We also have some even more exciting news – another engaged couple! They have known each other for years and even dated for a while 5 years ago. They sat together during our course this past year and gradually got to know each other better….the rest is history, or rather, the rest is just beginning.

Rabbi Shaul Inbari, whose CP has left him disabled and confined to a wheelchair, often dreamed of coming home each day to a warm and loving partner. Loneliness was forever with him as the years passed. When he one day shared his frustration of living a life of isolation with his dear friend Shalomi Eldar, Shalomi challenged him by suggesting that they publicize a gathering for people with disabilities. Surely there were others frustrated by the lack of social opportunities available for disabled people. Within hours both were inundated with calls of interest and their first meeting attracted more people than they could comfortably accommodate. Clearly these two trailblazers had uncovered a deep unmet need in the world of disabled people. In 2012 they organized Inbar as an official amuta to offer social events as well as courses in relationships and social integration. The group has been bolstered by the efforts of several matchmakers and other volunteers who work hard to promote Inbar’s goals, and today has more than 400 people with a wide range of disabilities registered in their database.

In addition to the latest engagement noted above, Inbar’s work has resulted in other weddings including Rabbi Inbari’s!

We love what Inbar stands for and The Good People Fund offered a matching grant (successfully met) which has resulted in the hiring of the group’s first social worker who will help implement the organization’s goals and provide support and guidance to the growing number of disabled people seeking happiness and love.

Why not?

So many of the great programs we support focus on hunger, whether it be here in America or in Israel. Sometimes, we think that the “din” created by this crisis goes largely unnoticed just because it is always there…a fact of life. Perhaps it is something so overwhelming that we just ignore it or push it out of our consciousness.

It was our friend Enid Borden, founder of NFESH (National Foundation to End Senior Hunger) and the Jack and Eleanor Borden Kosher Meal Fund who really helped us connect with this specific face of hunger in America. Nearly 1 in 6 elders in our country face hunger and in places like Washington, DC those figures are even more alarming at 1 in 4.

This short video (which features Enid Borden) puts real faces on this tragedy unfolding in the world’s wealthiest society. Take a look.

Over the years we have mentioned the good work of Alice Jonah many times. Once employed as the activities director at Jerusalem’s old Diplomat Hotel which had been converted to an absorption center for mostly elderly Russian olim (refugees), Alice is retired but still helps the residents in many ways.  We support her “home health aide” project which employs stronger residents to help those less independent, remains a life-saving operation.  Newly organized was Bayit Cham, a social group which meets regularly to celebrate birthdays and provide general socialization for the residents. Alice just sent us this great picture of a recent 90th birthday party held for Sonya (holding the flowers.)

We are certain that the faces pictured here may remind many of us of long-lost relatives and we know that the Good People Fund’s modest investment in this group’s activities pays far greater dividends than we could imagine.

As we wind up a two week visit to our Israeli programs there could be no better gathering than this al fresco buffet coordinated by Gideon Ben Ami whose work we have frequently described in these diaries. Gideon’s greatest joy is to help people in any way that he can. We saw evidence of that almost every day, but the group pictured here (minus a few members) represents Gideon’s most creative solution to hunger in Tel Aviv–his soup crew. Each of these dedicated helpers cooks a huge vat of hearty soup at least once each week. Each vat is picked up and transported to a local shelter in a thermal container that sits in the back of Gideon’s small van. There is always high quality bread, rolls and bourekas to accompany the donation.

Be it pea soup, lentil or a twist on a Yemenite vegetable soup, it is always healthy and tasty and made with love. Bitayavon! (hearty appetite)

”One of the most wonderful things about the concerts is that the moms and the children sit together and cuddle while they listen. Or a mom holds the tiny hands of her dancing toddler as they both move to the beat of Mozart. Moms and kids are interacting in ways that we don’t typically see them doing here. One young boy, around 4 years old, is always off-the-wall high-energy, never sits still. Tonight he was silent, rapt, and cozy in his mother’s lap while they both listened intently to classical music. It’s amazing to see this happen!”

When we met Julie Leven, founder of Shelter Music Boston last summer we knew immediately that this was an organization we wanted to help develop. SMB’s focus is on bringing classical musicians to Boston-area shelters for monthly concerts.  Today’s email update from Julie quoted a shelter social worker and proves even more emphatically just how impactful this program can be.

And, to make the point even stronger, a shelter guest at one of January’s concerts told Julie, “The relationship with classical music is like one with mutual joy and respect. Thanks for making us feel valuable.”

We couldn’t ask for more.