Shavei Israel and Supersol make Pesach shopping easier this year
Anyone who has ever gone shopping for the Passover holiday knows that it can get expensive. Preparing and buying the traditional foods for the Pesach meal – the matza, gefilte fish, haroset. chicken soup and brisket – can all add up.
That’s not always so easy for some of the new immigrants that Shavei Israel has helped make aliyah to Israel. This year, 300 of the most needy families will be getting a financial break thanks to Israel’s Supersol supermarket chain, which is donating NIS 50,000 ($13,000) in vouchers for Shavei Israel to distribute to the Bnei Menahse, Bnei Anousim and Subbotnik Jewish communities here.
The vouchers can be used at any Supersol store and are intended to make the holiday a bit less burdensome at the cashier. (They can be used at any time of the year as well.) Shavei Israel has been working closely with these families since their aliyah, giving us insight into their earnings and expenses and enabling us to identify those who would benefit the most.
Families living in the Jerusalem area will pick up their vouchers in person; for the Bnei Menahse living in the north of Israel, a Shavei Israel staff person will be making home visits to distribute this special Pesach treat.
The Supersol program came about through a family connection made by Shavei Israel’s head of the Bnei Anousim and Hidden Jews of Poland departments, Tzivia Kusminsky. The vouchers are just for the current year, but we will be working with Supersol with the aim of extending the program and making it a regular component of the supermarket’s charitable outreach.
Shavei Israel has labored tirelessly over the last decade to make “Next Year in Jerusalem” – which is sung at the conclusion of the Pesach Seder – a living reality for far-flung and formerly “lost” Jewish communities around the world. With Supersol’s help, getting to the end of the Haggadah and enjoying the Afikomen – the symbolic “dessert” of the meal – will be that much sweeter this year for some of Israel’s newest immigrants.