Reply To: Recipes for the seriously poor

I live over an hour from the closest Tomchei Shabbos. Our local community Rav has been very kind, but our small community just can’t support the number of needy. Tomchei Shabbos has been amazing to us, and many of the meals during the week I make are from them.

Because I don’t live in a major city; when I approach a lot of the organizations they refuse help based on the fact that we are not local. It is also $30 in gas to go back and forth – I do borrow a car,but I pay for the gas – that’s a lot of grocery money!!

I always thought that if I ever got in a jam like this that our extended families would help us out. For one reason or another – mostly physical illness; our parents are not able to help us. I have a very good friend from childhood who is very well off. I approached her about helping me with a $300 very over due food bill at our local store. She gave me such a lecture – gave me the money begrudgingly and then asked me not do ask her ever again for money.

Because both my husband and I work – several jobs each, in fact; no one can understand how we never have money. It is very difficult to explain to people all of our cheshbonos, humiliating, and assumes that we have somehow squandered our funds. I can assure you we spend every single penny on the very necessities.

Government programs are not in our reach. I tried. The problem lays in our background as business owners. After we went bankrupt we put every penny we earned into starting over. We invested in commercial equipment and continue to build our business back up literally one brick at a time. It is the only way we can see a light at the end of a very dark tunnel – unless my cook book is a big success 🙂 The state we live in denies us benefits based on the fact that we are asset rich by their standards. We refuse to sell our last vestige of hope – hence the catch 22.

Anyways! Matzah has been a meal for children for about 3000 years – my kids like it with eggs and a bit of jam!

Kol Tuv;