Dearest Naomi

Received today the tlushim! (supermarket gift cards) As always your help is in the right moment. Be blessed by all the families that will enjoy holiday, thanks to you

Zev

This was one of the many emails we discovered this morning as the day’s work began. It is from Zev Birger who helps many, many poor families in the Romema neighborhood in Jerusalem. The cards Zev received from us only this morning are now, no doubt, in the hands of the individuals who will shop for holiday food in the next few days. Zev is one of several "angels" we rely upon to distribute the cards where needed.

With the holidays fast upon us, we have been busy buying supermarket gift cards both in Israel and here in the States and getting them into the hands of people we know who would otherwise have a difficult time preparing a festive meal for themselves and their families. Due to an unexpected generous donation which came to us last week, we were thrilled to be able to increase the number of people who received this extra help for holiday food.

Here in the States, I just mailed off many envelopes filled with gift cards for local markets. All went to Shoah survivors or Second Generation men and women who live on very meager incomes and for whom holiday shopping would be difficult.

As we all sit down to our holiday meals this coming Shabbat and weekend, we are grateful for the generosity of our donors who have allowed us to provide others with this same simple pleasure.