Michal’s Story

 On August 9th, 2001, twelve year old Michal Belzberg was preparing for her Bat Mitzvah, when a suicide bomber entered the bustling Sbarro restaurant on Yafo Street. The terrorist murdered 15 people and wounded over 130, making it the most deadly attack in Jerusalem since the beginning of the Intifada in 2000.

In the wake of such devastation, Michal felt that she could not hold a celebration. She and her parents cancelled the Bat Mitzvah party, and donated those funds to the victims of the attack. At that moment, OneFamily was born. 

Michal requested that her friends and family donate her bat mitzvah gifts to the survivors.  She visited the survivors in the hospital to comfort them, and brought them anything that they needed. The Belzberg’s raised over $100,000 for the victims of the attack, but quickly understood that it was not nearly enough to help the growing number of Israelis affected by terror. Their challenge began. 

Since its inception, OneFamily has grown into a large, professional, volunteer-based nonprofit organization providing much needed assistance to thousands of terror victims throughout Israel on a daily basis.

An attack happens in one moment, but it changes the lives of the victims forever.