Judge Norman Ciment recently met with Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat as well as representatives of world Ort. For Ciment, the former mayor of Miami Beach, it wasn’t a political visit but rather a spiritual one. He was facilitating mitzvot.
The estate of Helen Goldyk of Miami Beach was quite a significant one. Goldyk donated $640,000 to be used to create a school to educate and certify engineers who work on gas fields discovered in the Mediterranean. In addition, Goldyk donated $640,000 to Shaarei Zedek Hospital for a prenatal wing in Jerusalem. And $640,000 was donated to the JNF for the new park in Jerusalem.
While in Israel, Ciment took time to continue managing his Refrigerator/Oven Program, which currently provides new ovens and refrigerators to approximately 100 families on welfare. This work is supervised by David Schlessinger, director of Baruch Umarpeh, who works along with Ciment on the project. When vendors realize the who and why of the appliances purchase, they usually reduce prices to participate in the mitzvah. This enables Ciment to obtain additional appliances.
While it is heartbreaking to witness the challenges the welfare families face, Ciment says he’s honored to participate in this undertaking.