When you first meet Yoseph Segal, age 21, he seems to be a standard ultra-Orthodox Israeli young man, sporting a short beard, suit, hat, and tie. Though seeming­ly shy and embarrassed, Yoseph was a man with a mission, who sin­gle handedly, without profession­al lobbyists or political connections, changed law in Israel.

Orphaned at age 8, Yoseph’s mother, Shula, struggled to support her small family.

“She was not in the best of health, but thank God, the commu­nity council in our settlement, of­fered her a part-time job as a secre­tary, which gave us some income.”

In addition to the small salary, Shula also received stipends from the government. According to the current law, orphans (via their surviv­ing parent) are entitled to various fi­nancial benefits until the age of 18. The benefits can be extended to 21 if the orphan is studying at an institu­tion for advanced learning.

When Yoseph was 17½, his fam­ily was notified that the benefit pay­ments would stop at 18. It was then that Yoseph discovered his true sta­tus. “It’s really insulting when you re­alize you are a third-class citizen,” were Yoseph’s thoughts at the time. “A Jew who is serving the IDF is first-class, an Arab who is studying Koran in a madras is a second-class citizen, and a yeshiva bocher studying in a Yeshiva Gavoha (post-high school yeshiva) is third- class.” According to the law, if an orphan is studying in a university, Moslem madras, or serv­ing in the army, he can continue to get the stipends, but if he is studying in a Yeshiva Gavoah he is no longer entitled to any benefits.

To Yoseph’s mom, struggling to make ends meet, the missing mon­ey would cut the family’s income in half and force it into poverty. When they approached the Na­tional Insurance, they were told that unless the law is changed, there is no way to continue giving them a stipend. Yoseph decided that this discrimination not only affected him, but also hundreds of other orphans in Israel. Yoseph decided to do something about it: get the law changed.

His tactic was simple, but some­what naïve. Twice a week, when the Knesset was in session, he would walk the floors talking to everyone who might be able to help—all the MKs, all their aides, important busi­ness people in Israel, reporters—any­one who would willing to listen. Eve­ryone was sympathetic to his plight. He became the talk of the Knes­set. He also met with the mayors of Haifa, Tel Aviv, community council members, and leaders of large, ultra- Orthodox communities like Beitar Ilit to get support for his proposal. And Yoseph was encouraged by the sup­port; almost everyone was sympa­thetic. One MK who heard his story understood Yoseph’s plight, but he did not agree to Yoseph’s ultra-Or­thodox lifestyle. Yoseph realized that he did not have a sympathetic ear and did not approach the MK again. Strangely enough, this MK also put a restraining order on Yoseph to pre­vent him from entering the Knesset. This lasted for 10 days until Yoseph straightened things out with Knes­set security, and then continued his undertaking.

One of the MKs who helped Yoseph from the beginning was Rabbi Eichler from the Agudath Yisroel party. Rabbi Eicher pre­pared a bill, but unfortunately the version did not have the sup­port of the Finance Ministry and was defeated almost immediately in committee. Shula was discour­aged and was willing to give up by then, but her son was more deter­mined and kept going.

“I was a nudnik, driving the MK crazy; I knew there were oth­er ‘important’ subjects that were on the political agenda but nothing stopped me. I knew that if I didn’t continue to press the issue, nothing will change. I continued to tell my story, as well as the plight of orphans in the ultra-Orthodox community, and the obvious discrimination.”

Eventually, Yoseph got help from the 130-year-old Diskin Or­phanage, which revealed to him the numbers of orphans affected by this discrimination: 240 a year. This information added fuel to his campaign.

Sometimes Yoseph’s methods were a bit unconventional.

“It was hinted to me that Yeho­shuah Pollack, an influential busi­nessman in the Jerusalem area, might be able to help. Not know­ing where to meet with him, I showed up at his doorstep and told him my story. Mr. Pollack sympathized with me. It made a very big difference when he came with me to a meeting at the Na­tional Insurance Institute.

MK Eli Yishai (Shas) only had praise for Yoseph. “This deter­mined young man reminded us that public servants are supposed to serve the people who they rep­resent.”

MK Moshe Gafni (Agudath Yis­roel) was at first skeptical that he would succeed. “It is a very rare oc­currence that a private person, who is not a professional lobbyist, suc­ceeds in changing a law that takes money out of the pocket of the Fi­nance Ministry. There were times he would wait for an MK for hours just to talk to him to help advance the bill.”

After four years of constant talking, when the new bill was written, it had the support of the Finance Ministry. The approv­al vote in the Knesset, 42-0, was spread across the spectrum of the Israeli political scene.

Yoseph will not be able to en­joy the fruits of his efforts since he is already 21, but realizes that many other orphans will benefit from his battle. His efforts were recognized by the Knesset ple­num, and when his name was mentioned by the Speaker of the House at the podium, Yoseph’s mother became very emotional.

When you ask Yoseph what he plans on doing in the future, his answer is simple: “I was a yeshiva bocher before all this, and now af­ter four years when the law final­ly passed, I am going back to ye­shiva.”

By Judy Yazersky