The Fellowship Picks Up Mantle to Help Needy on Passover

The Fellowship  |  April 10, 2017

As with each year – and each holiday season – those who are unable to afford to celebrate, and who struggle to put food on the table on any given day, weigh heavily on our hearts. So, as reported by The Jerusalem Post’s Lidar Gravé-Lazi, the help provided by The Fellowship and our faithful supporters is so needed and meaningful, especially as Passover begins:

“Mine is a very difficult situation – emotionally, socially, economically,” Miriam, a 41-year-old single mother from Beer Sheba, told The Jerusalem Post ahead of the Passover holiday.

With four children aged four through 20 years old from two marriages dependent on her, Miriam, has been living under the poverty line for many years.

Her health began to deteriorate in recent years, and she was placed on 100% disability, receiving an allotment of NIS 3,000 per month – well below the minimum wage of NIS 5,000 – from the National Insurance Institute, the only source of income for her and her children.

“I have a lot of medications that I need to pay for, and I suffer from a lot of health problems,” she explained. “Just my electric bill costs NIS 900, so all of my allotment goes toward paying bills, and at the end of the month I am left with nothing.”

The victim of domestic abuse for many years before finally finding the courage to divorce her husband, she explained that she now also suffers from depression and mental health issues as a result of her socioeconomic situation.

“When I was younger and just divorced with small children, I never asked for any help,” she said.

Due to her ongoing health problems, she has had no choice but to accept charity just to get by…

During Passover, Israel’s charitable organizations pick up the mantle and rally together to assist the needy.

Organizations such as the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, led by Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein, offer grants to needy Israelis, including families, children and the elderly. Latet, the humanitarian aid organization, held its annual food drive at supermarkets across the country in the week leading up to Passover, collecting food for tens of thousands of needy families…