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Friday, March 29, 2024

Carmei Ha’ir: Feeding and Clothing the Less Fortunate in the Holy City of Jerusalem

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In 2002, during the second intifada, Carmei Ha’ir opened its doors on 72 Agrippas Street in Jerusalem, adjacent to the center of population – near the main entrance to the Mahane Yehudah Market. This unique restaurant was established by Rabbi Yehuda Azrad who believes that preserving the dignity of the needy is just as important as offering them food and clothing. Needy people, as well as average visitors or shoppers could go the restaurant and order a delicious, healthy meal. The meals are prepared by a real chef and are served by waiters, using real tableware. At the end of the meal, clients have the option of requesting a bill; those who do are discreetly sent to a large box at the rear of the restaurant where they can deposit the sum they can afford or the amount they deem the meal is worth. Nobody checks what’s put in the box. And if someone comes because he can’t even afford a sandwich outside, then we are here to provide him not only with food but also to preserve his dignity.

One of Carmei Ha’ir’s generous benefactors explains that “When I sponsor a meal here I know I am giving a poor man two helpings – one of food and one of dignity. I see this as a wonderful investment.”

“Regaining his self-esteem will put him on his feet and prevent future generations from finding themselves in the same situation.”

R’ Azrad is a master at stretching each dollar so he can better help the disadvantaged. He’s been doing it for years at the jewel in the crown of his charitable enterprises – a cozy restaurant that serves its needy patrons for free. Over six hundred meals are prepared each day. The bulk of those meals are served on the premises, while the remainder is sent out to non-ambulatory Holocaust survivors, mentally or physically disabled or families too overwhelmed to show up in person

Open every day except for Tisha B’av and Yom Kippur, the elegantly furnished restaurant offers warm, nutritious meals with a choice of main dishes. The vegetables, grains and spices are all donated, and the bulk of the work is done by volunteers, ensuring that every donated dollar goes far.

In addition to meals, the workers at Carmei Ha’ir prepare 1,380 hefty sandwiches each morning. These sandwiches are delivered to schools around the city where they are surreptitiously slipped into the school bags of the children whose parents cannot even afford bread to feed their hungry children. Carmei Ha’ir hears about these children through social workers, teachers or even concerned neighbors.

In 2006 Carmei Ha’ir opened the doors of an elegant clothing store. The wooden floors, the soft lighting, and the quality merchandise lining the shelves, all give the aura of a classy establishment. No one need know that in this store, no money changes hands. Items are “purchased” with magnetic cards with calculations as to how much to “charge” according to knowledge of the family’s financial status. Based on number of children, families are offered generous wardrobes for the whole family.

The store carries clothing for all ages and tastes – men’s, women’s and children’s clothing is attractively laid out. There is even a corner for shoes. The items are all brand new, donated by big-hearted philanthropists in New York’s garment industry.

“Our motto is ‘what we wouldn’t wear, we wouldn’t give,’” says R’ Azrad. “Clothing is an essential component of our self-image. We feel good when we are nicely dressed. Giving people quality clothing is to give them their honor.” But clothing is expensive.

There are those who can manage to scrape together the pennies needed for the simplest of meals. They don’t allow themselves to accept food from others. However, they have no other option when it comes to clothing. They simply can’t get anything new or otherwise. There were families helped by Carmei Ha’ir’s clothing program in which the children had never in their lives owned a new article of clothing. Now, they can walk down the street with their self-esteem intactCarmei Ha’ir volunteers unloading fresh fruits and vegetables.

All the clothing is donated, and even the shipping and handling charges are paid for by good souls in New York and Mexico. But R’ Azrad is left with the formidable expense of taxes. Despite endless bureaucratic negotiations that reached as far as the Knesset, the Israeli government insists on taxing each shipment of clothing – despite the fact that a not a penny of profit will be made on the items. In addition, the costs of operating the store must be covered.

“It kills me to pay taxes on charity items,” admits Azrad, “but there’s no choice. And for every $10,000 I spend, I’m getting $70,000 worth of beautiful clothing.”

April 2012 is a date that Rabbi Yehuda Azrad will not soon forget. He realized that overnight his charitable organization had become responsible for feeding and supporting about three times more people than its capacity. This was the result of the Jerusalem District Court’s ruling that Carmei Ha’ir would also have to provide meals to some 1,600 additional needy people who had been taken care of by Hazon Yeshaya. On April 8, the director of Hazon Yeshaya and three other officials of the nonprofit organization were sentenced to various terms in prison after the court found them guilty of misuse – through felony and fraud – of large sums of money that had been donated to feed hundreds of Holocaust survivors. But a solution had to be found immediately for the thousands of people whose source of a decent meal or a weekly food package had become uncertain. Carmei Ha’ir, which had earned – through social workers and other officials in the city – great respect and appreciation for its outstanding work with seniors and needy families, seemed to be the ideal organization to take over.

May we all have a healthy, sweet new year and signed in the book of life!

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Jewish Voice readers are encouraged to more at CarmeiHaIr.org.il/en. Together, we can make a difference in the lives of our less fortunate brothers and sisters in Israel.

Feeding Israel’s hungry, young and old, is but one of Carmei Ha’ir’s missions, made possible in part by the generosity of ba’alei tzedakah here in New York.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

An elegant boutique furnishes Israel's less fortunate with brand new clothing, donated by big-hearted philanthropists in New York's garment industry. “Our motto is ‘what we wouldn’t wear, we wouldn’t give,’ ” says Rabbi Azrad.

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