GANGSTERS IN BLUE: ASSAULT ON AMERICA’S HOMELESS – PART 2

GANGSTERS IN BLUE: ASSAULT ON AMERICA’S HOMELESS – PART 2

Written by Thomas Cain

The State of Utah passed draconian laws that prohibit the homeless from any form of panhandling.  Panhandlers are either given a citation to appear in court or are arrested and thrown into jail. 

In March of this year the 10^th circuit court of appeals ruled that Salt Lake City, Utah anti-panhandling laws are unconstitutional.  All across Utah the homeless are filing lawsuits proclaiming their Constitutional rights are being violated by law enforcement agencies.  Fortunately for the homeless they are seeing a myriad of victories.  However, the biggest perpetrator targeting the homeless is Provo City’s police department (Gangsters In Blue). 

Even though the Chief of Police Rick Gregory, has been advised by the Justice Department, that Utah’s anti-panhandling laws are unconstitutional, he has ordered his officers to harass, terrorize, and intimidate the homeless with threats of false arrested, false criminal charges, and other forms of mental and physical police abuse.

What is most unsettling, Chief of Police Rick Gregory’s mandate to harass the homeless comes directly from the high archery of the Mormon Church leaders.  While the Mormon Church’s public edifice is one of sympathy and kindness for Utah’s impoverished souls, behind the scenes there is volatile mean-spirited revulsion for the Utah’s weakest down-an-outers.  All Utah law enforcement agencies are under the complete dictate of Thomas S. Munson, President of the Mormon Church.

Rescue My Chosen People is a Jewish organization looking out for the needs of impoverished Jews worldwide.  However, after much consideration, we decided to take an unprecedented step to join forces with legal firms that protect the rights of Utah’s most impoverished souls, Jews and non-Jews alike.  This will be discussed in more detail in Part 3 of this series.

America’s homeless are in much need of protection from police abuse.  Americans have a moral and legal duty to defend her weakest citizens from police atrocities. In Part 3 you will be given an opportunity to voice your concerns of homeless police abuse in Provo, Utah and elsewhere.  It is our responsibility to stop this unwarranted police assault on America’s most defenseless citizens.

GANGSTERS IN BLUE: ASSAULT ON AMERICA’S HOMELESS

GANGSTERS IN BLUE: ASSAULT ON AMERICA’S HOMELESS

By Thomas Cain

Series One

For the last few months, RMCP has been investigating allegations of Police abuse against America’s homeless.  What we discovered is most disturbing.  Homelessness in America is on a high time rise.  Food banks, homeless shelters, church charities, are facing a catastrophe crisis in supplying the meager demands of the homeless.

With America encountering a double dip recession, more families are losing their homes.  Homeless shelters nationwide have reported a huge increase in families with small children either living on the streets or in their vehicles.  With no jobs or money, these once thriving, hardworking men and women are force to “panhandle” for their survival.

America’s image has always been one of a prosperous nation, a benevolent people whose generosity reaches beyond its borders to the needy, or at least this is the portrait we have painted of ourselves.  The fact is, as America’s economy declines, with more and more families being evicted from their homes, the homeless are being rounded up by the police and carded off to jail.

City after city have demanded their police run off the vagrants from their communities.  In some instances the homeless are beaten, thrown into jail while deprived of food, or medicine.  They have been murdered, mocked, subjugated to insults, sneered at, given false promises of help, their wives and daughters have been raped, even forced into prostitution. 

In the State of California, Florida, New York, and elsewhere, homeless women have been raped by police officers in the backseat of their police cruisers.  The sad part is that these atrocities were not performed in secret.   In Salt Lake City and Provo, Utah where the Mormonism is the leading faith, it is reported that homeless women are subjugated to police strip search, fondled, forced intercourse, and jailed, for no other reason than being homeless.

Recently, a homeless woman was fondled by a Utah County Sheriff Jailer, while custody in Provo, Utah.  When the woman complained to jail officials the jailer was given a slight reprimand, the woman was charged with false drug charges.  The charges were later dropped; the woman was forced to leave the area or encounter further false charges.

Our investigations lead us to one state to another as the homeless shared their stories of police abuse.  In most cases their pleas for help have fallen upon deaf ears.  As American states face the worst economical crisis in its history, the homeless are “undesirables” with little or no chance of escaping their financial impoverishment.  

The second wave of the Grapes of Wrath is upon us.  During the dust bowel area, farmers assaulted the migrants, refused to pay them their meager wages, and used private security guards to whip and beat the poor souls into submission: all for the mighty American dollar.  In today’s Grapes of Wrath, it’s not the farmers plundering the poor, its big corporation.  The poor are strong armed into submission by state and local law enforcement agencies.  Again, all for the American all mighty dollar. 

U.S. taxpayers subsidize monthly payments to terrorists

U.S. taxpayers subsidize monthly payments to terrorists

 Author: Rabbi Jonathan Greenberg | September 4, 2012

The Park Hotel in Netanya, site of the March 27, 2002 Passover massacre (Photo: Dr. avishai teicher/ Wikicommons)

In 2002, two weeks after a suicide bomber blew up my neighborhood bar, killed 11 of my neighbors, and effectively ended my first year in seminary, I travelled from Jerusalem to my brother’s home in a Tel Aviv suburb for seder on the first night of Passover. My nephew, who will soon be 11, was an infant, and my sister-in-law’s whole wonderful family came for the celebration.

