Volunteers are tying up loose ends in the massive food warehouses of Colel Chabad, the Israel-based social welfare organization founded in the 18th century by the First Chabad Rebbe, Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, as the weeklong holiday of Passover draws near.
For the past month, at least 70 unemployed new immigrants in Kiryat Gat have found work preparing special packages of Passover supplies for needy families.
According to Chabad-Lubavitch Rabbi Mendy Blau, coordinator for Colel Chabad services in Israel, more than 200 truckloads of fruits and vegetables have set out since Purim from the organization’s Beit Kamah warehouse in southern Israel.
Dry foodstuffs are packed for delivery at the organization’s Slager Logistics Center, Blau detailed. The new warehouse, recently donated by the Slager Family in New York, boasts 25,000 square feet of storage space and is used for all of Colel Chabad’s pre-holiday distributions throughout the year.
For Passover, 25,000 families in 65 cities across Israel will receive deliveries of 70 to 80 kilograms of various supplies for the holiday. Deliveries include a case of grape juice, matzah, fresh produce, oil, coffee, tea, canned goods, cakes, vouchers to purchase meat and more.
Thousands of pounds of special handmade matzah were donated by Kehillat Bait in S. Paulo, Brazil, a Jewish community led by Rabbi Yitzhak Mishan.
“A professional nutritionist determines the list of what should be included in the packages,” explained Blau. “To help the families prepare meals, the nutritionist also includes recipes in each package as well.”
The nonprofit organization is sending food to Jewish families from every walk of life.
“There are several different types of shipments,” explained Rabbi Zalman Duchman, Colel Chabad’s New York-based director of development, “in order to accommodate the various needs of the different types of families.”
Municipal social workers are in charge of the distribution to 17,000 families selected by local welfare departments. The remainder of recipients is identified by various charitable and support organizations throughout the country.
Each box is marked with the name of the partnering organization. Among those partners are those who serve Holocaust survivors and Jewish families of all stripes and ethnicities.
Colel Chabad spends “almost nothing” on logistical support, Duchman added. As a result, nearly all of its funding goes to specific aid.
The entire operation this year reached a cost of approximately $3 million, much of which came from private donations abroad.
“There was also funding from the municipalities,” said Blau, “as well as from the Holocaust Claims Conference, the Israeli government and others.”
Colel Chabad also placed special emphasis this year on the cities in the south that suffered mortar and rocket attacks by Gaza terrorists.
In addition, the organization is preparing food for some 8,000 people who will be attending public Passover Seders in major Israeli cities.
“We are sending that food all over Israel,” said Blau. “They are picking up salad, gefilte fish, chicken, potato kugel and tzimmes from our kitchens in Jerusalem on Sunday so it will be ready for the Seder on Monday.”
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