe its better… yet he was never discouraged . i have an Israeli friend who was eating in a restaurant and the waitress somehow opened up to them that she was pregnant and had scheduled reluctantly an abortion because there was no way to have a baby and continue working till midnight in a restaurant , my friend called me and i am a nobody so i googled efrat number and called, within an hr dr. shussheim himself called back on a 3 way w a social worker and saved the kid unfortunately i have not kept up with them .. zechuso hagadol began eden
I think he used to get Maftir Yonah in Belz every year. (Or some other big kibbud)