After the seder, someone turned on the television and the celebratory mood ended as we watched the horrifying scenes being shown from the Park Hotel in Netanya. As many hotels in Israel do, the Park had hosted a Passover seder for its mostly older guests. With 250 people in attendance, a male suicide bomber disguised as a woman checking into the hotel passed the security guard, walked into the dining hall, and detonated a suitcase full of explosives. Thirty people died and 140 were wounded. Most of those killed were in their 70s and 80s.

The man who planned that bombing, Abbas al-Sayyeed, sits in an Israeli prison. For services rendered, he receives a $3000/month salary from the Palestinian Authority (PA). In fact, he’s one of many mass murderers sitting in Israeli prisons who receives a salary. Surviving family members of suicide bombers also receive monthly payments.

According to the above-linked article, the PA spends 6% of its annual budget on such payments. They spend $4.5 million monthly on jailed terrorists and $6.5 million monthly incentivizing future suicide bombers by paying the families of past ones. $11 million dollars per month is $132 million per year.
Incidentally, for FY ’13, the PA is getting $370 million in Economic Support Funds from U.S. taxpayers, and $70 million in security training funds.

In other words, American taxpayers are helping to subsidize a practice that encourages people to become terrorists and suicide bombers. Most of our aid money goes to health, education, social services, and economic development programs. Obviously, if the PA has enough cash for a terrorist rewards program, they shouldn’t require as much help from the American taxpayer.

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The Birth of Rabbi Eckstein's Grandchild

May 3, 2012

Dear Friend of Israel,

This is truly a special time for me. I'm thrilled to share with you that my daughter, Yael, just gave birth to her third child, a beautiful baby girl. This is my fifth grandchild, and I am grateful to God that both mother and child are healthy and happy.

The births of my children and grandchildren have always taken me back to my own childhood. My strongest memories are of my family and me at the weekly Sabbath table. It is this time we spent together that laid the foundation for all the other values my parents sought to instill in me. Those values were, first and foremost, a love of God, a love and responsibility for Israel, and a commitment to the preservation of the Jewish people – to maintaining this historical link from generation to generation.

My parents also taught me to respect others, and to expend my time and energy caring for and helping those who are needy, suffering, and alone. I’ve tried to follow their teachings through the work we do here at The Fellowship. I have full confidence that my daughter and son-in-law will raise their children with the same values – values that instill an abiding commitment to helping others, especially the less fortunate.

Of course, beyond the protective, loving embrace of the family lies a world that can be filled with danger and peril. Too often, we are greeted with bad news when we open our newspapers or turn on our computers. We hear of so much suffering and tragedy, and we feel powerless to stop it. Those of us who care about Israel and closely follow events in the Middle East may feel helpless as we read about the rise of terrorism, the brutality of regimes toward their own people, and the unfair treatment of Israel by the community of nations.

Yet, as I sit here in my U.S. office looking out at the Chicago skyline, I think of something the great Chicago poet Carl Sandburg once wrote: “A baby is God’s opinion that life should go on.” The truth of those words hits home for me today. All of us can become jaded with life, our senses dulled by routine. But, with the birth of a child comes new hope, new promise, and an opportunity for all of us to discover anew the wonder of life. It reminds us that, as amazing and impressive as the work of our hands like this Chicago skyline – can be, it cannot even begin to approach the miracle, the mystery, the magnificence of a single human life.

To my new granddaughter, I say: welcome to the world! We thank God for your arrival. And Mazel Tov, Yael, to you and your family. Thank you for bringing happiness and pride to me, and everyone who loves you.

With prayers for shalom, peace,

Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein
President

The Forgotten Impoverished Jews

The Forgotten Impoverished Jews

Written by: Jonathan Israel

Recently a well known Christian pastor and television evangelist in Branson, Missouri, began his church service with his congregation affirming Jesus provides each member with a bigger house and a new automobile.  The congregation further professed they are wealthy, they have no lack of money, they eat the best of foods, wear the finest apparel, etc.

It’s true that America is the most prosperous nation in the world.  While we have our share of indigent and homelessness, most Americans have preeminent cars, comfortable homes, and supermarkets to buy most anything they desire.  There are restaurants on every street corner.  In most major cities charitable organizations provide the homeless three hot meals a day.  This is truly a blessed nation.  Unfortunately, the more wealth Americans accumulate, the more they lust after.  Even our most respected churches are embedded with an outrageous spirit of greed.

As American press in for more wealth, and luxurious houses, we have forgotten the most vulnerable people in this nation and around the world: the impoverished Jews.  For example, America has nearly seventeen million impoverished children that, each and every night, go to bed hungry.  Their tiny bellies are famished and wanting for something as simple as a piece of fruit.  This should not be so.  Not in America.

Famine is not just restricted to impoverished American children, it rages throughout the world.  Impoverished Jews in Siberia are literally starving to death.  They live in shanty shacks; have no fuel for heat, no medical assistance, and no money to survive on.  They are in desperate need of our financial support.  They are the forgotten impoverished Jews.  America cannot sit idly by as our beloved Jewish brothers and sisters encounter their greatest suffering of hunger and starvation since WW11.   We must act now, without our immediate intervention the Jewish elderly, children, and families will die. 

