The Poor, Rich Man Next Door: The Parnassa Crisis and YOU

The headlines we see each day are grim. America has been hit by what is likely the worst financial crisis since The Great Depression, and the amount of frum families struggling with joblessness is staggering. Consider these numbers: Passaic, a community of approximately 1400 families, has seen 100 breadwinners lose their Parnassa this year. In Brooklyn, Rav Binyamin Eisenberger, the respected Rav of one of the largest shuls in Boro Park, said that, in his kehillah alone, 10 families were left without any means of support when their fathers’ jobs were cut. Tomchei Shabbos of Lakewood has seen the need for food packages rise to frightening proportions, with approximately 1 out of every 25 families receiving aid.

These are not just numbers.

They are our brothers, our sisters, our yiddishe kinderlach, struggling under the cloud of uncertainty: uncertain where the money to pay the grocery bill will come from, or the mortgage payments…uncertain if they will even have basic food to put on their tables. Once able to help others, they must now look to others to help them.

But what can be done? you ask. I’m barely managing myself, how can I help support another family at the same time…?

Yes, that is true. Alone, perhaps, we can’t support those who need our help – but together, we can ease the burden considerably.

This Shabbos, Parshas Beshalach / Parshas HaMan, has been set aside by our Rabbanim nationwide to make an Emergency Parnassa Appeal. Unemployment is across the board: Agudath Israel, The O-U, Young Israel, and other major Jewish organizations have all united to participate with the Emergency Parnassa Initiative to help Klal Yisrael.

“We’ve spoken with Agudath Israel branches all over the country, had meetings with the National Council of Young Israel, the Rabbinical Council of America, and the Orthodox Union,” Rabbi Zishe Novoseller, Executive Director of EPI, said earlier this week…we’re all in this together.” Along with COJO – the Council of Jewish Organizations of Flatbush and Boro Park – the allied organizations hope to turn the tide.

Begun at a discussion of ba’alei batim gathered at the Agudath Israel Convention, all of whom shared a desire to do something l’ma’aseh to help the situation, the Emergency Parnossa Initiative quickly gained momentum with a meeting with Novominsker Rebbe, Rav Yosef Rosenblum and Rav Aharon Schechter. A recent gathering of nearly one hundred Flatbush Rabbonim discussed how best to help the suffering mispallelim, with Rav Matisyahu Solomon, Mashgiach of Beth Medrash Govoha of Lakewood, urging for the Parshas Beshalach/Parshas HaMan Appeal.

The Appeal this Shabbos is just the first step of many to ease the pain of those who find themselves suddenly unemployed, with the funds your shul raises to be directed solely toward the mispallelim of your shul and community who have lost their jobs during the past year.

In Boro Park, Flatbush, and Monsey, a matching funds program has been set up, where every dollar donated equals two dollars given to each family every month. Other communities are encouraged to spearhead a similar program.

Stipends provide temporary relief; a job will provide a man with the means to support his family again. It is our responsibility to network at work, to inquire among our friends, and to seek contacts within our family in order to assist a fellow Yid in finding a new job.

In the Z’chus of our efforts, may we be Zoche to the Bracha of, “Kol HaMerachaim Al HaBrios, Merachamim Alav Min HaShamayim”.

For further information please call 1-212-612-0202 or 1-800-877-EPINTW or log on to www.epinetworking.org