Living on a government stipend will really help when you’re a “vateek” (senior citizen) not working, in Israel. It helps towards rent, utilities and medical. But if you’re living under the poverty line, you don’t buy special foods for a holiday. In fact, you just buy the very minimum food and make it last until next month’s government stipend and your family actually goes hungry. When this happens to Holocaust Survivors, and especially if it is compounded by them living alone, it’s just so much worse.
With the hope to supply holiday food to the most-struggling sector, Israel Relief Aid chose Nazareth Ilit (Nof HaGalil) in the Galilee to receive food boxes that contained grape juice, honey, pomegranates, apples, rice, couscous, chickpeas, pasta, buckwheat, peas and green beans.
These began to be distributed to the stronger Holocaust Survivors and welfare families that could come out to the distribution point. The rest went out to the actual apartments of the elderly.
This was a special joint venture with a unique center that deeply desired to bless the immigrant Jews in Nof HaGalil: Arabic-Run Nazareth Aid Center. With the advent of an agreement with United Arab Emerates and Bahrain, with other Arab states to follow suit, the times . . . they are a-changin’!
Thank you to our friends for feeding Israelis at the High Holidays.