You and I are the key to their deliverance.  We are their only hope for survival.  Here are few Jewish charities that provide some relief to impoverished Jews throughout the world.  http://www.jnf.org  http://www.wjr.org.uk   http://www.chaicancercare.org (for medical assistance)  www.ifcj.org   http://www.yadeliezer.org (Helps impoverished Jews in Israel)

The above list is just a small account of Jewish charities.  There are many more that are provided through a google search in your area.  Your intervention to rescue a Jewish man, woman, child from starvation is urgently requested.  Act now by contacting one of the reputable Jewish charities listed above.  The scripture says, “I will bless those that bless you…” 

Shalom

Jonathan Israel

This Simply Should Not Be - By Rabbi Eckstein

The following article by Rabbi Eckstein is a reprint from International Fellowship of Christians and Jews.  www.ifcj.org  Please read its entirety.

Thomas Cain

This op-ed from Rabbi Eckstein appeared in the Christian Post on April 19, 2012

On January 27, 1945, when the Russian army marched into the notorious Nazi concentration camp at Auschwitz, even the battle-hardened soldiers were appalled at what they saw. Surviving prisoners so emaciated that they resembled walking skeletons came toward the troops weeping with gratitude. Years later, one solider described the scene: "When I saw the people, it was skin and bones. They had no shoes, and it was freezing. They couldn't even turn their heads, they stood like dead people … I was shocked, devastated."

It was the beginning of the end of one of the darkest chapters in human history, the Holocaust, during which more than ten million people died, including six million Jews. While Jews had endured pogroms (organized massacres) and oppression before, the Nazi’s attempt to exterminate the Jewish people was unparalleled in scale and brutality. In some countries, including Poland, Greece, and Lithuania, the Jewish community was virtually wiped out. The effects of this cruel, systematic attempt to destroy European Jewry linger to this day, and will for generations to come, in the collective memory of the Jewish people.

Beginning this Wednesday at Sundown, Israel and Jewish communities worldwide remember the Holocaust on Yom Ha’Shoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day. For two minutes throughout Israel, sirens sound, and the entire country comes to a standstill – all work comes to a halt, people walking down the street stop in their tracks, and cars stop in the road, their drivers exiting to stand in silent remembrance. It is a powerful display of national unity that not only honors the memory of those murdered in the Holocaust, but reaffirms Israel's identity as a strong and proud Jewish nation, one committed to ensuring that the horrors of the Holocaust are never repeated.

While the United Nations chose the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz for its annual Holocaust remembrance, it is fitting that Israel’s Yom Ha’Shoah was meant to coincide with the anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising, when Jews banded against the Nazis in the occupied Polish capital in a noble, though futile, attempt to drive out their oppressors. Thus, on Yom Ha’Shoah, we commemorate both the tragedy of the Holocaust and the proud spirit of Jewish self-determination that grew out of its horrors a spirit that found its ultimate expression in the formation of the state of Israel in 1948.

The Jewish state provided a refuge for many who managed to escape Nazism. Today, there remain nearly 200,000 Holocaust survivors living in Israel. Incredibly, sixty thousand of these individuals live under the poverty line. This simply should not be. There are many organizations, including my organization, the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, working to alleviate the plight of these people who, having survived the scourge of Nazism, now live with the scourge of poverty. We honor those who died in the Holocaust not just by remembering them and telling their stories to new generations, but by honoring those who survived – by feeding them, clothing them, and letting them remember they are not alone.

By our modern standards, the Holocaust sometimes feels like ancient history. We like to think we have progressed, and that the threat of another Holocaust is remote. But we are continually reminded that the hatred of Jews simply because they are Jews – what Catholic scholar Edward Flannery once called the “longest and deepest hatred of human history” – persists. We see it in Toulouse, France, where a terrorist recently murdered four people, including three children, at a Jewish school. We see it in Ukraine, where a 25-year-old Jewish student was severely beaten during Passover. And we see it on a global scale in the words and actions of the radical Islamist government in Iran, which vows to wipe the “Zionist regime” – the Jewish state of Israel – off the map, and is pursuing nuclear capabilities to make its dream a reality.

In 1986, Jewish author Elie Wiesel, himself a Holocaust survivor, told of his resolve after the Holocaust: "I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation," he said. “Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented." Let us never be silent about what happened during the Holocaust, and let us be ever vigilant against its recurrence. And, let us remember those who endured, and survived, horrible suffering during the Holocaust. May we commit to helping them live out their lives with a measure of peace and dignity; after what they have endured, they deserve no less.

With prayers for shalom, peace,


Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein
President

April 18 Begins Yom Hashoah

April 18, begins Yom Hashoah — Holocaust Remembrance Day.  The Nazis murdered six million Jews for no other reason than they were Jews.  Jews and non-Jews must never forget this terrible atrocity against the Lord’s chosen people.  On April 18^th the tradition is to light a candle in remembrance of the Holocaust.  It also a day that reminds us that we shall “never forget” as well as taking a stand that “never again” shall we allow such atrocities to take place against the Jews. 

Worldwide, anti-Semitism is on the rise.  Anti-Semitism is hatred toward the Creator and His chosen people.  The Creator told His people, “I will bless those that bless you; I will curse those that curse you.”  Are you looking to be blessed?  If so, reach out to an impoverished Jewish family, and support them within your means to do so.  By performing this act of benevolence, the Lord said, “You will find favor with God; you will find favor with man.”

