Nissim Kahlon, Creator of Beit HaTzedaf, Is Facing Eviction

Nissim Kahlon, 80, devoted fifty years to building “Beit HaTzedaf” on Herzliya’s Sidna Ali Beach. With his own hands, he transformed shells, stones, and discarded materials into a living work of mosaics, spaces, and forms shaped by the sea and nature. He never studied art and never sought fame. He simply created. For Nissim, creation is a basic need, a personal language, and a way of life. “Beit HaTzedaf” is a singular life’s work, born from one man, two hands, and fifty years of persistence, becoming an inseparable part of the landscape and the memory of the place. Nissim Kahlon is facing eviction from his home toward the end of October 2026. Nissim, who will turn 80 this year, is independent and fully lucid, but refuses to move into a municipal nursing home. “If they send me there, I’ll die of depression,” he says. For fifty years, no one required him to leave. The municipality even gave the property a mailing address and connected it to electricity and water. Nissim himself never claimed ownership of the land and always said, “I’m only a guest here.” Now, in the later years of his life, with limited physical and financial means, he is facing removal from the home and the world he spent a Where the authorities have failed to secure suitable housing for Nissim, we, his community, are stepping in. Nissim leaves behind a wonder built over a lifetime, one that will remain here for generations. Now it is our turn to care for him: to help rent a modest apartment near his family, where he can grow old with dignity and continue creating for as long as his strength allows. For Nissim, creating is not a luxury. It is life itself. Campaign organizers: Dan Bronfeld – Film director. I first met Nissim about 20 years ago during a photography project, and since then we remained close friends. Twelve years ago, I directed a film about him, “Apollonian Story”, produced for Channel 8 and screened at international festivals. In recent years I have accompanied him closely in his struggle for his home and in the transition toward a new, dignified life. Talia Gueta – M.A. in Art Therapy with children and youth, CBT therapist for adults. I first met Nissim in a chance encounter 20 years ago when he invited me into his home. Awestruck, I wandered in the wonderland he had built and asked him to teach me his craft. For a year and a half, while writing my thesis, I worked alongside him intensively: lifting, cutting, gluing, and learning his techniques and worldview, along with the stories embedded in the house’s walls. Since then, a deep personal and lasting friendship has grown between us.