Father Embraces Daughter After 30 Years of Waiting: "I Never Gave Up Hope, I Always Believed Hashem Would Bless Me"

For nearly thirty years, Rabbi Yitzhak and Sima Peretz hoped for a child of their own, and when they heard the news this week of their daughter's birth, the joy was boundless. This joy wasn't limited to their family and acquaintances, but spread to countless homes across the country and the world, as Rabbi Yitzhak and Sima are well-known figures. Anyone who has ever been hospitalized at 'Hadassah Ein Kerem' on Shabbat is familiar with the couple who volunteer there every week; anyone who spent time with them knows how much they yearned and hoped for a child of their own. And behold, the unbelievable happened.

Right after the big excitement, we spoke with Rabbi Moshe Klein, Rabbi of the Hadassah Medical Center, who accompanied the couple throughout various fertility treatments. He witnessed the prolonged waiting period and this week also participated in the indescribable joyous news.

25 Years of Kindness

"It all started with the wedding of the Peretz couple, twenty-seven years ago," Rabbi Klein tells us. "After two years of marriage, when Rabbi Yitzhak and Sima understood they might face challenges conceiving, they decided to take on a meaningful commitment—to come to Hadassah Ein Kerem every Shabbat to organize meals for the patients and their families. They hoped that through their acts of kindness, Hashem would also grant them kindness."

Rabbi Klein notes that Rabbi Peretz once told him that when they started this activity, they were sure that within a year they would have a child of their own. They never imagined the wait would be so long. "Nevertheless," he emphasizes, "for twenty-seven years, they never despaired even for a moment. Rabbi Peretz always told me he believed that the Master of the Universe would eventually bless him, because Hashem forgets no one. It was always clear to him that this would happen—there was always hope."

Rabbi Moshe Klein (Photo: Hadassah Spokesperson)

When discussing staying at 'Hadassah' on Shabbat, Rabbi Klein highlights that it involves 60 days a year where this wonderful couple ensures they come to the hospital. In addition to 54 regular Shabbatot, there are also holidays. "During all these dates, the couple comes to volunteer—Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot, Shavuot, and even the Seder night... they're always here. In the early years, the meals they organized hosted a few dozen participants, but recently, the observant community fills Hadassah, mainly due to the strict kashrut kept at the hospital. Thus, every Shabbat, around 200 people arrive, and the couple manages the meals superbly."

He also emphasizes: "The role is not just serving food but also listening to people, some of whom are distressed or ill. Rabbi Peretz organizes Shabbat songs and prayers for everyone, while his wife takes care of the women’s needs. They do it all in the best way possible, with so much joy and love for others. Usually, ten yeshiva students join them, helping with everything needed."

Regarding the food served at the meals, Rabbi Klein mentions a charitable organization responsible for it, which refuses to reveal its name. Meanwhile, the hospital provides accommodations for all the guests in the old hospital building. This ensures that companions and family members of the patients can attend Shabbat knowing for certain they’ll have a place to sleep and eat, free of charge.

And how did Rabbi Peretz handle the long years of waiting?

Rabbi Klein reiterates that Rabbi Peretz is a man of faith. "Over the years, he received blessings from countless people—from the great scholars of Israel, some of whom have since passed, who came to be treated at Hadassah, to the simplest of people. He always made sure to ask everyone for blessings, and he once told me he believes that the prayers of a simple, suffering, ill person hold immense value in the heavens. Because of his position, Rabbi Peretz was also present at dozens if not hundreds of people’s last moments, where they blessed him in their final breaths that Hashem would aid him. There is no doubt these prayers have tremendous power."

The News Arrived: "A Daughter Is Born"

On Monday this week, Rabbi Klein heard that Rabbi Peretz and his wife had arrived at the hospital and that, God willing, good news would soon be heard. "I went down to Rabbi Peretz, told him we’re all with him, blessed him, and went to my room to pray for them," he recounts. "After a few hours, he called to inform me that his daughter was born. Later I visited them in the nursery, and without any evil eye—the baby is healthy with normal weight, and the mother is healthy, happy, whole, and recovering. Thank Hashem, the birth happened with great divine assistance in the smoothest way possible, and the couple wished to wholeheartedly thank the doctors who accompanied them over the years at the Hadassah Medical Center, who never gave up and persisted with them until the end."

Father Peretz, along with Hadassah's CEO, Prof. Zeev Rotstein (Photo: Hadassah Spokesperson)

Will the couple continue to volunteer at Hadassah?

"Rabbi Peretz promised me they fully intend to keep volunteering," announces Rabbi Klein. "And not only that, but the grand kiddush they will hold this coming Shabbat to celebrate the birth of their daughter will also be at Hadassah, and hundreds of guests are expected. Rabbi Peretz assured me they’ll take a few Shabbatot of vacation and immediately after, along with the baby, they will return to continue managing the meals. Because they want to raise their daughter from the very beginning in a world of kindness."