At the age of 18 he met
his wife Dana who was on a youth trip with her temple
from Kansas City, MO. Although he did not speak English
and she barely spoke Hebrew the two spent almost her
entire trip together. They wrote back and forth for
years with limited communication until Sam had finished
the army. After the army Sam purchased a one way ticket
to see Dana having no luggage, knowledge of the language,
of the culture, or means to purchase a return ticket.
Sam earned his United States citizenship and married
Dana. Having no formal education Sam combine his gift
with artwork and the precision of watch making to quickly
gain notice among the elite in Kansas City. Before long
Sam became very successful purchasing turn of the century
homes and restoring them at times owning several at
time.
In 1992 Sam started to have very serious neck pain.
After extensive testing it was determined that life
threatening surgery was necessary and there was a very
high risk that he would be paralyzed from the neck down
if he survived. Because the surgery was so high risk
Sam had a hard time finding a doctor who would take
the liability of performing it. Sam's long time friend
Dr. Eric Phillips performed the surgery in Omaha, Nebraska.
Despite all odds he survived the surgery and spent
the next year in bed in Kansas City. During this time
in bed Sam spent much of his time watching the world
news as the rock throwing in Israel began.. He wanted
to take that stone in Jerusalem and bring it to those
who will appreciate it and not abuse it. The thought
was to take something negative and show its warmth and
beauty to share with Israeli's and Palestinian's alike.
After not working for nearly two years and having a
broken neck in bed Sam was able to convince his wife
Dana that he had to bring that stone to America. They
mortgaged their house. He was issued a neck brace and
he immediately purchased tickets to Israel.
Sam and Dana met with the largest producing stone factories
both Israeli and Palestinian owned, neck brace and all,
and began to form great relationships that they hold
still today. Since then Sam's neck has fully recovered
thanks to brilliant Dr. Eric Phillips and God. He is
able to make several trips to Israel each year checking
on complicated orders being processed and stopping by
to spend time with old friends and family.
Today Jerusalem Stone is truly a family owned company.
We love what we do and our work reflects it. We are
very involved in the community and have been honored
to be a part of very unique projects.
Click
Here To View Stained Glass By Sam Nachum
Click
Here To View Custom Paintings By Sam Nachum
|
