REAL FAMILIES HELPED BY AITZA L'CHAIM

When Mrs. D. received food certificates from Aitza L'Chaim she immediately called me to say thanks. "Since my husband left home, my family hasn't had a proper Shabbat meal." This week will be our first real Shabbat in months. But don’t send us any more. We'll be ok for a few weeks now. There are many in town worse off than us. Can you please call Mrs S. She is in a really desperate situation.

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So I spoke to Mrs. S. and she told me her painful story :

Mr. and Mrs. S have been happily married for many years and have ten kids from age five to seventeen. Mr. S. had a good technician's job in Jerusalem until 5 years ago, when the government closed down the radio stations he worked for. Unable to find work there, the family decided to move to the north. In Tzfat he became a clothing wholesaler using some of their savings to buy stock. He worked at this for several years but lost most of his savings. Unable to invest further, he started a small building project, but again he lost money. When other attempts to create a business were unsuccessful he became a mashgiach (Kashrut Inspector) in a restaurant. After three months the restaurant closed. Nothing that he did seemed to turn out right .

Mr. S. became extremely agitated to the point where his health suffered and he became unable to even go to job interviews. He had worked so hard and yet had lost the family's savings and he had developed a phobia to meeting people or to leaving the security of his home. The National Insurance organization stopped sending payments after a few months because he became too frightened to go to their offices and the bureaucratic rules say that you must come to the office to claim every month. He is afraid to get proof of his ill health from a doctor as he fears that a doctor would take him away from his family and put him in a mental hospital .

The oldest daughter has part time work and gives all of her salary to her parents. It is not enough to keep the family of twelve in breakfast cereal for the month .

When I spoke to Mrs. S. the some months ago their electricity payments were five months in arrears and the electricity had been cut off. They owed three months rent and their children were without needed school text books. They have a fifteen year old van which they have tried to sell and it sits outside their home, unused because they can't afford to buy gas .

Aitza L'Chaim paid a month's rent for them. We paid several thousand shekels to have their electricity reconnected. We provided funds for the kid's text books and food certificates.. We are also trying to help sell the car and will arrange for a friendly private doctor to call to his home. Perhaps with his help we can get the family back onto some National Insurance payments which would partially help with their needs .

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THE RECENT WORK OF AITZA L'CHAIM

In addition to the above, in the last few months as a result of our donors' generosity, Aitza L'Chaim has managed to help people in the following ways :

* Several thousand shekels worth of shopping vouchers and cash gifts are distributed to families in the north every month .

* A Tzfat family with nine children, whose refrigerator was not working because it had had holes in the door and sides for over a year. The refrigerator has been repaired and is now in good working order. We also filled the fridge with basis necessities .

*Long overdue electricity accounts were paid in full to allow families to havehav electricity reconnected. Some families have had no lighting, cooking, heating or cooling for many months. 

* A number of telephone accounts were paid to reconnect family phones.

* Aitza L'Chaim gave a three day respite break to two mothers with large families in a hotel by Lake Kinneret so that they could regain their emotional and physical strength.

* A mother with seven children had most of her diseased teeth removed but the dentist wouldn't supply new teeth until her old account was paid. Aitza L'Chaim paid the dentist seven thousand shekels, (7,000 NIS = $1605 US) and the mother had new teeth for Pesach.

* A family here has a child under one year old with a muscular disease. He needs therapy at the local hospital three times a week. The family was unable to afford fares to the hospital and back, so the child was not receiving his therapy sessions and his condition was deteriorating. Aitza L'Chaim found a donor who has paid fares for the mother and child to attend the hospital three times a week for the next year.

* Free counseling was given to many in need.

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FULL FRIDGE FOR SHABBAT PROGRAM  

Become a partner in this vital work in Israel.

I invite you now to invest in the Aitza L'Chaim, 'Full Fridge For Shabbat Campaign'.

 

 

In Israel, the level of poverty is growing dramatically. A recent government survey revealed that over one third of Israel's children are living in poverty. According the survey, almost 20% of Israeli children go to bed hungry at least one night a week. Social Services cutbacks in child support payments over recent years have added dramatically to this increasing problem. Here in the beautiful, holy city of Tzfat where there is also high unemployment, there are many families that do not have a proper sustaining meal each day.

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We are determined to help as many families as possible to feed their kids!

I appeal to readers to join in this campaign to really make a difference in a very human sense to the lives of these families.

Please send your tax deductible donation either by check or credit card to:

The Derech Elokim Fund

c/o Louis Berlin
19651 NE 19 th PL
Miami , Fl 33179

Please specify 'Aitza L'Chaim' on your check or on the donor form.

For further information about our work, feel free to send a note to:

binyamin@aitza-l-chaim.com

Thank you so much for you generous donation to Jewish families in serious need.

Binyamin Alexander