Christian Donors Gift Clothing to Jewish Children

Just in time for winter, the Chabad-run Federation of Jewish Communities (FJC) partnered with the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews (IFCJ) and the Gloria Jeans clothing franchise to distribute clothing gift certificates to 5,000 Jewish children from across Ukraine and Russia.

From FJC.ru:

The certificates, which are redeemed in Gloria Jeans stores, provide each child with a set of new clothing for the season, including shoes and warm jackets.

“This provides serious support for many Jewish families of our community in these unstable times,” said representatives of the Mariupol community in Ukraine, which has a large group of participating children.

This is the 11th certificates distribution, which is conducted seasonally, twice a year, in time for the winter and summer seasons. The recipients are Jewish children from families in need – families struggling with child disabilities, single-parent families or those in dire economic situations.

“I am bringing up my son alone, without the help of any relatives. Because of his disabilities I have fully devoted myself to his needs and don’t have the opportunity to work – we live on a small pension from the government. The clothing certificate came very timely and really brightened up our mood – over the summer my son grew out of his old clothes and we were in need of a new wardrobe for the winter,” said one mother from Volgograd, Russia, another Jewish community that participated in the distribution.

Overall, more than 55 cities across the two countries benefited from the distribution. Started in 2012, the clothing gift card initiative provides much-needed help to Jewish families across the FSU thanks to continuous support from its partners, the IFCJ, headed by Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein, and the Gloria Jeans franchise.

11 Comments

  • Ambassador

    Terrible terrible
    Eckstein is leading Jews to the church.
    This is absolute avoda zora.
    I believe one of the Rabonim from the lubavitch rabonim in Israel studied this group thoroughly and gave a clear Psak that eckstein group is avoda zora mammash!

    • Milhouse

      Motzi shem ra. Eckstein has a bigger gan eden than “one of the Rabonim from the lubavitch rabonim in Israel”.

  • Andrea Schonberger

    Is this what Yidn have come to? The IFCJ is not a cool organization for Jews to be involved with. I’ve seen several of their commercials on television along with their fake rabbi who probably got his fake smicha from one of those messianic churches. Steer clear of those phony baloneys who want to convert Jews. We need Moschiach NOW!

    • Milhouse

      How dare you. How dare you call Rabbi Eckstein a “fake rabbi”, and impugn his semicha, which he got from R Yoshe Ber Soloveichik. He’s a far better Jew than you are. He helps thousands of people, and makes a huge kiddush haShem. Meanwhile you simply display bigotry against Xians, the only bigotry that is allowed in this PC world.

  • Rabbi K

    Milhouse, You know (or ought to know) that accepting charity from goyim is a serious halachic problem. This isn’t the place for a halachic debate but we all know that it is a halachic problem and frum Jews must follow halacha. I am shocked that you defend actions of an individual (musmach or not) which are run contrary to halacha! The end does not justify the means. If the means are ossur then the ends are the fruit of the poison tree. Rabbi K of BMG

    • Milhouse

      The issue with accepting tzedoko from goyim is not a halachic problem, it’s a hashkafic one — we shouldn’t give them the zechus. The same issue, of course, applies to government grants. So name for me, if you can, three institutions that refuse all donations from goyim, because of this principle. Name for me the institutions that would ever turn down a donation simply because the donor doesn’t deserve the zechus of supporting the cause in question.

    • Rabbi K

      Milhouse thinks that Sulchan Oruch יו”ד רנד:א is not halachic – it`s “hashkafic”, wow! Does that also apply to shabbos, kashrus, shchita…?! NEBECH!

    • Milhouse

      Se’if 1 is irrelevant here, because it refers to an individual poor person, who should not publicly beg from goyim, because of the chilul hashem it will cause that it looks like the Jews aren’t supporting him. In private it’s permitted, since there’s no chilul hashem. This is not relevant to a mosad in general, and certainly not to one whose whole purpose is to give goyim the opportunity to get the brocho of “va’avorcho mevorachecho”.

      The second se’if is more relevant, since it’s based on the gemoro in Bovo Basro, which is not because of chilul hashem but because of not giving them a zechus. So please name three mosdos that have ever refused a donation simply because the donor doesn’t deserve the zechus of supporting them.

      I’ve only heard of one such case, and it wasn’t from a goy but from a yid who wasn’t acting right; and even they didn’t want to deny her the zechus, they just didn’t want to be seen as giving a hechsher on her public behavior. Presumably they would accept a donation from a goy who behaves properly, or who gave it privately.

    • Rabbi K

      The new standard of being frum: If I can`t name 3 people that keep the halacha of what Shulchan Oruch says, then I don`t need to keep this halacha either. (BTW – pleanty of Mosdos do not accept money from people they consider as “unacceptable”sources, such as Zionist Government funding etc. Such money is considered `treif`to them!). I repeat, NEBACH!

    • Rabbi K

      Milhouse wrote: “How dare you call Rabbi Eckstein a “fake rabbi”, and impugn his semicha, which he got from R Yoshe Ber Soloveichik. He’s a far better Jew than you are.”

      Well, when someone doesn’t keep an explicit halacha in shulchan Oruch, one may dare to call him a “fake rabbi”…no different than “rabbis” from other denominations that do not adhere to Shulchan Oruch.