“My name is Miri.*
I’m a young mom, with 4 kids under 4, living in Jerusalem. My husband is a rebbi in a yeshiva. And last week, when he got sick, everything changed. We don’t know if he has the virus, honestly. We’ve been told not to use up a test and to just stay home as long as he isn’t having breathing problems.
I’ve watched every day as the food in the fridge has gotten less and less. 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 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 shabbos, food for Pesach. Simple food – potatoes, onions, chickens. As I tend to my husband sick in bed, and try to occupy the kids so they won’t complain anymore 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’s not so pashut yet: 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 lost their jobs, they’re on their own for the seder, they’re stuck in their houses, 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 have 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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