Spreading Hanukkah’s Miracle of Light

The Fellowship  |  December 13, 2017

While many Jewish people are celebrating Hanukkah, a time of miracles and light, there are too many around the world struggling just to get by. That is why this story, provided to us by our wonderful partners with the JDC, warms our hearts this season:

Each year we celebrate Chanukah by remembering the miracle of light. Left with only one day’s worth of oil, the Maccabees found themselves with eight days of light.

Now, we gather for celebrations complete with dreidels, latkes or bunuelos, and the nightly lighting of the menorah. For many of us, even as we acknowledge this special time, having light is something we take for granted.

But some of our fellow Jews do not have family, community, or the ability to celebrate the holiday, and lack light – from literal electricity or from a sense of hope in their lives…

Through the IFCJ Lifeline, our operational partnership with IFCJ in the former Soviet Union, we help ensure some of the poorest Jews in the world, too often forgotten, have access to the food and medicine they need for survival. It’s one less worry, especially in the winter months when utility costs rise as temperatures drop.

Yulia, an 89-year-old who once was a popular teacher, only receives $73 each month through her pension. However, $50 goes straight to paying her utility bills, leaving little to cover food and the medicine she needs. Without assistance, she’s unsure how she would manage…