Steven Averbach’s life changed forever, on May 18th, 2003, when a bomb exploded on a bus he was traveling on, in Jerusalem. Aside from becoming a quadriplegic, meaning he is completely paralyzed from his neck down, his tragedy made him aware of the inferior treatment terror victims receive, especially children.
Thanks to Shay and Isaac Cohen of The Jersey Shore Hatzaloh, I had the opportunity to sit down with Steven recently, while he was in NJ, to ask him a few questions about his life and experiences.
Steven was born in Philadelphia and was raised in West Long Branch, NJ. His father, Dr. David Averbach, is a surgeon at Monmouth Medical Center and his mother, Maida Averbach, is a nurse there as well. While in high school, at the age of 16, Steven decided to visit Israel. “I went to Israel for the first time. It was supposed to be a visit, but I never left,” said Steven, who at the time knew no Hebrew. “When I got off the plane, it’s hard to describe, but the love for the country fell right over me.”
“I had to make some promises to my family, like finishing high school, and keeping in contact and letting them know what I was doing.”
He soon got a job working for a mechanic, changing tires and learning Hebrew in the process. He then worked in a bakery before joining the Israel Defense Forces in the Golani Brigade. “I was in the army for three years. I was a paratrooper and a medic. I finished as a staff sergeant,” he said. “It was hard to leave the army on breaks because the army was my family—I was at home on the base.”
He left the army when he was offered a better job working for the government. When I asked what he did, he said that he wasn’t allowed to tell me. He continued this secret activity for about a year, during which time he got married and started a family. He then joined a police anti-terror unit in Jerusalem, and became the chief tactical weapons instructor there. In 2003 he decided to leave the force and open up a private training school.
Everything was going very well until May 18, when he got onto that bus. “It was very early in the morning in Jerusalem, in the French Hill neighborhood. As the bus started pulling away, the driver stopped to allow one more passenger to get on—he was hiding in the bushes. This passenger was waiting for his chance to get on a bus, to blow himself up along with everyone around him.”
Immediately, Steven realized what was happening. He pulled his sidearm and threw himself on the passenger. “It was a reflex,” he said. The terrorist blew himself up prematurely, killing the people directly around him. Steven saved many lives.
“I don’t consider myself a victim of terror—I consider myself more of a survivor of terror,” Steven said.
After being in the hospital, Steven realized that victims of terror weren’t getting their treatments and medications on time, resulting in loss of movement in their limbs. Shortly thereafter, he met Rocky Muravitz from Tikvot—a non-profit organization that helps victims of terror rehabilitate both emotionally and physically through sports such as swimming, sailing, water skiing, cycling, basketball and soccer. Steven decided to make it his goal to raise funds for these victims, by speaking on behalf of Tikvot.
“If the doctor says the kid can do it, we get it for them,” said Steven. “I believe that they are a 100% true, nonprofit, non-bureaucratic organization which works for the children.” In fact, founder Rocky Muravitz and co-founder Victor Essakow used to run Tikvot under the Maccabai World Union (MWU) but as the project grew, so did the bureaucracy. “Bureaucracy that I wasn’t willing to stand for,” said Rocky. In 2007, they both resigned from the MWU and started Tikvot. In May, Tikvot brought teenager Asael Shabo, a victim of terror, to the US to raise money for a prosthetic leg, and after two weeks Asael was being fitted for one.
“If I had the chance to change that day, I wouldn’t. I would do it all over again,” said Steven, who is in the US raising money for Tikvot. “I would like to thank all the people who’ve helped promote Tikvot and who’ve opened their hearts, wallets and homes to us. I would also like to thank Shay Cohen, Zac Gindi, Elan Hanon and Isaac Cohen from the Jersey Shore Hatzaloh and Dr. Jeffrey Elbaum for coordinating the interview.”
Project Tikvot can be reached at Tikvotsports@gmail.com.
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Charlie Shrem graduated from Yeshivah of Flatbush high school this past May.
