Bracha Qafih

Bracha Qafih
Bracha Kapach
Born	1922 Yemen
Died	November 23, 2013 Israel
Nationality	Yemenite-Israeli
Other names	Bracha Kapach
Occupation	Rabbanit
Known for	Philanthropy and Tzedakah

Bracha Qafih also known as Bracha Kapach (Hebrew: ברכה קאפח; 1922 – 26 November 2013) was an Israeli rabbanit, wife of Rabbi Yosef Qafih, who was awarded the Israel Prize for her charitable work.^[1]

Early life

Qafih was born in Yemen. She was married to her first cousin, Yosef Kapach, at the age of eleven.^[2] Seven years later, they immigrated to Palestine with their three children, one of whom died on the way. Another son, Arieh, was born in Palestine.^[1]

Social work

Qafih’s first enterprise in the country was running an embroidery workshop employing 50 Yemenite women. For over half a century, she organized holiday food packages for the needy of Jerusalem. The food was packaged by student volunteers and distributed from her home in Nahlaot.^[1] Qafih also collected old wedding gowns to loan to brides from poor families.^[3]

Awards and recognition

In 1999, Kapach was awarded the Israel Prize for her special contributions to society and the State of Israel.^[4] Kapach and her husband are the only married couple to have both won the Israel Prize.^[5]

In 2018, a street in her Jerusalem neighborhood of Nahlaot was renamed in her honor, alongside her husband.^[6]

Her biography is included Danny Siegel's 1998 volume Munbaz II and Other Mitzvah Heroes and his 2020 anthology Radiance: Creative Mitzvah Living. It is also expounded in a 2005 Hebrew work called V'zot HaBracha (literally: "and this is the blessing") by Yael Shai.^[7]

References