How to Help the Needy during the Jewish Holidays

We have just celebrated the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah - a time of preparing for spiritual renewal and regeneration. It marks a period of deep introspection and allows a person to investigate their own connections to both God and their fellow man. It is also a time for families - and it can be difficult for the elderly and those on their own.

The International Fellowship of Christians and Jews (The Fellowship/IFCJ) is instrumental in helping to lighten the load of those who may be struggling at this time of year. Its charity drive aids countless needy people, with impressive numbers of them helped:

• 6,441 food vouchers for single-parent families living in public housing and families supported by the national program for health security.
• 1,670 food baskets and vouchers for disadvantaged families and senior citizens via the charity associations “Chom” and “Mifal Hachesed Yad B’Yad.”
• 7,850 clothing vouchers in the national FOX chain store for children living in welfare institutions and shelters for abused women.
• 10,000 grants for the purchase of clothing and food for lone soldiers and soldiers eligible for Family Payments.

In the days prior to the festival, The Fellowship distributed food and clothing vouchers to 27,000 disadvantaged families, senior citizens and children around Israel. As in years past, the majority of aid is provided via “debit cards,” charged with a specific sum of money, thus enabling recipients to purchase their choice of clothing and food - and in such a way that they maintain their dignity.

In addition to this, the Fellowship Hotline accepts appeals regarding any individual in Israel who is suffering financial or social adversity. In cooperation with hundreds of other charities and aid societies, The Fellowship will attempt to find solutions and meet the needs of as many applicants as they can.

Fellowship Founder and President Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein expresses: “Israel is suffering from a severe social crisis, rampant poverty and intolerable social gaps. During the holiday period, the distress of living in poverty is augmented as tens of thousands of families shed tears wondering how they will manage to set the table for the holiday. Every day we receive hundreds of requests for aid from the physically disabled, senior citizens and families living in severe states of scarcity that result from the sore lack of social infrastructure in Israel.”

The Fellowship also strives to provide additional aid to those brave young men and women who defend Israel’s borders and her people - IDF soldiers. As a token of appreciation to Israel’s defenders, the IFCJ and their partners at Friends of the IDF (FIDF) distributed 10,000 food and clothing cards valued at 500 shekels ($143) to needy and “lone soldiers,” those who have no other family members in Israel.

On a recent visit to the Kissufim IDF Base in the northwestern Negev Desert for a Rosh Hashanah toast, Rabbi Eckstein commended the soldiers for their service, highlighting that “the fact that we can celebrate Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur and Sukkot in peace and tranquility and happiness, is thanks to you.”

When The Fellowship reaches out to the poor and needy or even to IDF soldiers, what they are actually saying is that “we care.” They help to deliver hope at a time of year when Jews are judged not by their reputations but by their actions. By allowing soldiers to enjoy a little more festive cheer and provide dignity to society’s often ostracized and marginalized, they are performing a big mitzvah (positive commandment).