Fighting Intergenerational Poverty in Israel

Aryeh Lurie grew up in grinding poverty in Jerusalem. He recalls that as a child, his mother would salvage old cucumbers that were about to be tossed in the garbage by the local market, pickle them, and serve them to her family as lunch. Despite this level of impoverishment, when cooking a hot stew for Shabbat, his mother brought the first portions to neighbors even poorer than her own family. “Her first concern was to give to people who had nothing. I said to myself, when I grow up, I will act for the benefit of the people of Israel,” Lurie said.

Despite this level of impoverishment, when cooking a hot stew for Shabbat, his mother brought the first portions to neighbors even poorer than her own family.

As a successful businessman, in 1988 Aryeh Lurie founded Yad Ezra V’Shulamit, dedicated to feeding hungry children and families throughout Israel. It’s an enormous task. Israel has one of the greatest discrepancies between the wealthy and the poor of any Western society, and fully one-third of all Israelis live under the poverty line. This translates to about one million children living with actual, raw hunger. 

Yad Ezra V’Shulamit distributes more than one million pounds of food every week at 93 distribution points across the country, and more than five million pounds on Passover and Rosh Hashanah. Holidays aside, they distribute more than 12,000 food baskets a week feeding more than 300,000 people. The baskets include chicken, grains, dairy products, fresh produce, bread, seasonal holiday items, and food vouchers. 

The Gaza war has ramped up the needs that were already pressing. According to Yad Ezra V’Shulamit, the war had led to more than 220,000 people losing their jobs, including 40% of citizens in the north. Food and supplies were delivered to the front lines for families under fire, as well as those evacuated to other locations. 

Having been a poor child himself, Aryeh Lurie is driven to make life more secure physically and emotionally for today’s generation of hungry children. To that end, Yad Ezra V’Shulamit operates two large children’s centers, each in one of the poorest neighborhoods of Jerusalem and Tzfat. A newer, smaller center serves Ethiopian children in Neve Yaakov. Altogether, the centers serve about 750 children who are given breakfast, a hot lunch, tutoring, emotional therapy and activities such as art, baking and drama. Poverty is often accompanied by other problems, such as family dysfunction, depression, and even abuse, making these centers a safe, welcoming, and nurturing place for the children to be.   

Having been a poor child himself, Aryeh Lurie is driven to make life more secure physically and emotionally for today’s generation of hungry children. 

Intergenerational poverty is a chronic problem that afflicts many in these communities. Reaching these children in their formative years and helping fill their physical and emotional needs that would otherwise go unmet can help them shape a better future and fulfil their potential, according to Tefilla Buxbaum, director of the organization.  

“What happens if a child comes from a poor home and doesn’t get the basics, like proper food, proper clothing, school supplies and emotional support?” she said. “What happens when most of their classmates have more than they do? They feel ‘less than’ everyone else and unworthy, God forbid. This can end up defining who they are. When a child comes into a Yad Ezra V’Shulamit Children’s Center, their world expands.  They are served a daily hot lunch, help with homework and given lots of love, proper clothing including a winter coat, school supplies and even summer camp. They can feel, ‘I’m normal, I’m OK, I have everything like everyone else.’”

Yehuda Liebenson, a Chicago native who made aliyah in 2009 and is a former tank commander in the IDF, lost his job as a tour guide after the war broke out. He lives with his family in Beit El, very close to Ramallah and other Arab towns, and serves on security patrols. As a resource development manager with Yad Ezra V’Shulamit, Liebenson fundraises to help fill a seemingly bottomless pit of need.  

While in Los Angeles last week, Liebenson explained the organization’s expanding scope of work at a dinner hosted at Shiloh’s restaurant and underwritten by local donors. In addition to the food baskets, the organization provides aid to widows and orphans, distributes thousands of packets of baby formula to struggling mothers, sends supplies to the front lines, offers heavily subsidized or free weddings for orphans and needy couples and more. The need for psychological services has skyrocketed as the war has triggered endless cases of PTSD, divorces from economic hardship and extended military duty, behavioral problems among children, and other wartime stressors.  

“We are not the only group offering essential aid in Israel,” he said, “and Am Yisrael has been very generous. There is so much need on many fronts, but when you are talking about children not having enough food, that speaks to everyone on a basic emotional level. We can’t let children go hungry.” 

Liebenson sees hope and progress in breaking the cycle of intergenerational poverty through the work of Yad Ezra V’Shulamit. As one example, a young woman named Zahava who grew up in the centers from the age of five donated her first paycheck as an adult to the organization. “I can’t thank you enough,” Zahava said in her note. “This place changed my life and I want to do for another child what you did for me.” 

To learn more and to donate, go to yadezra.net.

Judy Gruen is the author of “Bylines and Blessings,” “The Skeptic and the Rabbi,” and other books. She is also a book editor and writing coach. www.judygruen.com