Chaim Walder

Chaim Eliezer Walder (חיים אליעזר ולדר; 15 November 1968 – 27 December 2021) was an Israeli Haredi author of literature for children, adolescents, and adults.

From 1990 to 2021, Walder was a regular columnist for the Yated Ne'eman, writing about social issues.

He also hosted a popular radio talk show.

He headed the Center for the Child and Family, run by the Bnei Brak municipality, and was a certified educational counselor working with children who have suffered trauma and abuse.

It paved the way for many new writers to begin publishing "imaginative, thoughtful, emotional, and enjoyable" literature for Haredi children and young adults, a phenomenon that has surged since the late 1990s.

In 1993, he became an Israeli publishing sensation with his bestselling first book, Yeladim Mesaprim al Atzmam (ילדים מספרים על עצמם, Children Tell About Themselves, translated into English as Kids Speak), which revolutionized literature for Haredi children by introducing young protagonists who speak openly about their problems and feelings, and opened the door for many more writers to produce original fiction for Haredi youth.

Walder was a long-time columnist on social issues for the Hebrew daily Yated Ne'eman, an educational counselor, and manager of the Center for the Child and Family, operated by the Bnei Brak municipality.

In November 2021, an investigative piece by Haaretz reported several women's allegations of sexual assault committed by Walder while they were under his care as a therapist.

Two of the accusers were minors at the time of the reputed assaults.

Afterwards, over 25 women came forward with further accusations against Walder.

The Safed rabbinical court found that over a period of twenty five years, Walder had sexually abused women, girls, and boys that had come to him for treatment.

On 27 December 2021, Walder committed suicide, at the age of 53.

The allegations and death divided the Haredi community on the appropriate response to allegations of sexual abuse and was described as the community's #MeToo moment.

Walder was born in Haifa and raised in a Haredi family.

His father was from Jerusalem and his mother from Haifa.

He attended Yeshivat Kol Torah and Knesses Chizkiyahu and married at age 21.

He served in the Israel Defense Forces as a soldier-teacher.

After his discharge, he began teaching in a Haredi ḥeder in Bnei Brak.

When he began having trouble with an unruly child, he decided to write a story from the child's point of view and read it in front of the entire class, hoping that the child would receive the message and calm down.

As the other students were transfixed by the story, he began writing more stories from the children's point of view and reading them aloud.

He also encouraged his students to write down any problems or dilemmas that they were experiencing and send him a letter at his post-office box.

As his "story hour" became a fixture in the classroom, one of the mothers of the children encouraged him to publish a book.

To gauge public interest, he first printed some of his stories in the Yated Ne'eman; when they were received positively, he decided to publish a book.

On the advice of the Premishlaner Rebbe of Bnei Brak, he borrowed money and self-published 2,000 copies of his book, Yeladim Mesaprim al Atzmam (Children Tell About Themselves).

Within ten days, the entire run sold out.

From the time of the publication of the first book in 1993, thousands of children wrote letters to Walder and shared their own feelings and challenges.

In 1996, Walder published his first novel for children, Korim li Tzviki Green! (קוראים לי צביקי גרין, My Name is Tzviki Green!, translated into English as That's Me, Tzviki Green!).

He named the protagonist after his eldest son Meir Zvi (Zviki), then four years old.

In 2003, he received the Magen LeYeled (Defender of the Child) award from the Israel National Council for the Child.

Walder's first book, Yeladim Mesaprim al Atzmam (Children Tell About Themselves) revolutionized Haredi children's literature by eschewing the "programmatic and religious-indoctrination tone" that had previously characterized books for this age group and introducing the "language of the emotions".

The protagonist in each story speaks from the heart about his or her problems and feelings, and the language is "direct and grown-up".

The stories are all written in the first person; many are based on true-life incidents which were told to Walder.

By 2011, he had published 26 volumes of stories and novels for children and adults.

More than two million copies of his books are in print.

In 2011, Walder estimated that he had received over 20,000 letters in Hebrew and 10,000 letters in other languages.

From these letters, he learned more about how children think, what interests them, what makes them laugh, and what their fears and worries are.

He made use of the stories sent by children as well as his understanding of a child's mind to craft the plots and dialogue in his tales.

In addition to becoming one of the top five bestselling books ever in Israel, Yeladim Mesaprim al Atzmam has been translated into eight languages.

As of 2011, the Yeladim Mesaprim al Atzmam series stood at six volumes.

Walder also published two Yeladim Kotvim al Atzmam (Children Write About Themselves) collections and an adult version of Yeladim Mesaprim al Atzmam titled Anashim Mesaprim al Atzmam (אנשים מספרים על עצמם, People Tell About Themselves, translated into English as People Speak), which presented adult-themed stories that came up on his radio show.