As we being Yom Hashoah, let us take precious time to pray for the thousands of elderly survivors of the holocaust.  The tragedy they experienced must never be repeated, nor shall we allow such misanthropy to reign over His chosen people again.  Rescue My Chosen People has vowed a helping hand to impoverished Jews, wherever they are, by providing much needed information on reputable Jewish charities that cope with their particular concerns.  For your convenience you will find numerous Jewish charities on RMCP’s blog.  As you search out the charity that is worthy of your donation, please be generous.

Thomas Cain

Happy Easter to Our Christian Friends

Happy Easter to our Christian Friends, especially to those who have supported impoverished Jewish families around the world.  To you, Rescue My Chosen People, we are grateful for your benevolence to our Jewish brothers and sisters.  I pray this sacred celebration will be a blessed one for you and your families.

Happy Easter

Thomas Cain

Last Chance Before Passover

The below message comes from Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein of the International Fellowship of Christian and Jews.  www.ifcj.org  Time is running out to help impoverished Jews before Passover.  There are only a few days left.  Please read Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein’s message.

Thomas Cain

Message from Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein:

Passover is now only days away and there are still desperately needy people in both Israel and the former Soviet Union looking for your help.

People like Veronika — a precious little eight-year-old girl whose young life has been filled with misery and unending hardship.

Veronika is not only growing up in appalling poverty, but she also suffers from diabetes that requires costly daily medication. Her mother earns only $137 a month, and the family is facing eviction from their dilapidated apartment in Kiev, Ukraine.

To keep food on the table, Veronika’s mother depends on food packages from The Fellowship, especially during this holy time of year when she so desperately wants to give Veronika a chance to experience Passover with dignity.

My friend, there are so many Jewish people, like Veronika and her family, who are living in shocking poverty right now. They cannot even afford life’s basic necessities, much less the special foods, such as matzah, that are needed to celebrate the Passover Seder.

Your gift to our Fill the Pantry Passover food campaign will be a tremendous blessing. With your help we can reach out to thousands of orphaned and abandoned Jewish children who need to know that there is someone who cares, to elderly women and men — including Holocaust survivors — who are isolated and alone, and to impoverished Jewish families who otherwise will be unable to observe the holy Passover Seder.

Please give to our Fill the Pantry Passover food campaign today and bring comfort to these suffering souls. The bible tells us “This is a day you are to commemorate; for the generations to come you shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord — a lasting ordinance” (Exodus 12:14).

If you’ve already made a gift, then please accept my heartfelt gratitude. But, if you haven’t yet donated, or can make an additional gift to help these desperately needy people, then please make a generous contribution today.

With prayers for shalom, peace,

Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein
President

PS
   
With Passover now only three days away, there is very little time left to fill these much needed Passover Food Boxes and distribute them to the most needy including families, orphans and the elderly. Please help us reach out to them by making a special Passover gift to The Fellowship today.

List of Jewish Charities Published by Jewish Magazine

The following article comes for Jewish Magazine www.jewishmag.com.  It is a compilation of Jewish charities that list Jewish nonprofit organizations with their specialties in providing for impoverished Jews, worldwide.  It also describes what to look for in checking on said charities.  This article was published on their website in 2004.  Rescue My Chosen People believe this list will be a benefit in deciding which charity is appropriate for your particular needs.

Thomas Cain

From Jewish Magazine www.jewishmag.com 2004

"When in a settlement in the land that G-d your Lord is giving you, any of your brothers is poor, do not harden your heart of shut your hand against your needy brother. Open your hand generously…make every effort to give him, and do not feel bad about giving it, since G-d your Lord will then bless you in all your endeavors, no matter what you do. The poor will never cease to exist in the land, so I am commanding you to open your hand generously to your poor and destitute brother in your land." Dvarim (Deuteronomy 15:7-11)

We spoke with Suzanne Coffman, Director of Communications at Guide Star, the National Database of Nonprofit Organizations, which maintains an online database on thousands of non-profit organizations based on their IRS filings.

"If you find a charity on Guide Star, at the very least, it is a legitimate organization," says Coffman. However, she cautions this newspaper that you cannot infer that an organization is fraudulent simply because it is not included in their database. "For instance," she tells us, "faith-based organizations are not required to register with the IRS, so they wouldn't be on our website." She advises people considering donating to a synagogue or a Jewish educational center to ask to see their IRS Letter of Determination, a form excluding them from filing certain forms those other charities must file annually.

"One of the ways we recommend to see if an organization is on the up-and-up," adds Coffman, "is to look at their mission statement and the specificity of their programs and ask yourself how verifiable it is. Look out for organizations that are vague in the way they describe their programs and purposes, and how they will accomplish them."

If you are approached by an unfamiliar charity, check it out. Most states require charities to register with them and file annual reports showing how they use donations. Also, beware of sound-alikes. Some crooks try to fool people by using names that are very similar to those of legitimate, well-known charities. The Better Business Bureau's Wise Giving Alliance, which reports on charities and other soliciting organizations, offers free "Charity Reports" on their website, www.give.org.

