The Kirschbaum family of Beit Shemesh have had a horrific whirlwind of a week, as they sat shiva for their teenage son, one of the 45 people killed in the Meron tragedy. While this is enough to have them processing for years, however, they simply don’t have the time. Because right now, they are worried about their 6-year-old Michali.

Michali has had liver cancer since she was a baby and has spent much of her life in hospitals. Recently doctors urged the Kirschbaums to leave Israel immediately and to fly to Pittsburgh for their daughter to have a full liver transplant. Slots were very limited and, scrambling, they took the only option given to them: Next week. 

What followed next was chaos. The Kirschbaums immediately realized that, as a modest Israeli family raising 6 (now 5) children, they have nowhere even close to the funds necessary to pull this off. In mother Feige’s words however, “We did as we were told, we took the leap and we booked the surgery. What else could a parent do, when doctors say that is the only way to save your six year old’s life?”

The surgery itself, the treatments before and after, the flights for the family, living accommodations, and basic utilities while they are occupied with tending to their daughter’s needs, are astronomically expensive. Even worse, they have almost no time. If they do not have the money in time, they will not board the flight. They will not get Michali her surgery. And she will die.

The race to save Michali’s life is taking place now on The Chesed Fund. The page includes a heart-melting video of little Michali, all smiles in her hospital bed. In another clip, her mother holds her close, appealing to the public. If this little girl is going to live, they will need to raise a lot of money, and fast.

Losing a child is a mother’s worst nightmare, a wound from which a person can never heal. Whether the Kirschbaums will experience this once, or twice this month, is up to readers to decide.