How You Can Help

About a year ago, one of Jeff and Karen Cohns' frequent Shabbos guests returned home from a date distraught and dismayed.

A troubling number of Jews, until recently firmly entrenched in the middle-class of the region's socio-economy, currently find it extremely difficult to simply put food on their tables.

America has been hit by what is likely the worst financial crisis since The Great Depression. Many Jewish communities have been hit hard, with a staggering number of families struggling with joblessness.

Many organizations and charities hold various events to help raise needed funds to continue their operations. Typical fundraisers include benefit dinners, Chinese auctions, and raffles - all worthy and enjoyable affairs. But few organizations have sponsored an inventive activity such as the one by Migdal Ohr Educational Center, Israel's largest orphanage, founded by Rabbi Yitzchak Grossman. In October 2007, the organization held a basketball game between the New York Knicks and Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv.

The loneliness is overwhelming. Yoel G., Yaakov Yosef G., and Yossi B. have spent ten months in solitary confinement, sitting on a hard concrete floor, their mobility severely restricted.

Noam Talmor is 33 years old, married and a talented Israeli architect. He is also a painter and a computer-science engineer.

The loneliness is overwhelming. Yoel G., Yaakov Yosef G., and Yossi B. have spent ten months in solitary confinement, sitting on a hard concrete floor, their mobility severely restricted.

"Building From Bottles" is a community-wide endeavor orchestrated by Avigail Borah, an 11-year-old from Hewlett, NY. Her goal is to amass enough recyclable bottles and cans and donate the redeemed proceeds to One Israel Fund (OIF) to help build a playground for the Jewish children living in Israel.

Many organizations and charities hold various events to help raise needed funds to continue their operations. Typical fundraisers include benefit dinners, Chinese auctions, and raffles - all worthy and enjoyable affairs. But few organizations have sponsored an inventive activity such as the one by Migdal Ohr Educational Center, Israel's largest orphanage, founded by Rabbi Yitzchak Grossman. In October 2007, the organization held a basketball game between the New York Knicks and Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv.

Twenty-five members of the extended Marks family from Woodmere, New York recently traveled to Israel to celebrate their son Moshe's upsherin. However, this was no ordinary upsherin celebration.

Students from several Queens' yeshivas joined forces in two back-to-back bake sales, and raised over $5,000 to help feed the poor in Israel through the Chickens for Shabbos program.

Last week Hershel Puretz paid 50,000 shekels [almost $13,000] in bi-monthly heating bills to the Israel Electric Corporation. Does he own several windswept mansions? A large factory? A hotel? No, Hershel, originally from Brooklyn, lives in a modest apartment in Jerusalem's Mattersdorf neighborhood. A full-time yeshiva student, he is 30 years old, married, and has three children. The heating bills are not his at all. They belong to a couple hundred destitute Israeli families.

Last week Hershel Puretz paid 50,000 shekels [almost $13,000] in bi-monthly heating bills to the Israel Electric Corporation. Does he own several windswept mansions? A large factory? A hotel? No, Hershel, originally from Brooklyn, lives in a modest apartment in Jerusalem's Mattersdorf neighborhood. A full-time yeshiva student, he is 30 years old, married, and has three children. The heating bills are not his at all. They belong to a couple hundred destitute Israeli families.

Students from several Queens' yeshivas joined forces in two back-to-back bake sales, and raised over $5,000 to help feed the poor in Israel through the Chickens for Shabbos program.

America has been hit by what is likely the worst financial crisis since The Great Depression. Many Jewish communities have been hit hard, with a staggering number of families struggling with joblessness.

I live in Baltimore, Maryland. Wendy lives in Santee, California. So even though we've loved being Partners in Torah for almost five years, I really didn't think we'd ever get to meet.

A troubling number of Jews, until recently firmly entrenched in the middle-class of the region's socio-economy, currently find it extremely difficult to simply put food on their tables.