Neither can walk on their own, instead using a combination of walkers and motorized wheelchairs to get around their University Heights home. With only a half-bathroom and no bedrooms on the first floor, their parents, Dovid and Racheli, end up carrying them up and down the stairs, although Nachi sometimes can make it on his own – slowly.

With the boys growing, that has become harder and harder to do, hence the family’s turn to The Chesed Fund, a month-old collaborative fundraising site. The online community has responded, with 596 people giving more than $80,000.

With their father studying to become a physician’s assistant and at the Cedar Green Community Kollel at night and their mother unable to work given her taxing schedule taking them from one medical appointment to another and then to school at Gearity Professional Development School, the money is sorely needed – and appreciated. Especially given that they have another mouth to feed in 6-year-old Miri, who doesn’t face the same health difficulties her brothers do.

The Ribakow family- (L-R) Nachi, Racheli, Miri, Dovid and Eli (Photo Credit: Cheryl Lever)

“I don’t know what words to use. It’s unbelievable. We never knew what to expect when we started the fund,” Racheli Ribakow said. “I’m really looking forward to building a bedroom and handicapped bathroom on the first floor, and a ramp into the house that they can drive up and down on on their own.”

Many of the biggest gifts have come from family and friends, many of whom have long prayed for the boys but never had the chance to help them in this way, but Cheryl Lever, Racheli’s mother, said she also has been overwhelmed with many gifts from strangers.

“Now, there are a lot of names I’ve never heard of in a million years,” Lever said. “It’s amazing.”

Rabbi Naphtali Burnstein of Young Israel of Greater Cleveland in Beachwood, a relative, said, “It just speaks volumes of the kindness and camaraderie that we have as a people.”

To some extent, that’s the point of The Chesed Fund, allowing for a level of collaboration that would have been impossible prior to the internet.

“It’s amazing what they’ve gone through,” Ribakow said. “They’ve had so many hardships, surgeries and struggles and they’re still so happy in life.”

Of the approximately 25 campaigns to hit The Chesed Fund in its first month, the Ribakows’ has brought in the most money.

“It basically went viral,” said Avi Kehat, a computer programmer from Ramat Beit Shemesh, Israel, and co-founder of The Chesed Fund. “It’s an amazing feeling knowing that you can have an idea and you can push it out there and people use it and you really help people.” 

Perhaps part of the fundraising campaign’s success can be attributed to a video of the boys, posted on The Chesed Fund website, which shows two charming, cheerful children struggling to maneuver around their home. 

“They happen to be so lovable that anyone that meets them is sort of instantly in love,” Lever said. “They’re just really delightful sweet boys.”

“They’re very social and smiley and happy kids, so I think that probably helped,” Ribakow said. 

The video shows that – with Nachi waving cheerfully at the camera  as well as their daunting obstacles including frequently getting stuck going through the house’s narrow hallways. Indeed, Nachi, currently in the midst of potty training, can’t even get his walker into the bathroom.

Eli is more talkative than Nachi, sometimes stringing together several words at once, but he struggles with inconsistent vision, while Nachi sees well and “laughs at every punch line of every joke.” Both adore music, with Eli being particularly attached to the piano.

“They both have a joy of living and so it’s contagious,” Lever said. 

“It’s amazing what they’ve gone through,” Ribakow added. “They’ve had so many hardships and surgeries and hard things in life and they’re so happy in life. It’s amazing.” 

Rabbi Simcha Dessler of the Hebrew Academy of Cleveland in Cleveland Heights has high praise for the parents as well, including Rachaeli Ribakow, a Beatrice Stone Yavne High School graduate. “She is an extraordinary individual who has accomplished so much despite the obvious challenges,” he said.

Lever said she hopes that money can make their lives a little more joyful and a little easier by building a safe ramp leading up to the home’s front door, expanding the first floor to include bedrooms and building a fully accessible bathroom. Their current shower stall isn’t big enough to fit a bath chair. 

“Then, they can have a safe shower where they’re not being treated like a little baby,” Lever said. 

Nachi has improved in his walking abilities. He powerfully pushes against his walker and drives himself forward. Eli isn’t quite there yet. Every time they want to go to sleep or take a bath, someone has to carry them up the stairs, or Nachi can sometimes – slowly – walk up the stairs. Given that they’re growing up, carrying them has become increasingly hard.

“I’m scared,” Ribakow said. “I don’t want to drop them or hurt myself or them.”

She remembered saying, “That’s it, we need to do something now.”

So, the family took to The Chesed Fund seeking financial help to convert their house into something more tenable for the young boys, writing: 

“Please show the boys and their family you care. By doing so, you will give these two children the opportunity of freedom.”

The community has responded. Originally, they asked for $50,000. Given a powerful response from the community, they’ve now changed that goal to $100,000, which remains the minimum needed. 

“At the time, we never thought we would ever reach this ($50,000) goal,” Lever said on the website. “In reality, in order to really do what is necessary for our grandsons, we need at least $100,000.”

Lever said that in an ideal world, the Ribakow family might move to a ranch house with everything on a single floor. That would be costly, however. She said the family wants to make the situation for their boys better as cheaply as possible.

“I don’t want it to seem like they’re being exotic in their hope,” Lever said. “They’re really trying to go about it in the most financially expedient way. They’re not being exorbitant. They’re really trying to do it the most economical way they can come up with.”

Click here to take part in this amazing Chesed for the Ribakow family.