Founding Warrington Rotary member Norm Leventhal helps the blind in Israel
The Israel Guide Dog Center for the Blind (IGDCB) began as a dream of a young paratrooper in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). A lifelong animal lover, Noach Braun trained dogs in the IDF for military purposes.
When Noach left the military, he dreamed of continuing to work with animals—but only for man’s greater good. To his surprise, Noach discovered that there was no guide dog school in Israel. There had been a woman who trained guide dogs in the 1960’s named Dr. Rudolphina Menzl however, when she passed away, the program was abandoned. Noach decided to make it his life’s mission to reestablish a guide dog school in Israel—so all blind or visually impaired Israelis could obtain the mobility, independence and companionship that only a guide dog can provide.Prior to opening our center in 1991, a visually impaired Israeli had to go to Jerusalem to pass an English test. If they understood English well enough, they were then sent to the USA or UK for a month of instruction with a guide dog. Not only was this hard on their families, but the dogs were not trained to handle obstacles and challenges found only in Israel—traffic circles, cars parked on sidewalks, security barriers, aggressive drivers, warning sirens and other issues that simply do not exist in other countries. Plus, the dogs were trained in English, not Hebrew.
When we match a guide dog with a visually impaired person, we call it a “Partnership.” But Noach would never have realized his dream without creating other partnerships as well. “I was lucky to meet Norman Leventhal, and many other people who have joined together to make this center a reality.