(Courtesy of Lemaan Achai) Nir and Yocheved are a young couple in their early twenties. Nir grew up in the Mateh Yehuda region in Israel in a traditional family who struggled financially, and Yocheved grew up in Beitar Illit in a family blessed with children. After the army, Nir found a job in a bakery in Beitar Illit and that’s where he met Yocheved. Their relationship developed secretly, and they decided to get married and start a family. Yocheved’s family did not agree with this relationship and her relationship with them was severed.
Nir and Yocheved married and moved to a small, modest apartment within Nir’s parents’ house. A year later, they welcomed their first daughter.
The young couple attempted to support their family by doing odd jobs such as waitering and cleaning houses. Without a regular income, however, they fell into severe financial crisis. The pressure and stress led to even greater issue, putting them on the verge of divorce.
As a last resort, Nir and Yocheved turned to their local welfare department to receive assistance, guidance and a chance to save their family. The welfare worker helped them as much as she could. Her suggestion, however, was for them to turn to Lema’an Achai. There, they would receive the guidance to help them make the life changes to bring them through and then out of the crisis mode in which they lived. She urged them to call Lema’an Achai immediately.
During the initial meeting with Lema’an Achai, it was clear to the social work team that Nir and Yocheved had the potential to succeed. The plan was to first provide provide them with counseling to strengthen the marital stability between them. Of course, they received food packages and other material aid, met with financial counseling professionals, and were given a solid action plan. During a subsequent meeting, it became clear that Nir’s heart was drawn to electrical work, so Lema’an Achai turned to a company and recommended for them to hire him while studying and training to become a licensed electrician.
With her consent, another team member at Lema’an Achai approached Yocheved’s relatives to try to heal the rift with her family. It turned out that they, too, desired to renew the relationship, especially after hearing the news of a new granddaughter. They simply needed someone to help them come down from the tree. The Lema’an Achai team provided “the ladder” to help them.
Yocheved started working as an office manager at a private company. Lema’an Achai provided assistance to finance the daycare during those first months, and arranged a rotation of volunteers to look after her daughter on Yocheved’s work days.
We were extremely grateful to receive a thank you email from Yocheved and Nir in which they informed us that the upcoming Seder night will be celebrated in Beitar Illit with Yocheved’s family. “All thanks to you,” they wrote. “You certainly deserve the name ‘For my brothers, Lema’an Achai.’”
In your charitable giving, you have a choice of a tzedaka expense versus a tzedaka investment. A choice between giving a handout that is unfocused and without a goal or giving a hand up, the eighth and highest level of tzedaka. The choice between being stuck in a broken system or giving with a vision and future that results in a proven ROI.
At Lema’an Achai we help make this choice easier for you. Breaking the Cycle of Poverty in Israel One Family at a Time. For over 20 years. www.lemaanachai.org.