Like Guide Star, the list of charities evaluated are not exhaustive, especially those whose primary operations are in Israel. If you seek to verify the authenticity of a local charity that solicits regionally, contact the local Better Business Bureau. Often, the Better Business Bureau points out, the best source of information is from the charity itself. You can contact the organization directly and request a copy of its most recent annual report and IRS Form 990. There, you can find out how much of the money it receives goes toward its stated mission and how much goes toward executive salaries, fundraising and administrative costs.

Or, if an appeal for funds from an unfamiliar charity makes its way into your mailbox, you can also contact the government office responsible for registering charities in your state. Most State Attorney General's Offices have a local charity registration division. "Beware of appeals that bring tears to your eyes, but tell you nothing of the charity or what it is doing about the problem it describes so well," offers the Better Business Bureau in its tip sheet for avoiding charity scams.  Who says there is no business like the fundraising business?

Did you know that Presidents and Executive Vice Presidents of Local Jewish Federations earn, on average, $300,000 a year, not including benefits or bonuses. According to The Chronicle of Philanthropy, dubbed The Newspaper of the Nonprofit World, this is public information. It's not just the executives at the Jewish Federations that are cashing in on the big bucks donated to their respective charity.

According to The Chronicle, the Dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center in California reportedly earns over $400,000 a year, an unusually high ratio of salary to income. And, the Simon Wiesenthal Center pays the Associate Dean another $312,000 a year. Hadassah, by contrast, pays their Executive Director just over $150,000, which is a low ratio to the organization's overall budget. Hadassah also boasts a very low percentage of funds going toward administrative costs.

Giving Tzedaka

According to Maimonides' treatise on tzedaka, translated not as "charity" but rather, "doing justice," the highest level of charity is to help prevent a person from becoming poor. For example, finding someone a job or teaching a person a trade. The next highest level occurs when a person contributes anonymously to a tzedaka fund which is then distributed to the poor. Jewish law commands that a person contribute between 10 and 20 percent of their net income to tzedaka.

It is wonderful to encourage and facilitate charitable giving on the part of our children. The B'nai Mitzvah is an important spiritual passage that is often reduced in our culture to an elaborate party and gift-giving bonanza. As parents, we can imbue spiritual and profound meaning to these celebrations by designating a portion of these gifts to go toward a tzedaka of the child's choosing.

Statistically speaking, most Americans contribute to their synagogue or the well-known United Jewish Appeals-Federation of Jewish Philanthropies or the United Jewish Communities. This is certainly commendable, but there are many smaller, specific organizations that also need our help. A look at a few…

First, we searched Guide Star to evaluate several randomly-selected well-known Jewish charities, all of which proved legitimate and contributions are tax deductible (to extent allowed by law.) This, of course, could be the reason that they are all well known. We then researched their missions and programs to educate the Jewish public on their important work.

Committee for the Rescue of Israel's Babies- - C.R.I.B- EFRAT

Most people are unaware that each year in Israel, tens of thousands of babies are not born as a result of their mother's decision to end their lives because of financial distress. C.R.I.B.-EFRAT, based in Israel with an affiliate office in Brooklyn, New York, has developed a unique approach to saving those babies' lives. They provide informational videos showing that development of the fetus to discourage abortion, and they also commit to providing monthly financial assistance.

In addition, C.R.I.B.-EFRAT gives the new mother a bassinet, crib, stroller and baby bath. The organization, endorsed by rabbinical leaders such as both Chief Rabbis of Israel, relies on private donations since it does not receive government funding. Their future goals include expanding medical and emotional advice to pregnant women, raising more money for financial assistance for unmarried pregnant women, and expanding outreach programs.

Chabad's Children of Chernobyl

Operating under the auspices of The Lubavich Youth Organization, the goal here is to raise money for the rescue and treatment of children affected by radiation from the 1986 Chernobyl disaster. As a result of the radioactive fallout from the Chernobyl nuclear explosion, tens of thousands of children are now being born with thyroid cancer, bone cancer and leukemia. This organization's stated mission is to rescue 3000 Jewish children from this dangerous environment in the Ukraine and Belarus. Nearly 2300 children have already been rescued and relocated to a Chabad village in Israel.

Chai Lifeline/Camp Simcha

Under the aegis of Chai Lifeline, which offers broader support services to the entire family, Camp Simcha is a free kosher sleep-away camp for cancer-stricken children, or children with a life-threatening disease. Beyond the mental and physical respite it offers exhausted parents, the camp aims to give seriously ill youngsters a few weeks "off" from the relentless round of doctor visits and hospital stays. Chai Lifeline's founders believed that in a traditional camp setting, sick children would garner the resolve to fight their illness. Today, Camp Simcha, a world-renowned "cancer camp" serves children throughout North America, Europe, and Israel in two 3-week sessions. While it remains Chai Lifeline's premier project, Camp Simcha is only a single facet of a network of support services. In Israel, the organization is called Kav L'Chaim.

Friends of Israel Defense Forces

This organization helps support social, educational and recreational programs and facilities for the young men and women soldiers of Israel who defend the Jewish homeland. They also provide services to the widows and children of soldiers who have fallen in defense of Israel. Contributions could be earmarked to the Widows and Orphans Fund if you do not wish to contribute to recreational facilities.

