Editor’s note: This article is sponsored content from Keren HaTzadik.

“I have not left my house in three days and will stay indoors until the police capture the terrorist. Can you bring me food?” pleaded a resident of Tel Aviv on Tuesday to Aharon Amos Ben Naeh, director of Keren HaTzadik. As of this writing, the terrorist shooter in last Friday’s attack is still at large.

What would you do in such a situation?

For the past few months, our brothers and sisters in the Land of Israel have felt continually threatened. Everyday decisions such as when to go out shopping, stand at a bus stop or take out the trash can have life or death consequences. Children who venture outside are instructed to wear backpacks filled with thick padding that can absorb a knife attack. With the sense that the attacks’ locations are random, those who venture outdoors have begun carrying pepper spray and other objects to protect themselves.

Due to this current wave of terror, many Israelis are suffering from panic and trauma. There are people who for weeks, even months, have feared to leave their homes to go to work and shop. As a result of lost income, people who until now were able to just make ends meet are rapidly entering the rosters of the needy and hungry. Thousands have turned to Keren HaTzadik for food.

Keren HaTzadik, a grassroots organization founded in memory of Rabbi Aryeh Levin, zt”l, strives to be true to its motto and mission, “Helping all in need.” For the past 15 years, Keren HaTzadik has operated on a shoestring budget while staunchly protecting the privacy and dignity of recipients. The organization has provided food, heaters and moral support to thousands. Primary recipients have been families of Hesder soldiers, who combine yeshiva and army service, Gush Katif families who are still struggling since the expulsion in 2005, and residents under rocket fire in Sderot and other locales. Through Keren HaTzadik’s Lifros Kenafayim program, tuition-free career training is granted to qualified men and women committed to exiting the cycles of poverty.

At this critical time, Keren HaTzadik is coming to the aid of hundreds of families from across the spectrum of Israeli society who have been paralyzed by fear. Although Keren HaTzadik has been actively encouraging the media to publicize the plight of these “invisible” victims of terror, many of whom are hidden in their homes, little has been published in Israel and almost nothing abroad. The Jerusalem Post, perhaps in response to KH’s urging, only recently reported that over 8,000 people in Israel have developed post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) due to the current wave of terrorist attacks. About 1,500 live in Jerusalem, according to a study presented to the Israel Trauma Coalition. These figures may be grossly underestimated as a majority of Israelis admit they fear being hurt in an attack.

Despite the apparent resistance of the media to accept that the terrorists have had an impact, Keren HaTzadik and its supporters refuse to turn a blind eye to the suffering of our brothers and sisters.

Sadly, some prominent relief organizations have closed their doors to these new thousands, for fear that the sudden increased demand will overwhelm their intake system. Surprisingly, these well-funded organizations have been sending them to the modestly-funded volunteer organization, Keren HaTzadik. Why? Because of Keren HaTzadik’s special streamlined intake procedures (as explained at length in the Jewish Link two weeks ago).

However, the sudden flood of hundreds of new families since Sukkot indeed threatens the very existence of Keren HaTzadik’s longstanding system of distribution.

In response to this pressing need, Keren HaTzadik has opened a new department to service these new families and has creatively designed a system to respond quickly and generously. With no end in sight to this wave of terror, an estimated $100,000 is urgently needed in order to run this new department for the coming year. Approximately two-thirds of these funds will be raised in Israel. Keren HaTzadik looks to our Jewish brethren living in the relative safety and prosperity of the Diaspora to generously help provide the remaining third.

Subsequent to the Jewish Link’s attention to Keren HaTzadik and the “invisible” victims of terror, a generous donor from Boston offered $18,000 in matching funds over the next month to benefit the men, women and children who rely on Keren HaTzadik for food, heat, moral support and more.

With this exciting offer of $18,000 in matching funds, the goal of $36,000 is within reach, and hundreds of families will know that they are not alone.

Those who value the activities and ideals of Keren HaTzadik are encouraged to send their urgently needed generous donations to KEREN HATZADIK USA, c/o Rabbi Moshe Jordan Yasgur, 992 Richard Court, Teaneck NJ 07666. For further information please call 201 637 6091.

You can also donate online at http://tinyurl.com/KerenHaTzadik, or log on to your PayPal account and send your generous contribution to: [email protected].

By Rabbi Moshe Jordan Yasgur