Next month marks 24 years since the terrorist bombing of the Sbarro pizzeria in Jerusalem on Aug. 9, 2001, a devastating atrocity that took the lives of sixteen people, including 15-year-old Malki Roth. In the face of unspeakable tragedy, Malki’s parents, Arnold and Frimet Roth, transformed their grief into purpose.
They created Keren Malki–The Malki Foundation, a life-changing Israeli nonprofit that enables families of children with severe disabilities to care for them at home rather than hand them off to institutional care. Since then, the organization has supported thousands of children across Israel and from every part of its social, demographic and religious spectrum with paramedical therapies, in-home services and critically important equipment loans.
Today, its U.S.-based affiliate, American Friends of Keren Malki Inc. (AFKM), is launching a public awareness campaign to help bring these life-saving programs to more families, especially during times of crisis.
“With the right support, every child thrives in the loving care of a family at home,” says Arnold Roth. “That’s what our daughter Malki believed. It’s what the work of the foundation aims to achieve every single day.”
The Roths know this, not just as founders. Their youngest child, Haya, now an adult, has profound disabilities that emerged in her first year of life. They have raised her at home, and were moved and inspired by the deep love and practical help that her oldest sister, Malki, showered on her. Today, when sirens sound, the Roths carry Haya into the safety of a bomb shelter. Many other Israeli families must do the same.
From tragedy to hope
Getting underway just a month after the Sbarro bombing, Keren Malki was launched to provide hope to others and to empower. Its three core programs now serve hundreds of families:
- Therapies at Home: Funding physical, occupational, speech, horse-riding and water therapies
- Therapists on Wheels: Sending therapists (and their cars) to remote or underserved regions of Israel
- Equipment Lending Center: In partnership with Jerusalem’s ALYN Hospital, this program provides vital mobility and care devices at no cost
A grateful parent, told after birth that her newborn would “be a vegetable,” now watches her child walk, speak and thrive, thanks to years of home-based therapy made possible by Keren Malki. “Without them, none of this would be possible,” she says. “Keren Malki saved our daughter’s future.”
Even during this summer’s Iranian and Houthi missile attacks, the foundation continues to be a lifeline. Families forced to flee their communities in northern and southern Israel turned to Keren Malki, which ensured that displaced children with severe disabilities continued to receive essential therapy and support.
“When the war started, our entire world was upended,” says another mother. “But Keren Malki never left our side. They were a constant, even when everything else was chaos.”
The need has never been greater
With some 80 children on its waiting list, Keren Malki knows it must expand its reach. The foundation is asking for support from Jewish federations, synagogues and individuals across the United States to enlarge the scope of its mission.
American communities are invited to host an online event featuring Frimet and Arnold Roth, who will speak about Malki’s legacy, the work being done in Israel about this today and how local leaders can help bring therapies to children whose only alternative may otherwise be lifelong institutionalization.
For more information or to schedule a webinar for your synagogue, federation or school community, visit the AFKM website and write to: friends@afkm.org
