packages for people in isolation
packages for people in isolationMahbia

“My name is Miri.*

I’m a young mom of four kids all under the age of four living in Jerusalem. My husband is a yeshiva teacher. Last week, when he got sick, everything changed. Honestly speaking, we don't know if it's the virus. We’ve been told not to use up a test and just stay home as long as he isn’t having breathing problems.

I’ve watched every day as our food supply has continued to dwindle. As the kids have asked for food and I’ve only had dry cereal or instant mashed potatoes to give them. I know what you’re thinking: Just order delivery from the store! But it’s more complicated than that.

I was working as a secretary for a tech company, making a modest salary. Now I’m on unemployment indefinitely. I’m getting paid less than half of what I usually make, and that has all gone toward rent. Forget about the continuing preschool tuition for the kids which we’re required to pay - there’s no way to cover that. All I’m dreaming of right now is food. Food for this Shabbat, food for Pesach. Simple food - potatoes, onions, chicken. As I tend to my husband sick in bed, and try to occupy the kids so they won’t complain any more of hunger, these are the dreams that keep me up at night.

Last night on Whatsapp a friend from seminary messaged me and said that there may be a food drive from an organization called Masbia LeKol Chai. Her husband is helping them with the drive, and they’re trying to deliver Pesach packages to people who need it. I breathed a sigh of relief, thinking of my kids, but she said it wasn't so simple: First they have to raise the money to make it happen.

This is just my story but I know there are so many people in Israel who are truly struggling right now. They're out of work, on their own for the seder, stuck at home, and every day that passes without being able to buy Pesach groceries cuts like a knife. If you have the luxury of having food in your fridge and cabinets right now, if you have some kind of income, or kids who aren’t hungry, please help Masbia LeKol Chai with this drive. The mitzvah of Kimcha Depischa means more now than ever.

Thanks and have a wonderful Pesach!

Miri, 25.

Arzei HaBira

This story is a fabricated example of one of the many types of people who are relying on financial help to make the holiday. The actual personal details of the receivers are kept private for their dignity.

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