A Veteran and Dedicated Yad Sarah Volunteer
Hello to readers of Yad Sarah News. My name is Avigail Ben Nun and I was born in Belgium. I am a Holocaust survivor and was privileged to immigrate to Israel in 1949. After the birth of my third child I felt great happiness but also felt great trepidation about my good fortune. Why did I deserve to be so happy? Why did I survive and receive so many blessings, when so many others did not? These confused feelings led me to the decision to become a volunteer and to reach out and help others in need.”
It is a sad and difficult day for me today, a day when Avigail Ben Nun left us and went to a world that is all good. Avigail was a woman of grace and a woman of spirit who left her mark wherever she went, a woman who dispersed good and light in the world.
This above quote, an excerpt from a conversation with the veteran and dedicated volunteer, Avigail Ben Nun, expressed the view of those who were involved with the branch in Neve Tzuf from its first day. Since Geula and Nissim Amitai established a Yad Sarah branch in the settlement, Mrs. Ben Nun had been the living spirit of it. She wholeheartedly joined in and contributed to its development. Elisheva Prins, longtime regional manager lovingly commemorated “an amazing woman and a dedicated volunteer from whom we had so much to learn.”
Mrs. Ben Nun passed away on Monday, Sept 7, 2020 (18 Elul), z”l, and Mrs. Prins says that as long as she was able to leave her home, despite her advanced age and despite the cancer that was discovered three years ago, she did not stop volunteering at the branch. Prins recalls that she was always upbeat. Even when her house caught fire and burned down, even when it became clear that the remnants of the memories she had of her late mother had gone up in smoke, she continued to maintain a positive outlook.
Branch manager Geula Amitai, has written words of appreciation for the character of the dedicated volunteer who was associated with the branch for more than twenty years.
Avigail had volunteered at the Neve Tzuf branch since its founding more than twenty years ago.
She received everyone warmly and was happy to serve all who came with love and a sympathetic ear.
She volunteered for every task at the branch and was happy to do more than was requested. She treated the branch as if it were her home, placing flowers around to cheer up visitors.
Avigail was not only a volunteer but a good friend to everyone who knew her. After surviving the Holocaust, she was one of the founding members of Neve Tzuf.
Avigail was a role model and an inspiration to us all.
May her memory be for a blessing!