It’s the week before Pesach and the grocery stores in Israel are swamped. As one teenage girl approaches the register with a full cart, however, the cashier looks on curiously. The girl is scraping change together from the bottom of her purse and pulling cash out of her pockets. As he scans the items, her eyes nervously watch the screen. The teenager piles together small change until the exact amount is reached. The cashier rolls his eyes at the annoyance. He has no idea what’s really going on.

“Fraida” is the oldest sibling in her family, and her parents are both ill. Her father is recovering from a stroke, and her mother has cancer. That means it’s on Fraida to put together what she makes from babysitting and for the first time ever, she is making the Pesach for her family on her own. 

It was through cousins that she learned that she qualifies to receive help from Vaad HaRabbanim’s Kimcha Depischa program. 

With the holiday getting closer, donations to families like “Fraida”’s are more important than ever. Readers can see the many rabbanim who have supported the campaign (including Rav Chaim Kanievsky zt”zl) here.