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Get to Know…

MICHAL

WALDIGER

(PHOTO: BARUCH GREENBERG/WIKIMEDIA COMMONS) current Member of Knesset

Social activist, leader and

By Berale Crombie

HER FATHER Holocaust and a native Israeli mother, with two older sib-
lings, and when he was ten, the whole family made Aliyah.
My father, Eliezer Yaakov, was born to a rabbinic family. His grandfather, his father’s father, was the founder and
His father was Rabbi Reuven Trop, who founded Yeshivat leader of the Breslov community in Krakow and perished
HaYishuv HeChadash, and his father, my great-grandfa- in the Holocaust.
ther, was Rabbi Naftali Trop, head of the Yeshivah of Radin. We met at a young age at Bnei Akiva. A dear friend of mine,
His mother, my grandmother, was a member of the noted Dasi Shapira (née Kamil), who passed away just recently,
Winograd family. My father lost his father at a young age indirectly played the matchmaker. We both attended Ulpanat
and grew up in the home of his grandfather, Rabbi Ze’ev Tel Aviv, and I went to her for a Shabbat. That weekend, I met
Yeshayahu Winograd, head of Yeshivat Etz Chayim, right Uri at the local Bnei Akiva, and the rest is history. We got
by Machane Yehudah. Twelve years ago, I was fortunate married when we were 20, and today we have five children,
to have my parents move to be near us in Givat Shmuel. a granddaughter, and a grandson, kein yirbu!

HER MOTHER FOR THE PUBLIC GOOD

My mother, Rivka, is a teacher in every fiber of her being. Ever since I can remember, I’ve always been a doer. I did
I’m privileged to have two parents who are totally dedicated well in school, but other things kept me busy. When I was a
to their family and children, and today, thank G-d, their girl, it was important to me to be on the student council, to
grandchildren and great-grandchildren too. My mother fix, to facilitate, to do. I was chosen as Rabbanit Purim, and
comes from a Chassidic background. Her father was an of course, naturally, a Bnei Akiva counselor. You could say
Alexander Chassid, and her mother was a Gerrer Chassid. that as a teenager, I spent most days at the local Bnei Akiva.
They were grandparents who never stopped caring for us When I grew up, in addition to working as an attorney, I did
until their dying day. a lot of volunteering, especially with at-risk youth.

HER OTHER HALF MENTAL HEALTH

My husband, Uri, works at TAG (an organization helping The civic side of things always mattered to me, and as an
the Jewish community navigate the complex digital land- adult, I made an effort to be a part of associations and
scape). He is the man at my side, without whom nothing initiatives that help the weak and invisible people in soci-
would happen. Whatever the field, he knows it all. I’m so ety. Injustices gave me no peace. About fifteen years ago,
lucky. He was born in Germany to a father who survived the a relative of mine – a totally normal kid – succumbed to

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