Detroit Jewish News
Hunger Grips Israel
October 4, 2004

By Robert A. Sklar

He started out seven years ago serving freshly prepared hot meals to three needy families — 17 people — on a daily basis. He cooked on a small stove in rented space in Jerusalem.

The hungry have never stopped coming. Today, Abraham Israel’s Hazon Yeshaya Soup Kitchens serve 6,000 Israelis a nutritious hot meal every day at noon from 38 sites across the country. Recipients range from school kids to shut-ins, from native-born sabras to newly immigrated olim. All are screened for need.

There’s no discrimination. Meals go to Jews, Christian immigrants and Israeli Arabs; 80 percent are kids. Less than 10 percent of the recipients are orthodox Jews — in fact, many diners are kids with nose or belly rings — but every meal is kosher. Meals are served year- round, but Jewish law is respected in deciding whom and what to serve on fast days and holidays. Israel’s biggest and most pressing social problem is hunger — hunger exacerbated by an economic climate ravaged by Palestinian terror.

The gap between the haves and have-nots is growing. Soup kitchen lines are longer. The jobless rate is a stunning 11 percent. Poverty has become so grinding, a third of Israel’s kids are caught in its grip. The situation is so bad, it’s tearing the fabric of Israeli society. Imagine living with five kids in one room with mattresses leaning against the wall.

At night, the mattresses come down so everyone can sleep. “The percentage of Israeli children living below the poverty line is the highest in the Western world, even higher than some developing countries like Mexico,” Abraham Israel says. “We should be ashamed of ourselves.” Israel’s poverty line is 3,000 shekels a month, or $660. With its war on terrorism showing no signs of abating, Israel is struggling to ward off economic collapse, Abraham says. He doesn’t fault the government for pouring almost every shekel into defense. He just wants Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to acknowledge starvation’s fury, as evidenced by more government referrals to Hazon Yeshaya.

He implores Sharon to not fear hunger’s negative impact on immigration. “Believe it or not, people wearing suits and ties, people who lost jobs in tourism or high tech, are coming in with their heads down,” Abraham says. “They’re dying to find a job, but they can’t. They’re embarrassed, but have no choice; they have to pick up meals.” Abraham’s story is lousy PR for Israel. But it’s too important to hide. Lives are at risk.

West Bloomfield businessman Joel Jacob hosted Abraham’s Detroit visit on Aug. 30. Joel had visited Hazon Yeshaya this year and arranged for Abraham and me to meet for lunch at Milk & Honey of West Bloomfield. “Being in business, I don’t like to see waste,” says Joel, who owns the Bottle Crew, a commercial bottle supplier. “I was so impressed with the efficiency of Hazon Yeshaya. It reminded me of Yad Ezra here in the Detroit Jewish community.” I was mesmerized by Abraham’s story. Coming Full Circle Abraham Israel, 54, is an Egyptian Jew whose family fled to France after the Suez War of 1956. They were so poor they ate in HIAS soup kitchens in Paris for three years while waiting for visas to leave for America, the land of opportunity. “It was embarrassing to eat in soup kitchens,” Abraham says. “But it literally saved our lives. I don’t know what we would have done.”

The family immigrated to New York in 1961 and Abraham lived the American dream. He graduated from college and worked as an accountant and retailer before building a prosperous shoe-importing business. He retired in 1995 and made aliyah, settling in Jerusalem. But he never forgot his soup kitchen roots. He longed to repay his debt to society and help the less fortunate. That’s when God intervened.

Abraham met Ronit, a Jerusalem woman in her 20s who was trying to cross Rashi Street. She used a cane and asked if he could help her get to her apartment. “I couldn’t believe what I saw there,” he says. “She had no money for rent, electricity or food. What little aid she got from the government she used on drugs to treat her multiple sclerosis.” Israelis who are destitute put medicine and shelter ahead of food when their government aid of a few hundred dollars a month arrives, Abraham says. Ronit’s plight inspired him to found Hazon Yeshaya and name it after his father, whose yearning for the land of opportunity gave young Abe a fresh start.

Recalling his impoverished childhood, Abraham is eager to serve kids who would otherwise starve until they enter the army at 17. I appreciate what he’s doing for kids, but I admire his reverence for the often-ignored elderly who built Israel. Hazon Yashaya expects to spend up to $8 million this year. Gifts of money cover the bank notes spent to buy food in bulk. The highest paid of six employees gets $1,200 per month to head the Tel Aviv region. Agency heroes are the 170 devoted volunteers. Throughout the year, Birthright Israel young adults, school groups and vacationers also give time.

Abraham stressed that he takes neither pay nor perks. And he flies coach. His Web site is donated. He keeps the cost of operations to just 3 percent. “Tell your readers about us in hopes that they’ll visit us when they’re in Israel and become our ambassadors back in Detroit,” he says. “Please realize I’m not out for personal exposure — just the means to feed.” Joel Jacob validates that: “It’s the hands-on experience at Hazon Yeshaya that excited and inspired me. You volunteer alongside Israelis and Jews from around the world. “It’s a place rich with connections. One person, even bar or bat mitzvah kids, can really make a difference.”