Birthing A Future: A Mission For Life

By Hadassah Bay

In Parashas Sh’mot, we learn about two courageous women, Shifra and Puah, the Hebrew midwives. The Torah testifies that it was their yirat Shamayim that gave them the strength to defy Pharaoh’s command to murder newborn Jewish babies. Instead, they preserved their lives while empowering their mothers, becoming the heroines of our national survival.

Their legacy of courage and compassion is the spiritual blueprint for EFRAT. With unrivaled dedication, the organization provides emotional and practical support to women in crisis pregnancies, empowering them to choose life with dignity, not despair. Today, over four decades and over 93,000 babies later, EFRAT’s mission extends far beyond the moment of birth.

EFRAT provides women with emotional support as well as a generous baby package containing all the essentials for bringing the baby home: a full layette, diapers, formula, a stroller, crib, bathtub, and more.

EFRAT also provides additional services and specialized programs to promote emotional wellness and economic independence—two critical building blocks for confident parenting. The goal is to help mothers achieve stability, self-respect, and long-term success.

EFRAT’s work is powered by both professionalism and heart: a team of trained professionals, including 170 dedicated case managers, and a network of 7,000 volunteers in Israel and around the world. Together, they stand beside women from the moment of crisis through every stage of motherhood, helping each one build a secure, dignified, and hopeful future.

Last month marked the launch of Imapedia, EFRAT’s groundbreaking new online parenting portal. The platform is designed to guide and empower new mothers through the first years of parenting, a period that is thrilling, emotional, and often overwhelming.

Currently available in Hebrew, Imapedia offers over 280 expert-led courses ranging from postpartum recovery and baby nutrition to emotional resilience and toilet training. Whether she has ten minutes before bedtime or a quiet afternoon, each woman can learn at her own pace, in a way that suits her needs and values.

“The courses I took helped me connect to my internal mother,” shares Danielle Shahaf, 26. “It gave me tools not just for my baby, but for myself.”

Imapedia is built on EFRAT’s core belief that every woman has the right to full, honest information so that she can make the best decisions for herself and her family. It reflects EFRAT’s holistic approach, recognizing that no two women are alike, and that motherhood can’t be navigated with a one-size-fits-all solution.

When further support is needed, EFRAT is there, too, offering job counseling, daycare assistance, and personal guidance for women ready to return to the workforce.

EFRAT’s legendary founder Dr. Eli Schussheim, z’l, was known to exclaim, “You don’t end a life for lack of funds!” With these poignant words, he captured the tragic predicament of so many women in Israel today. It’s not that they don’t want their babies; they simply can’t see a way forward. That’s where EFRAT steps in.

In the spirit of Shifra and Puah, EFRAT offers vital emotional support and substantial material assistance both at birth and beyond. From crisis to confidence, from pain to purpose, EFRAT is there. Because choosing life is only the start.

For more information contact [email protected] and visit CribEfrat.org.