Helping Israelis through the recession - and Rosh Hashanah
Posted: Wednesday, September 16, 2009 8:30 AM
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Tel Aviv, Israel
By Paul Goldman, NBC News Producer
RISHON LEZION, Israel – By 10 a.m. on a recent morning, the line of people in an underground parking lot in this Tel Aviv suburb, was getting longer and longer. The frustration level was intensifying along with the rising temperature – it was hot and sticky with no fresh air.
But, for many, it was a line worth waiting in. The Pitchon-Lev organization was handing out the basic needs for the upcoming Jewish New Year – Rosh Hashanah – which begins at sundown this Friday, Sept. 18 and will be observed on Saturday.
While there are some signs of hope that the global recession may be receding, for many of the people on line here, hard times are here to stay.
Tal Eisenbaum, manager of the Pitchon-Lev aid center, left a cushy hi-tech career for this grueling job of helping the needy and the poor.
"I was a C.E.O of a software company, I have a third degree in marketing and I came here because of my conscience, I decided to work for a few years for the community, to feel good with myself," said Eisenbaum. "I see that I’m actually helping people and it feels good."
But the global recession has hit organizations like Pitchon-Lev hard. "Donations dropped dramatically, down 30 percent to 40 percent," Eisenbaum explained. But at the same time, the need for donations has grown. "The amount of people coming here went up 20 percent and our customers are now teachers and engineers, people we never saw before."
According to Eisenbaum, out of a population of approximately 7.2 million in Israel, over 1.65 million live under the poverty line, including 800,000 children. So the need for aid organizations like Pitchon-Lev is great.
"The pictures you see around me – its Israel 2009 and not Rwanda and not 1920," said Eisenbaum, referring to an era when large numbers of Jewish migrants were settling in Israel. "The population here is very heterogenic, Arabs and Jews, Ethiopians and Russians. All earn less than minimum wage which is about $900 per family per month."
But Rosh Hashanah, which literally means "head of the year" in Hebrew, is a time for celebration – and reflection. It’s a Jewish holiday celebrating the new Jewish calendar year, the month that God created the world.
The central home ritual of the holiday consists of a special festive meal, which includes eating a piece of apple dipped in honey to symbolize a new sweet year.
So at the aid center, Pitchon-Lev was giving out apples, honey, bread, oil, flour, wine, meat and a haircut. Yes, a beauty parlor donated its workers and in the middle of the parking lot they put up a mirror, set up some plastic chairs and gave haircuts.
Hopefully a full stomach and a new look will help usher in a happy New Year.
