Soldiers serving in the chareidi Shachar (שילוב חרדים בצה”ל) unit received a generous Pesach gift, 500 NIS, which originated from the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews. Some of the parents were quite angered to learn of the origin of the funding as gedolei yisrael have prohibited taking money from the organization.

The soldiers received a prepaid credit card that can be used in a number of stores. The letter that accompanied the gift explained the organization was giving it to thousands of soldiers for yomtov in cooperation with the Libi organization.

The letter adds the holiday gift is part of the organization’s ongoing support for the IDF over the years.

HaGaon HaRav Elyashiv ZT”L prohibited accepting money for the foundation in any way as did Maran HaGaon HaRav Ovadia Yosef ZT”L.

Some of the parents who object to accepting the money explain this is not the first time that funds were given by the foundation, citing the same was true this past Sukkos. At that time, some of the soldiers requested a gift that did not originate from the foundation. The IDF accommodated those few soldiers who made the request, giving them a gift that was not from the fund.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)