One Family-The Israel Emergency Solidarity Fund

When a terrorist attack occurs, amid the carnage and confusion, One Family springs into action. Through its relationships with all of Israel's emergency rooms and trauma centers, they launch an ongoing support system to help survivors. The organization provides transportation, food, grants and checks to cover bills, rent, food and tuition costs, and offers grief counseling and other support, such as vocational training to foster financial independence.

American Red Magen David for Israel

Buys ambulances and supplies and sends it to Israel to help the Magen David Adom.

Yad Eliezer

This organization was founded in 1978 to provide food and financial assistance to over 50,000 people in 17 cities across Israel. They prepare monthly food baskets for delivery to over 6000 families who could not feed their children. The cost of providing food to an individual family, bought in bulk, is approximately $100 a month, according to their website. They also offer programs whereby you can sponsor a wedding for a poor bride, purchase baby formula for mothers who would otherwise dilute formula to dangerous proportions or support a meals-on-wheels program for the elderly and disabled. Donations may be earmarked for particular projects of this charity.

Hebrew Free Burial Association

The HFBA still has the sad duty of burying 400-500 poor Jews a year, 50 percent of whom are immigrants from the former Soviet Union. Other burials are of the elderly who have outlived family and friends, the homeless, AIDS victims and suicides. Families that can't afford private funerals - which average over $4,000 in the New York area - turn to the HFBA so that their loved ones won't be cremated or buried in a potter's field. Rabbi Shmuel Plafker is the full-time rabbi of the HFBA. He officiates at funerals and counsels families. An Orthodox rabbi, Plafker says that the saddest burials are those where there are "unaccompanied burials". These account for 40 percent of the HFBA's work. "That's the most terrible thing to me," says the rabbi. "Imagine people without anyone to mourn for them. Terrible."

....and don't forget the Jewish Magazine!

from the August 2004 Edition of the Jewish Magazine

Passover is April 6th - Donate to International Fellowship of Christians and Jews

This message comes from Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein, president of International Fellowship of Christians and Jews.  www.ifcj.org.  Passover is quickly arriving.  They need donations to provide 40,000 Passover Food Boxes to impoverished Jews in Russia and Israel.  Please read this Message from Rabbi Eckstein, then visit their website to see how you may be a blessing to impoverished Jews this Passover.

Thomas Cain

It is especially heartbreaking that so many Holocaust survivors are unable to afford basic foods, much less the special items like matzah needed to observe the holy Passover Seder with dignity.

My friend, I am asking you to join our Fill the Pantry Passover food campaign and help The Fellowship deliver 40,000 Passover Food Boxes both in Israel and the former Soviet Union.

With Passover now only days away, I urge you to please make your gift today on behalf of thousands of needy Holocaust survivors like Alexander.  Alexander is an 86-year-old widower who witnessed the murder of his entire family and endured four horrific years in a Nazi work camp. Yet today, Alexander lives all alone in heartbreaking poverty.

When Yael, my daughter, arrived at his tiny apartment to deliver one of our Passover Food Boxes, Alexander broke into tears. “This food package reminds me that I’m not alone, and will truly help me be joyous when I look at the beautiful meal on my table that The Fellowship provided,” he said.  “Thank you for caring about me in my old age. And thank God that there are people and places like The Fellowship. You’re the only ones that care about me anymore.”

By making a gift to our Fill the Pantry Passover food campaign, you can help bring comfort to destitute Holocaust survivors like Alexander.

These dear people have nowhere else to turn to for help, other than to you and me. Please be as generous as you can and thank you for caring.

With prayers for shalom, peace,

Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein
President

   

PS	Many Holocaust survivors who need our help live in hard-to-reach villages, so please donate today and we will make certain their Passover Food Box reaches them in time to observe the Seder at sundown on April 6th.

Emailing Rescue My Chosen People

All the month of March until Passover, Grace, Faith, Justified Ministry is focusing its attention on Jewish charities that help impoverished Jewish families, worldwide.  The following is a message from Rescue My Chosen People.

Emailing Rescue My Chosen People

Starting in April, 2012, Rescue My Chosen People will be accepting emails from impoverished Jews, worldwide, that need to get in contact with Jewish charities that provide, food, clothing, medicine, shelter, and in some instances, transportation cost to Israel.  If you are an impoverished Jewish family, or person, you may email rescuemychosenpeople@gmail.com.  Your email will be forwarded to the appropriate Jewish charity.  Please state your name, with your needs, and a contact address, such as your email address.  This will help us determine which Jewish charity is most apt to address your needs.

Please note:  All information provided to Rescue My Chosen People will be held in the strictest confidence.  Also, Rescue My Chosen People does not provide or sale your email address to any organization, company, individual, or entities.  However, your email will be forwarded to the Jewish charity most appropriate to address your needs.

Thomas Cain

Impoverished Jews in Former Soviet Union and Israel Need Your Help

This message comes from Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein, President of International Fellowship of Christians and Jews.  www.ifcj.org.  They need your help now to fill Passover food boxes to impoverished Jews in the former Soviet Union and Israel.  Please visit their website to see how you may be a blessing to impoverished Jews.

 

Message from Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein:

For the thousands of Jewish families and elderly who will be receiving Passover Food Boxes from dedicated friends like you, our Fill the Pantry Passover food campaign is already a success.

But Passover is now only a few weeks away and there are still desperately hungry people in both Israel and the former Soviet Union who are looking for our help.

