An Israeli pensioner, who recently passed away at 94, was so grateful to the team of caregivers who devotedly looked after him in his last years, that he decided to express his gratitude by bequeathing a generous sum of money for them in his will.
Michael Gabitsch lived in a nursing home with his wife who passed away five years ago.
The nursing home crew said that Gabitsch considered them, and the other residents, family. They described him as a special resident, very active and always grateful.
But during the High Holiday season, Michael passed away. In his will, he requested to transfer NIS 100,000 ($28,000) to his caretakers as a sign of gratitude for their treatment. In his words, the purpose of the money was to give them "strength to invest in the next generation."
Staff members at Psagot Chen were very moved by the gesture: "Michael was a unique man, one of a kind, a true gentleman. He was first of all a human being. Fair, modest, well-read. He also gave a lot to charity and had a lot of ambition."
Manya Eshkolot, a Psagot Chen resident who was friends with Michael and his wife, added that "Michael had no children and when he passed, no one sat Shiva for him. He was a talented man, well-read, had a phenomenal memory," she said. "We all remember his lectures when he told us about different events from the past, including names and dates that he easily pulled from memory."
The director of Psagot Chen in Haifa concluded by saying that "this move is an expression of confidence in the service and abilities of the professional staff to devote themselves for the sake of our residents, and we intend to do just as he stated in his will: give them the strength to continue in the same way."