world

Israeli
Survivors

Organization aims to sustain
Israeli Holocaust survivors
through food, social programs.

Daniela Berkowitz
Special to the Jewish News

R

ecent statistics find that poverty
and loneliness plague Israel's
192,000 Holocaust survivors, a
population that is dwindling and in dire
need of support.
One in four Holocaust survivors lives
below the poverty line; and one in three
lives alone, according to data released in
January from the Foundation for the Benefit
of Holocaust Victims in Israel. About 70
percent of survivors require aid to pay
for basic necessities like food, medication
and clothing. The foundation reports that
10,000 Holocaust survivors have no living
family, and countless survivors say that they
are not in contact with any relatives. Two-
thirds of survivors are over age 80, and 40
percent are over age 86.
The internationally recognized date for
Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance
Day, falls on Monday, April 28.
Of the several charities in Israel aiding
Holocaust survivors, Meir Panim instills
dignity, respect and relief to many of the
country's neediest residents. The organiza-
tion serves all people, regardless of ethnic-
ity or religious background through food
and social service programs.
"It's refreshing that we are able help
Israelis from all walks of life said David
Roth, president of American Friends of
Meir Panim. "We know that there is a
great need for poverty assistance across
many sectors of Israeli society, so we try
to target as many of those in need as pos-
sible:'
While Meir Panim does not have spe-
cific data on the people who receive its
services, the organization does provide aid
to countless Holocaust survivors through-
out the country.
Dozens of Holocaust survivors par-
ticipate annually in Meir Panim's unique
"Kulam b'Seder" Passover campaign. The
project links up hosts offering a seat at a
Passover seder to a guest in need. Project
coordinator Shalom Cohen said that over
the past several years, most inquiries come
from people who feel lonely around the
holiday and find it difficult to celebrate the
holiday without family or friends to lean
on. Dozens of Holocaust survivors partici-
pate each year.
"This is a sensational program that has
an overwhelmingly positive response.
Last year, we received nearly 10,000
inquiries and paired 2,000 guests and
hosts for Passover:' Cohen said, adding

46 April 24 • 2014

Two men eat at a free restaurant.

that the outcome was slightly
larger this year. "Each request
gets VIP treatment. If someone
calls and requests an Iraqi meal,
we find him an Iraqi family. If
someone has children aged 4
and 7, we look for hosts with
children around the same age.
People sometimes want to visit
a new neighborhood, so we
search to find the right place for
them. Whatever guests or hosts
request, we try to meet their
needs:'
Cohen oversees the 10 coordi- An elderly man gets a meal at a Meir Panim free
nators who manage the Kulam
restaurant.
b'Seder hotline in the months
prior to Passover. The staff asks
several questions about hosts and guests
school donated food and clothing for him
to gather information to make appropriate
because we knew he was not so well-off.
"shidduchim" (matches). Hosts are encour- It was so special for us to take him in for
aged to invite their guests to meet the fam- seder, for Shabbat and for the last couple
ily prior to the seder so that they feel more
of days of Passover. He warmed up to our
comfortable.
family so well and was wowed by our food
"When there is a place in the heart,
and the company:' she said.
there is a place at the table, enough food
Many participants recalled being
and a complete ability to help others:'
amazed at how the convergence of dif-
said Osnat Beny, who hosted 25 guests at
ferent perspectives yielded a profound
her home last Passover through Kulam
sense of unity and togetherness. "We
b'Seder. "That Passover was very moving.
have countless stories of people who
We had so many guests sitting around our
continue the relationship and the connec-
long table, which was filled with festive
tion beyond Passover; Cohen said. "This
foods and surrounded by laughter. It was
program fosters deep connections between
so special and everyone enjoyed it."
strangers in a way that is unimaginable:'
There was a feeling of togetherness and
Feeding The Surviving Hearts
family, Beny described. One of the guests,
she said, specifically stood out. He was the
Asher, a Jerusalem resident who lost his
security guard stationed outside her chil-
parents at Auschwitz, spends his days beg-
dren's school. "For years, the parents at the
ging for money at one of the city's busiest

intersections. Daily, he earns between
50 and 60 shekels from the small change
people donate, he estimated. For Passover
and Rosh Hashanah, Asher is one of the
2,000 people who receive prepaid food
cards from Meir Panim. The organiza-
tion works with social workers across
Israel to hand-deliver prepaid cards filled
with 250 shekels to needy individuals
and families who can use them at major
Israeli supermarket chains to purchase
food and household items. The cards
are made with revolutionary technology
that tracks purchases, blocking their use
for alcohol or cigarettes, but still grant-
ing recipients the flexibility to customize
their purchases.
"These food cards change the way
many of Israel's neediest families cel-
ebrate the holidays:' said Roth. "These
cards give our impoverished neighbors a
chance to buy the products they want and
need, giving them the dignity to make
their celebrations special and joyful:'
Upon receiving a food card from Meir
Panim, Asher said, "This is going to
save my holiday. I'm going to use this to
buy myself one chicken, some fruit and
vegetables. If I'm able to, I'd like to buy
something new for my apartment:'
In addition to the special holiday pro-
grams, year-round Meir Panim branches
across Israel serve at least 300,000 free
meals out of restaurant-style soup kitch-
ens, which also prepare meals-on-wheels
for delivery to an additional 125,000
people.
Aryeh Goldstein, the head of opera-
tions at the Meir Panim Free Restaurant in
Jerusalem, said that many of the people his
branch services are Holocaust survivors.
While Meir Panim does not ask questions
of its guests or keep records, some people
open up and share their life stories.
A regular at Meir Panim's Free
Restaurant in Jerusalem, the soft-spoken
Menachem retells his childhood memo-
ries of school in Poland. With a smile, he
laughs about how incredible it is that his
grandchildren and great-grandchildren
are studying in schools in Israel, espe-
cially after he survived the terrible condi-
tions of the Holocaust.
"Meir Panim gives me great assistance
and support:' he said quietly. "They try to
take care of us through food and other ser-
vices. Meir Panim is such a blessing:'

❑

For more information about Meir Panim's

special outreach and relief efforts, visit

meirpanim.org.