Bride to Marry Days After Father's Death, Family Seeks Aid

A bride in Petah Tikva is set to marry this week, just weeks after the passing of her father, Rabbi Yitzchak Levi, who died at the age of 53. The week before her wedding, which was planned before her father's illness, is now overshadowed by grief and the daunting reality of her father's absence. Rabbi Levi was diagnosed with a serious kidney illness during Hanukkah, and passed away eight months later at Beilinson Hospital. He had expressed a desire to walk his daughter down the aisle and had bid farewell to his children shortly before his death.

Rabbi Levi was the sole breadwinner for his family, working in a kollel in the mornings and as a kashrut supervisor in the afternoons. His wife works part-time in elderly care, but her income was insufficient to cover the family's expenses. The family had moved to a new apartment in Petah Tikva about a year and a half ago, shortly before the father's hospitalization began.

This will be the second wedding in the family; the first took place four years ago with the father present. Now, his widow must manage the wedding expenses and the care of their five other unmarried children, the youngest of whom is 18 and a half. The family is appealing to the public for financial assistance to help the widow and her six orphaned children manage the upcoming wedding and future expenses.