By Celia Gartenberg, Special to JTNews
The Wander family is aptly named. Each of Gary and Rachel Wander’s eight children was born in a different country — Cyprus, Iran, Greece, Tunisia, France, Malaysia, Bangladesh and California. Gary and Rachel, both non-identified Jews — he Ashkenazic, she Sephardic — met on a kibbutz, then trekked across a variety of Third World countries, engaging in humanitarian work — organizing food and clothing drives, establishing hospitals and shelters — while raising their large family.
Shortly after her parents’ 21-year marriage dissolved, the eldest child, Nepheli Wander, relocated to Seattle with her first husband and young son.
“Within 10 months, everyone except my father had moved up here,” she says. “Growing up as we did, we basically just had each other, so we’re all really close.”
When her son was ready to begin kindergarten, Nepheli started to look for private schools. It was then that her grandmother informed her that, unbeknownst to them, she and her siblings were actually Jewish.
“The Seattle Hebrew Academy was about half a block away from the Catholic school I had been considering, and I enrolled my son there,” she explains. “I began to discover my Jewish roots. I started by researching Passover, and the rabbi helped my family make the transition to a Jewish way of life. We actually had kept kosher throughout our childhood, but my parents never explained why. I’ve never eaten pork or shellfish!”
Assuming the role of family matriarch, Nepheli, 30, began having her mother and siblings over for all the Jewish holidays, which they loved.
During these changes, Nepheli’s then-husband started a local moving company while she majored in philosophy and biochemistry at the University of Washington. She assisted him with all aspects of the fledgling business, except for the actual moving.
“I had just graduated and been accepted to medical school when my husband abruptly left the family,” she recalls. Though deeply disappointed about relinquishing her dream of being a doctor, Nepheli resolved to continue running the moving company, now called Wander Works.
“I felt responsible to our long term clients,” she explains. “It ended up to be a blessing, because the flexibility of running the business allowed me so much more time to be with my kids.”
To help out, her whole family got involved — in particular her 18-year-old brother, James, who works as a mover nearly every weekend.
One of James’ regular Sunday moving gigs is with the National Council of Jewish Women’s Seattle Section, who hires the company to provide moving services for their project, Shalom Bayit: Furnishing Peaceful Homes. The project acquires donated furniture from the community, distributing it to survivors of domestic violence who are making the transition from shelters or abusive homes to permanent, safe housing.
Many, if not most, survivors take nothing of their former possessions with them when they leave their abusers. Shalom Bayit collaborates with over 20 domestic violence agencies throughout King County to provide this important free service to clients from every conceivable ethnic and religious background. The supporting agencies are charged a nominal fee to offset delivery costs, however.
Now in its third year, Shalom Bayit has provided more than 150 survivors, most with children, with rooms full of furniture and household items so they can begin to pick up the pieces of their shattered lives.
“I was so excited when NCJW contacted me,” says Nepheli. “It was so rewarding to be a part of the same kind of work my family had done while I was growing up. And I especially liked that the project was so strongly connected to the Jewish community, although it greatly helps the non-Jewish community as well. Helping is helping, whether you’re Jewish or not.”
Seattle’s NCJW section subsidizes the majority of the project’s expenses, and is charged a discounted non-profit rate for the company’s services.
Sarina Behar, who chairs Shalom Bayit, says, “The Section’s partnership with Wander Works is gratifying at so many levels. Because the Wanders are such a close-knit family, they really understand what we are trying to accomplish with Shalom Bayit. We want to be part of the continuum of care that enables families torn apart by domestic violence to start new lives.”
Wander Works also provided the moving services for the Seattle Hebrew Academy’s relocation to temporary sites after its facility was damaged in the 2001 Nisqually earthquake, and will move them back into the newly renovated building this coming fall.
Meanwhile, Nepheli, who is working on two book projects while running the business, attends her children’s Tae Kwon Do matches and just gave birth to her third child (with her second husband). Her brother Michael, 26, a graduate of the Near Eastern Studies department at the University of Washington, has just left for a Master’s program in Israel. James, when not working for the company, keeps busy with high school football and is a statewide javelin-throwing champion.
But they all get together every weekend at Nepheli’s for a meal or barbecue. “I don’t care what else you’re busy doing,” she says. “Family is always the most important thing.”
Do you know a Trendsetter? JT Trendsetters focuses on members of the local Jewish community under 35 that are making a difference in people’s lives. Let us know who you think would be a great candidate by calling us at 206-441-4553 or sending an e-mail to [email protected].