There are currently thousands of Israeli families in the Haredi community alone living in tragic levels of poverty. Through a rigorous application process, thousands of widows, orphans & talmidei chachamim are hand-selected each year as especially needy. The dayanim of Kupat Ha’Ir review each case with the help of Rav Chaim Kanievsky himself to determine its urgency.
There is perhaps no time of year when this process is more relevant than the days approaching Pesach. Known to be an expensive holiday, many families are left exasperated and hungry each year. Those who care to help such families through this difficult & often humiliating time must find a worthy Kimcha D’Pischa campaign.
Many in search of the most trustworthy campaign this year have selected that of Kupat Ha’Ir. Known as the ‘tzedaka of the gedolei hador,’ the organization’s reputation is incomparable. In a remarkable move of generosity, grocery chain Osher Ad has agreed to match every donation, doubling each contribution’s efficiency. Gedolei HaDor Rav Chaim Kanievsky & Rav Edelstein will also receive prayer lists with each donors’ name detailed.
This year, children across Eretz Yisroel will wear shabby clothes & suffer from hunger pangs during Pesach. Those who wish to help them, and to do so in the most efficient & powerful way possible, need look no further than Kupat Ha’Ir.
CLICK HERE TO SEE THE FULL CAMPAIGN
While those who are fortunate enough to live comfortably dine at their seder tables this year, those who were not so fortunate will feel the painful lack of poverty. However each time the former lends a helping hand to the latter, that invisible ‘line’ fades further, strengthening one klal yisroel, united in their connection to yitzias mitzrayim.
Join the official YWN WhatsApp status
7 Responses
In all fairness, if you ever hear of a Jewish community in which poverty is NOT a problem, it means that much of the community has gone off the derekh. While some individuals manage to get rich and stay frum, it is a challenge. It is to the credit of the Torah world that so many individuals remain true to the lifestyle of Torah and Mitsvos, even though with a little bit of “cheating” (which usually leads to more, and more profitable cheating), they could significantly improve their economic situation.
where are all the so called askanim when the Golol Hador is exhaulting them to give money (maser), are they already living it up in Florida for “Passover” not Pesach?
Sorry, I disagree strongly. Most of the poverty stricken families have at their head a grown man who could work and doesn’t. It has bred two generations of people of a quickly growing population who expect Jews around the world to support them, while Jews around the world have to invest in their own children’s yeshiva education, which is tremendously expensive.
It is unfair to have loads of children and not be able to feed them. It is grossly unfair to mothers who have to work and take care of a large family.
And then, what do they raise? Many of the children grow up closed to others, burn garbage, attack soldiers – they are no better than any other hoodlums.
I’m not sure they are remaining so true to the Torah lifestyle. Torah lifestyle includes attacking soldiers and Jews who don’t live the way they do, burning garbage, attacking policemen? And internal attitudes? Many have a judgmental attitude and look very much down on the very people they ask to support them. I know a young frum woman who was pushed down the stairs by a man in a chassidishe shul in Meah Shearim who wouldn’t let her enter the women’s section on Simchas Torah last year. He could tell she was from America, and that was that. I thought touching a woman was not allowed. I guess if you want to push her down the steps it is allowed.
Sorry, Jews don’t have to be in dire poverty. They can work and while most won’t be upper middle class, at least they will eat, pay some tuition, and even be able to help out others.
#3 – If you dress weird (black skullcap, headcovering of any sort for a woman, long clothes even in summer, etc.), and act funny (not being alone in a room with someone of the opposite sex, not socializing after work with co-workers, and the sorts of behavior go on to include many on the YWN “black list”), and work a weird schedule and take vacations at the wrong time (hint: fall and spring are not when one vacations, and Saturday is still a work day in many jobs) — then you will have a serious problem economically. Many frum men aren’t willing to kowtow to the goyin, which since we are ovdei-HaShem is reasonable. If you are frum, you expect to be poor relatively to the our secular cousins. What the Americans claim are anti-discrimination laws are really laws for the benefit of the chosen minorities, and while we are chosen by Ha-Shem, we aren’t chosen by the goyim.
#4: Thank you for your reply. What you say is true. I didn’t remember all that while I was upset. I am upset bc too many Jews are in dire poverty. That is not right. It is because the men are not working. If they can’t get a job in some areas, they can get a job in others. They can become plumbers and make a great living and make their own hours. They can become therapists, social workers. There is much they can do that doesn’t depend on a non-Jewish work environment. It is true it is harder when a person doesn’t look and live like others. We are discriminated against, that is true.
I want to retract that the young woman was pushed down the steps. I was reminded that the man pushed her and she caught herself before she fell down the steps.
I very much respect Rabbi Kanievsky. I just feel that there are too many poor orphans and widows. If the kollelim would buy some life insurance for their attendees when they are young, if something happens to them, their families wouldn’t be so poor. And if you say the kollelim are too poor to do that, that means they are too poor to sustain their attendees and I feel that those people should take a job to help support themselves. I believe that some of the tzedaka should go to training schools for the heads of the households so they can get off the tzedaka lists eventually.
There are some people who will have to be sustained by tzedaka. I would not want to take away money that is due them. By all means, I feel that everyone should do their best to help sustain certain categories of people.
“men are not working”
In the United States you can observe what it looks like when men are not working. They sit around street corners being bored, drinking or using drugs, getting into mischief.
Many frum men choose careers in Torah studies that pay poorly. They are not unemployed. They get up in the morning, dress properly for their profession, and go off to work. They are employed. They get money for their efforts, albeit not enough to live well. Many factors affect their career path. They are not unemployed bums living off of tsadakah.
It should be noted that throughout history, Jewish survival has always correlated with the number of people employed as scholars (even if the scholars and their families complained of poverty). Communities full of affluent people in professions other than Torah scholarship do not have a good track record of survival over the long run, suggesting that support of Torah mass scholarship is a good investment in Jewish survival.
This should be posted at the door of every shul, yeshiva and kollel in the world.