I would like to share one moving story of why each Passover Food Box we provide during our Fill the Pantry Passover campaign is so important.

Her name is Irina and she lives in Krivoy Rog, Ukraine with her daughter Nastya.

Right now their “home” is a dilapidated former army barracks where there is no indoor plumbing and the leaky roof makes it terribly cold and damp. They have nowhere else to go. Ever since Irina was laid off from her job, she struggles to provide her daughter with life’s basic necessities.

It broke Irina’s heart to know that because of their extreme poverty, she would not be able to give Nastya a proper Passover celebration. So you can imagine her relief when she learned that The Fellowship was distributing Passover Food Boxes to hungry Jewish families.

“I have no words that can adequately express my gratitude to The Fellowship. Without you, we would not have simple foods to fill our stomachs or the special foods needed to celebrate the Passover Seder,” explained Irina.

Passover begins at sundown on April 6th — that’s less than three weeks away. My friend I am asking you on behalf of hungry families like Irina’s to join us during our Fill the Pantry Passover food campaign to bring joy to their lives and this special holiday celebration.


With prayers for shalom, peace,

Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein
President

Homelessness in the Holy City

Grace, Faith, Justified, Ministry is focusing on Jewish charities for the next few weeks, especially up to Passover.  This article written by Yael Eckstein will touch the heart of every person that reads it. It is not only timely, considering the rising tide against Jews, but the significant importance that Jews, even in the Jerusalem, need your immediate help.  Please read Yael's message and respond to International Fellows of Christians and Jews www.ifcj.org with a generous donation.

Homelessness in the Holy City
by Yael Eckstein

March 22, 2012

Shalom,

The holy city of Jerusalem is known for many different things. The Old City is renowned as the site of the two Jewish temples in ancient times. The ruins that cover this city hold innumerable biblical secrets. Israel’s parliamentary building is based in Jerusalem – and so much more. But one thing that rarely comes to mind when people think about Jerusalem is homelessness, which, unfortunately, is now a bigger problem than ever.

It was shocking for me to learn that in the relatively small city of Jerusalem there are hundreds of homeless people, mainly immigrants, with nowhere to go for much-needed shelter. This winter, the people who run the only homeless shelter in Jerusalem came to The Fellowship desperately begging for help before closes down due to lack of funding.

When I met with Jerusalem municipality leaders recently and asked them what the biggest problem currently facing the city is, I expected to hear about the unstable political situation and fear for terror attacks. Instead, they told me that homelessness is on the rise, and that the government has no way to meet the needs of the homeless given the city’s ever-tightening budget.

With embarrassment and sorrow, these city workers officials told me that the only homeless shelter in Jerusalem is going to have to close within the next month unless The Fellowship can raise the funds to keep it open. “This has been the rainiest winter in 10 years,” one said. “If we don’t keep the shelter open, we will see more situations like what happened to Yohanes Berko in Tel Aviv this past January.” When she said this, my heart sank. Berko was a homeless man in Tel Aviv who froze to death while sleeping on a park bench during a spell of extreme cold. It gets considerable colder in Jerusalem than in Tel Aviv, which leaves homeless people there even more vulnerable. This situation is truly what the Bible refers to as “sakanat nefashot” – life-threatening.

After hearing about this growing problem of homelessness in Jerusalem and the desperate need for shelter, these words from Leviticus 25: 35-36 began to repeat in my mind:

“If your brother becomes poor and cannot maintain himself with you, you shall support him as though he were a stranger and a sojourner, and he shall live with you. Take no interest from him or profit, but fear your God, that your brother may live beside you.”

It was then that I knew The Fellowship needs to step in to help. It is clear to me that God wants us to act now to save the lives of Jerusalem’s homeless.

My friends, open up your hearts and pray to God for the homeless people of Jerusalem who have nowhere to go for warmth and shelter. Give to our Guardians of Israel program which supports shelters and countless other initiatives that ease the suffering of homeless Israelis. Meditate on God’s holy words in the Bible that instruct us how to respond in situations like these. There are hundreds of homeless people living on the streets of Jerusalem who are begging for our help. How will you answer them?

With blessings from the Holy Land,

Impoverished Jews need your help!

This article comes from Rescue My Chosen People at www.rescuemychosenpeople.blogspot.com.

Impoverished Jews need your help!

We all have heard of the recent attack on a Jewish school in France that left a Rabbi and three children dead. They were senselessly murdered in cold blood by an assassin in wait. This despicable cowardly act must not go unpunished. Jews must not cow-tow to this horrific terror.

We that believe in justice must act swiftly against violent crimes against Jewish people. This perpetrator will be brought to justice, as will any person(s) that commits an overt act against G-d’s chosen people.

This is why Rescue My Chosen People is appealing to your generous benevolence to help impoverished Jews this Passover. Charities such as International Fellowship of Christian and Jews www.ifcj.org are reaching out to Impoverished Jews in Russia with Passover food boxes. Without your donations thousands of impoverished Jews will not be able to observe their most sacred religious celebration: Passover.

As the money is available International Fellowship of Christian and Jews assist impoverished Jews with airfare or other means of transportation to migrate to their “Promise Land” Israel. With your help, you can make it possible for impoverished Jews in Russia that desire to travel to Israel a reality.

