Ladies’ Circle

A bit more about us:

When was the last time you did something for someone? When the women of Tangent Ladies’ Circle Rishon LeZion are asked this question, their answer is – on a daily basis.

They are 32 career women, each of whom is her own brand – and together they form a corporation of giving. Tangent is a follow-on organization of Ladies’ Circle, an international organization that was established in the UK and currently numbers 13,000 members worldwide. There are 15 Tangent clubs in Israel.

Here in Rishon LeZion, our members brighten the lives of the elderly, battered women, members of AKIM, Bayit Balev and Beit Keshet – homes for young women at risk. They pack hundreds of food baskets for the holidays, help lone soldiers, support Nahalat, Holocaust survivors, ACH Bakehila, and a project that they established and have supported for 12 years that creates a community for lonely women to dispel their loneliness. Most of the projects are run in cooperation with the city’s social services department.

When I asked Tangent Chairwoman Merav Ginat Bibish about the organization’s projects’ her eyes sparkled with excitement as she explained how the members put all of their heart and energy into each one of the projects, according to the requirements and needs of the place. She mentioned, for example, Beit Keshet, a project for which Michal Aharoni is responsible and which she closely supports with her team. Beit Keshet is a home for teenage girls who were removed from their homes by a court order. At Beit Keshet they learn to live in a better and properly ordered world. They learn life skills and values. Tangent Rishon LeZion closely supports them with enrichment activities for the girls, content that will empower them for life on the outside. “Each girl there is like our daughter.” They know that we are an attentive ear for them and that we are always available to help – an address for anything they need. Even when their cook was on vacation, our Tangent ladies went to cook for them, and with them, and we turned cooking into an experience.

There is also a new project that was started up during the coronavirus period by Hagit Levy Sadeh, Tangent Rishon LeZion’s vice chairwoman – a home for lone IDF combat soldiers. These servicemen need a hug from us, and good cooked dishes on the weekend, including warm and tasty cakes. Hagit even enlisted help from Optica Belisima, which donated sunglasses and fashionable eyewear for the troops.

Giving is the passion that motivates our women. They are cognizant of the environment and they always lend a hand to help. It is funny, but during the coronavirus, when everyone was in closure at home, our members were super essential and active, mainly vis-à-vis the elderly and Holocaust survivors, who beyond food were in need of a smile and a friendly face.

So you are 32 women in total – how does that work? Really, it is not a given that you are all so encouraging and supportive of each other. You talk about your fellow Tangent members with such great admiration. She smiles. “Before our great giving to the community comes friendship and community, which we built like a family. I have 31 sisters who are there for me for anything I may need, and every one of them will tell you the same thing.”

Our activity begins each year in September. There is a new chairwoman and a board that works alongside of her. Once a month we meet for a working meeting in our homes. Each project has someone who is responsible for it together with a team of members. She fields queries and is the project’s contact person. We raise funds from an annual central event at Heichal Hatarbut, all the proceeds of which go toward our activity during the year. In addition, we are surrounded by a band of brothers and sisters, good people who want to help and do so wherever they can.

I have no other country, this is my home, my homeland … and we will do everything that is good for our environment.