On January 18, 2001, Yitzhak Levis, a structural engineer in the Israeli Air Force, collapsed and died during weekly exercise activities with his IAF unit, leaving behind a wife and three children – Natanel, Adi, and Hila.
Today, twenty-seven-year-old Natanel Levis, who was three years old at the time of his father’s death, credits the IDF Widows & Orphans Organization (IDFWO) for helping him in his personal and professional development. “My connection with the IDFWO began when I was thirteen,” recalls Levis, who was a participant in the organization’s B’nai Mitzvah trip to the US in the summer of 2010. To this day, he remains in touch with his original host family from the Chicago suburbs.
Throughout his teens, Levis continued his participation in IDFWO activities, attending the organization’s Otzma camps as a camper and later as a counselor. “The counselors there are like big brothers to you, and you are with others who know you and understand exactly how you feel,” he says. He remains in contact with many of his peers from those camps.
Currently in his final semester of university, Levis studies at the Technion and has received stipends each year from the IDFWO. Several months ago, he interviewed for a position as an engineer with NVIDIA. This well-known tech company designs and sells graphics processing units (GPUs) and other chips for gaming, artificial intelligence, visualization, and automotive uses. He had not heard back from the company for several weeks after his interview and was concerned that he would not be offered the job.
Levis attended a meeting of IDFWO’s “Bonim Atid” program (English: Building Futures), which provides IDFWO widows and orphans with opportunities for personal and professional advancement, while cultivating the skills required for success in today’s changing labor market.
At that meeting, Levis voiced his disappointment to IDFWO staff regarding the lack of response after his job interview. “I didn’t know what to do. They told me, ‘Talk to them. Don’t be shy, you need to reach out.’ In the end, that really helped, because that’s what I did. It turned out to be exactly the push I needed.” Two days later, NVIDIA contacted Levis and scheduled a second interview. He was offered the position and has been working there for five months.
“Looking back,” says Levis, “I realize that one of the things IDF orphans sometimes miss out on is precisely that kind of small but meaningful guidance. In the end, those small words can make a big difference. Sometimes it’s those little things—the small word of encouragement—that truly complete the picture.”
Shlomi Nahumson, CEO of the IDF Widows & Orphans Organization, agrees that all of the individual components and activities of the organization, together, form a common thread and help to complete the picture. “The Otzma camps are fun. The children make friends, discuss their sense of loss, and overall, it is a positive experience. The B’nai Mitzvah trip to the US matures them, shapes their personalities as independent and social individuals, and strengthens their resilience. But the common thread that runs through all of our activities is the commitment of the IDFWO to ensure a positive and productive future for the orphans and their mothers – one of personal, emotional, financial, and family resilience.” This common thread, says Nahumson, forms a strong and resilient chain that allows widows and orphans to rely on the IDFWO and hold things together for them.
In his view, while raising happy and productive children is important, the raison d’être of IDFWO is more than just putting a smile on the faces of the orphans. “I’m not here just for their smiles,” says Nahumson. “I’m here with the understanding that, just like a parent, our role is not to ensure our children’s constant happiness. Our role is to raise children with a backbone, who can overcome the challenges that life will present, and who are connected to the values we cherish.”
Nahumson understands that the responsibility of the IDFWO extends throughout the lives of the orphans and widows. “There is a widow who will be giving birth to a child in a month, and after the child is born, we can help the mother by providing a night nurse. That is important. But I’m also asking myself how I can create an endowment fund to ensure he has a scholarship, so that when he’s 22, he can devote all his time to academic studies.”
Commenting on the Bonim Atid program that spurred Natanel Levis to reach out to the company that had interviewed him, Nahumson says that the program’s emphasis on high-tech is deliberate. “Bonim Atid is an important pillar, and it’s an innovative project. What stands behind this initiative is the understanding that the high-tech industry is today’s leading sector, not only in the Israeli economy but globally as well. The ability to integrate into this industry, whether in programming roles or classic high-tech positions, is crucial.
“The ability to play a role in high-tech, or even simply to speak the language that is accepted there, serves as a powerful boost to their capacity to live with dignity and security. As someone who feels a responsibility for the future of these children, I want to open doors for them, to make these opportunities accessible. It will give them the boost they need to integrate into a field that can ensure their well-being and allow them to build a better life.”
Nahumson notes that the IDFWO is equally concerned with the future of the widows. “We offer courses for widows related to financial management and budgeting, because we understand that the death of a husband significantly changes the entire structure of the family’s finances.
“We have widows who tell us, ‘My husband always dealt with everything. I don’t even know where my pension is, I don’t know how we’re supposed to pay the electricity bill, and I have no idea if we even have a savings plan.’ That’s why we set up the Financial Management course. It really helps them sort everything out and gives them the confidence to manage the family’s finances on their own. That’s the first step.
“The second step is that we also realize many widows need to change their careers, and through Bonim Atid, several of them have already joined and taken part. We want to take it even further. Right now, we know how to provide different kinds of support—grants, health benefits, scholarships, and so on. But beyond just giving help, we also want to offer them the tools to really teach them “how to fish.”
Perhaps what best epitomizes how the IDFWO builds the future for those whom it serves is a message that Nahumson reads from his phone.
“Yesterday, I received a message from a young man from Givat Shmuel. He was with me in 2011 on the B’nai Mitzvah trip, and he was also a camper in the Otzma camps.
Yesterday he wrote to me: ‘I just completed my degree, I became engaged a few months ago, and I’m getting married at the end of the month. I immediately thought of you, because you’re part of the person I’ve become—whether from Otzma camp, from the bnei mitzvah trip, or everything else. I just want to say thank you for everything.’
“I wrote back to him, and he replied: ‘You don’t realize what a privilege it is. Some people are etched into your soul.’
“He’s finishing his degree—this same boy who was with us on the trip to America, who was in the Otzma camps, and who received support from us during his studies. He knew he could work a little less hard because he had our backing—just like others know they can rely on the support of their fathers. Now that he’s getting married, he’ll also receive a wedding gift from us. We’ll be with him in his moment of rejoicing.
“ I wrote to him that I hope he invites me to the wedding. We’ve been part of his life for 12 years, since he was 12. I’ve had the privilege of being with him in the good days, the hard days, and the challenging days. And I hope to be with him in the days ahead, too.”
This article was written in collaboration with IDF Widows & Orphans Organization (IDFWO).