Please visit www.ifcj.org to see first hand impoverished Jews being snatched from the gutter of hunger and starvation. The Lord has said the Jews (His Chosen People) are the apple-of-His-eye. By your generous donations, you too are the apple-of-His-eye. My heart and spirit goes out to the Jews that are in need of rescuing. So will yours when you visit www.ifcj.org.

Thank you,
Thomas Cain

Rescue My Chosen People is not a part of International Fellowship of Christian and Jews, nor do we directly or indirectly receive any financial compensation from any non-profit organization listed on our blog. Rescue My Chosen People provides information on Jewish charities, so that you, our reader may be able to make a qualified decision on which charity you may wish to support.

Operation Smile

It is not to often that I find myself so impressed with a charitable organization such as this one: Operation Smile. Operation Smile www.operationsmile.org is a group of doctors that go throughout the world performing plastic surgery on children that are born without clefts. Or is some cases they perform plastic surgery on children in war torn countries that have been disfigured. This of course is at no cost to the child’s family.

These marvelous surgeons donate their medical skills and practice absolutely free to indigent or impoverished children around the world. The parents of disfigured children call these “miracle workers” God’s Angels. Truly they are miracle workers. Operation Smile’s surgeons are not only God’s Angels, they are the best plastic surgeons in the world. They come from all nations, backgrounds, culture, and faith.

Without these marvelous surgeons, these disfigured children and their families would be without hope of any kind. Some will even die. You can be a part of this great gift of God by going to www.operationsmile.org and generously donate to this worthy cause. Without you and your generous support, there would be no “miracle workers”, without the surgeons, there would be no Operation Smile, and without you impoverished children around the world requiring this much needed surgery, would be doomed forever. Please become a part of this God-Sent medical team.

Thomas Cain
President – Rescue My Chosen People

Israel Under Attack

This news article come to us from Rabbi Eckstein at www.ifcj.org. Please visit their webstie to see how you may help impoverished Jews in Israel during this crisis.

Thomas Cain

March 15, 2012

Dear Friend of Israel,

To look at southern Israel today, you wouldn’t know that just a few days ago it was a war zone. Between Friday and Monday, terrorists operating out of the Gaza Strip launched more than 200 rockets at the region. Since a ceasefire was called several days ago, relative quiet has settled in most of the area, and the number of rockets has dropped sharply (though not ceased entirely). Some schools have reopened, and some people have gone back to their daily routines. While scores of Israelis were injured in the attacks, thankfully – perhaps providentially – none were killed.

Yet it was difficult to find reports on these recent events in the U.S. media; it seems that, for many outlets, the firing of terrorist rockets at Israeli civilians simply isn’t a story. As usual, where stories did appear they positioned Israel’s defensive efforts as aggression. Reports trumpeted the fact that, by some accounts, more than 20 Palestinian terrorists were killed during IDF strikes in Gaza, while Israelis were “merely” injured.

Of course, it is Palestinian terrorists who disregard all rules of war and common decency by launching unprovoked attacks on innocent Israeli civilians. Under such circumstances, it is Israel’s right – indeed, her solemn obligation – to protect her citizens. Certainly, the world should be able to understand that. And yet, many do not.

The low number of Israeli casualties reflects the great efforts Israel makes to protect her people. During the recent round of attacks, the newly deployed Iron Dome missile defense system shot down about 90 percent of the rockets it targeted. The extensive network of bomb shelters the Israeli government has created (many funded by The Fellowship), has saved countless Israeli lives. This is in stark contrast to Hamas and the Palestinian Authority, who cynically manipulate the media by putting their own people in harm’s way.

It is a bitter irony that the world places blame for the Palestinians’ plight on Israel, the one country in the Middle East that has consistently shown it values life and is committed to protecting the innocent and attending to the wounds of all casualties – both Israeli and Palestinian. The conflict this past weekend is but one skirmish in a greater war. But it reveals the profound difference between Israel and the Palestinian terrorists, between a nation that nurtures a culture of life, and a group that revels in death. Recognizing the true nature of Israel’s foes, you can understand why Israel must defend herself — and why she depends on friends like you to stand with her.

With prayers for shalom, peace,

Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein
President

Urgent Need For Passover Boxes

Grace, Faith, Justified Ministry received an urgent request to post a message from Rescue My Chosen People by Thomas Cain.

Dear Friends there is an urgent need for Passover Food Boxes. Please read Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein's message below. International Fellowship of Christian and Jews are in desperate need of donations to fill 40,000 Passover Food Boxes before the Passover deadline of April 6, 20012. Rescue My Chosen People urge you to do what you are able to help in this crisis. By clicking on Fill the Pantry Passover food campaign below it will take you to their website.

Thomas Cain

Message by Rabbi Eckstein:

With Passover fast approaching, we urgently need your support for our Fill the Pantry Passover food campaign.

Our goal is to provide 40,000 Food Boxes to destitute Jewish children, families and the elderly — including Holocaust survivors, both in Israel and the former Soviet Union — who struggle daily to obtain life's basic necessities, much less the special foods needed to celebrate the Passover Seder meal.

Please take a moment and watch this important video message — then help The Fellowship make a meaningful difference in the lives of these suffering people this Passover season by sending a generous gift to help Fill the Pantry.

With prayers for shalom, peace,

Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein

President