Children in tens of thousands of Israeli families will not have to ask the question “Why is our seder table different from that at my friend’s house?” because of a mammoth Jewish group that ensures it doesn’t happen.
Intricate linkages with the Israeli government and other groups, including an especially positive bond with the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews (IFJC) run by Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein, have provided the essential funding needed to make sure the food is available.
This year the organization was charged by the Israeli government to implement the Food Security Project, making sure that Israelis struggling with poverty will have what they need to eat and feed their families for Passover.
Colel Chabad has become a household name since first opening its doors in 1788. But few actually understand the kind of corporate management required to make sure the machinery runs smoothly.
Thousands of Israelis will join Chabad this year for the holiday; and 16,500 actual prepared seder meals have also been ordered for the sedarim being held at Chabad Houses around Israel.
In addition, nearly 20,000 (19,800) boxes are being delivered to families around the country. Depending on the community there are packages containing kitniyot products for Sephardic families, and those that are free of kitniyot for Ashkenazi homes. Distribution of the boxes are divided accordingly. This year, according to the organization, the families — and IDF soldiers — who are participating in the project can choose to receive prepared packages with dried goods and supplies, and a NIS 150 “credit card” for various supermarkets, or they can shop online at the Colel Chabad warehouse.
Because Israel is going through the shemitta, or “seventh” year this year – when farmers are commanded to allow the Land to rest – things are a bit more complicated. Vegetables are more expensive – they must be brought from elsewhere – but the same distributor who supplies Colel Chabad each year is making all the arrangements, organizers said.
Due to last year’s Operation Protective Edge – the 2014 summer war with Gaza – combined with additional shemitta costs, Colel Chabad is expecting a 10 percent increase over last year’s budget of NIS 8,822.500 ($2,520,714.)
A total of 56 municipalities around the country will receive assistance from Colel Chabad and its partner, the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews.
A Special Erev Pesach Bar Mitzvah
While packing and distributing is taking place, and families are busy preparing the items they received in their boxes, some have set aside their cleaning to go to Jerusalem instead.
Today (Monday, March 30) Colel Chabad hosts its annual Bar Mitzvah celebration for orphans at the Western Wall (Kotel) who have turned 13.
Judaism’s newest additions to manhood was given an aliyah to the Torah (their first rite as Jewish men, to chant a blessing over the open Torah scroll in a quorum of ten men), and each received a pair of tefillin (phylacteries) with which to pray the morning service.
The service was to be followed by a banquet celebration at Jerusalem’s International Convention Center, Binyani Ha’Uma.
