Groups that help poor Israeli families issued a final call on Thursday for the public to contribute food to their pre-Rosh Hashanah campaign. The food will be distributed to needy families prior to the beginning of the holiday on Monday night.
Senior organizers in Latet and similar groups have expressed fear that they will be unable to help all the families who have asked for assistance this year. While food prices are up, donations are down, organizers say, making it hard to cover the additional cost of providing holiday food.
The number of Israeli citizens living under the poverty line has grown, according to a report released Thursday by the Central Bureau of Statistics. The report compared Israel to Europe, and found that approximately 30 percent of Israelis currently live under the European poverty line, compared to 26 percent in 2000.
The report found a large gap between the poverty rates in Jewish and Arab communities. Twenty-one percent of Israeli Jews live under the European poverty line, while in Arab communities 68 percent live under the European poverty line. The report also found that Israelis remain optimistic: Over 50 percent said they believe their lives will change for the better. In Europe, an average 35 percent believe their lives will improve, with precise rates varying by country.
The Standing Together movement is encouraging Jews around the world to send Rosh HaShanah greeting cards to IDF soldiers. "As Jews worldwide start the New Year, we pray for peace and safety for our soldiers throughout Israel," the group stated. "Young men and women risk their lives everyday, all year long, to protect the Jewish homeland." The organization started out in 2004 with a modest campaign to send pizzas to soldiers guarding checkpoints against terrorists and has spread its operations to sending food and clothes to soldiers in the field.
The Bnei Akiva Movement is mounting a drive to supply holiday challah bread to residents of Texas from the areas hit recently by Hurricane Ike. Most kosher bakeries are among the businesses which have not yet reopened after the storm, and Jewish residents have no place to buy challah.
Yoni Bahat, shaliach (emissary) for the worldwide Chabad-Lubavitch hasidic movement and the Jewish Agency in Houston, Texas, said that "on the holiday, there will be communal lunches for all members of the community." In addition, he said, Bnei Akiva "is organizing the supply of thousands of round challahs in a special shipment from New York.
Round challahs symbolize the unending circle of life, and are traditionally eaten at Sabbath and holiday meals throughout the Hebrew month of Tishrei.