Until recently, Sderot had many of the same problems that plague other cities, including unemployment and economic hardship. Sderot, however, is located barely two miles from the Gaza Strip. As a result, this quiet blue collar town has become the front line of Palestinian terrorism against Israel. Until a few months ago, Kassam rockets were fired almost daily at civilian centers, schools and synagogues.

The ramifications are many. Business owners have watched commerce wither. Factories have closed down, leading to even greater unemployment. Many residents say they would like to leave, but in this impoverished development town that has ceased developing, unemployment is close to 30% and few have the financial means to make a new start elsewhere, especially since housing prices have plummeted.

The situation in Sderot mirrors the financial crisis facing the Israeli economy as a whole. In recent years, hunger has become a pressing problem. With the start of the "new intifada" in September, 2000, Israel's tourism industry -- the country's second largest industry - nose dived. Hi-tech, Israel's #1 industry, soon followed. As a result, tens of thousands of companies closed and the unemployment rate throughout the country rose to 11%. The government was forced to slash its budget, making harsh cuts in all sectors, but child stipends and grants to single mothers were especially hard hit.

According to a survey conducted by the Israel Ministry of Health, over 18% of Israeli children go to bed hungry at least one night a week and some 13% of Jewish children suffer from malnutrition.


The survey showed that in addition to those families unable to give sufficient food to their children, many more are forced to give their children unbalanced diets, based almost entirely on carbohydrates and starches, with insufficient protein and vitamins. "The long term ramifications of this kind of under-nutrition are significant," declared Dr. Nitzan Kilosky, who was in charge of the project for the Health Ministry.

The standard of living of the general Israeli population dropped by 4.6% during the last year, while the standard of living of the lowest tenth of the population dropped 12% and the second lowest tenth by 7%. This means that poor families have become even poorer. And Sderot has become a city for the poorest of the poor. Many of the families there would not survive without Yad Ezra VeShulamit's assistance.

Yad Ezra VeShulamit

Yad Ezra VeShulamit was founded in 1998, when Rabbi Ariel Shmuel Lurie, a well known educator, started delivering weekly food packages to several of his impoverished neighbors. Word soon spread and within a few weeks he was sending boxes of food to fifty families every Thursday.

Today, Yad Ezra VeShulamit distributes close to two hundred tons of food monthly. Two thousand five hundred families receive weekly food baskets, several hundred people eat their main meal in one of five Yad Ezra VeShulamit soup kitchens, and Yad Ezra VeShulamit distributes sandwiches to over four hundred school children daily.

In August 2001, a friend of Mr. Ariel Lurie, director of Yad Ezra VeShulamit , begged Mr. Lurie to come to Sderot to see for himself the effects of the "new intifada."

Mr. Lurie was shocked. This small development town was slowly surrendering to despair. He was especially touched by the plight of the children. The Palestinians had planted terror in their hearts. "Every time one of the kids leave the house" explained one of the mothers, "I am a nervous wreck. There's a constant feeling of uncertainty. Where can we run in twenty seconds - that's how much time we have from the warning siren until the bomb explodes? If I had the means, I would leave. But my apartment is worthless."

After several meetings with social workers, who told Mr. Lurie about children who were failing school because of hunger, Mr. Lurie decided to open a branch of Yad Ezra VeShulamit in Sderot. Within a week, a soup kitchen was established and sandwiches were distributed to the schoolchildren.

Because I love it

Ketty Elyasi is in charge of the Yad Ezra VeShulamit soup kitchen. A visiting caregiver for the elderly, Ketty saw, first hand, the devastation of poverty.

"When I met the people of Yad Ezra VeShulamit , I realized that they were people with a heart; good, warm people," Ketty explains. "When they told me about their plans for a soup kitchen, I offered my services."

Every day, Yad Ezra VeShulamit sends a driver with boxes of hot, nutritious food to Ketty's house. "They deliver over fifty portions. If the weather permits, I set up tables in my back yard, and if not, people eat in my living room. But the majority takes the food home, so I just package it for them. Thanks to Yad Ezra VeShulamit , these families are eating healthy meals."

Ketty is a volunteer, as are most of the people working for Yad Ezra VeShulamit . Five days a week, she spends several hours a day serving and packaging the meals, and then cleaning up afterwards. "I do this because I love it. I knew families that didn't have food and were embarrassed to leave their homes. I wanted to do something to help them, to make them realize that they are not forgotten."

It's really, really hard

Sara Biton* is one of the half a dozen or so Americans living in Sderot. "I moved here because my husband's family lives here," she explains. Sara's husband is a school maintenance worker. "He leaves the house at seven thirty each morning and returns home around five. He brings home 3000NIS monthly, the equivalent of $800. But I'm grateful that he has a job. He's one of the lucky ones.

"Before the missiles, there were great jobs available, but since then, everything's come to a standstill. Money is very tight; very, very tight. It's really hard. You can't possibly imagine."

Sara and her husband, Shlomo* have five children between the ages of three to fourteen. Sara is seeking employment. "Every week I go to the employment office to see if there are any openings. But they always turn me away empty handed."

Sara collects 300NIS unemployment benefits per month. In addition, the National Insurance pays them a monthly child's allowance of 700NIS. "Before the budgetary cuts, the child allowance was 1,400NIS," she explains.

The Biton's income is less than $930 per month. "Rent is $50 per month, school tuition, another $330, health insurance $40. That leaves us with just $510 to cover everything else: water, gas, electricity, transportation, telephone, medicines, and, of course, food. There's never enough."

The Biton's take their main meal home from the Yad Ezra VeShulamit soup kitchen. "The children love it. There's always either meat or chicken, a hot soup and either rice or macaroni. I could never afford such expensive food."

Until a few months ago, Yad Ezra VeShulamit was providing the Bitons with weekly food packages of fruits, vegetables, chicken and fish for Shabbat. "But now we only get once a month. There are much needier families. We're one of the lucky ones. At least my husband has a job."

Shlomo also volunteers in the local cemetery. "We don't have money to give to charity," Sara explains. "But we are not 'takers.' My husband is a very proud person, and although we have no choice but to accept Yad Ezra VeShulamit 's assistance, we try to find ways to benefit the community."

Throughout the country

Yad Ezra VeShulamit has branches in seventeen Israeli cities, and soup kitchens in Ashkelon, Kiryat Gat, Sderot, Tsfas, and two locations in Jerusalem. In addition to 2,500 weekly food baskets, Yad Ezra VeShulamit distributes new clothing before the holidays and provides financial assistance to orphans and widows.

"Every week, we have to turn away dozens of requests for lack of funds," Mr. Lurie explains. "In the last half year or so, things have gotten much worse. People who were once embarrassed to come to us, no longer hold back. The daily cost of living is a major problem, and the children are the most effected, because it's easier not to bring food home than not to pay the mortgage."