About Shabbat Metuka – Volunteers who warm lonely holocaust survives hearts and ‘sweeten’ their day

Shabbat Metuka is a charity in the registration process, whose goal is to distribute food and alleviate loneliness to holocaust survivors who are not only victims of anti-Semitic harassment but are also the elderly living below the poverty line.

Shabbat Metuka began in May 2020 with a self-funded initiative, with the distribution of food baskets to 49 holocaust survivors living below the poverty line while socializing with them and keeping them company. Very quickly, Shabbat Metuka expanded its activities and today reaches more than 1000 homes of survivors each week, thanks to the work of many volunteers who help pack the food baskets, distribute them and alleviate the loneliness of the survivors.

The food baskets donated by the Shabbat Metuka include products such as: challah, Shabbat candles, a Shabbat blessing painted by children in kindergartens and schools around the country, fruits and vegetables and a number of basic food products that change weekly.

Year by year, the number of holocaust survivors living in poverty increases. Many of the survivors are only entitled to an annual grant, but not a monthly pension, and need an income supplement. In addition to poverty, a significant number of Holocaust survivors live alone and suffer from social loneliness. Following this reality and the need to help those survivors, Shabbat Metuka was established to satisfy their basic needs like the need for food and the need to socialize while reducing their loneliness.

Shabbat Metuka’s volunteers come every week to collect the food baskets and distribute them to the survivors’ addresses to which they have been assigned. Shabbat Metuka sees great importance in creating a dialogue with the individual survivors and caring for their well-being, in order to create a personal connection, contribute to their sense of importance and uplift their mood. Moreover, the volunteers are equipped with an advanced application that allows them to conveniently track food deliveries and report cases where they see that a particular survivor needs additional help and assistance.

Shabbat Metuka has expanded its volunteer activities thanks to the help of other charities, such as Leket Israel, which have taken Shabbat Metuka under their full sponsorship, donating many food products and providing a supportive and productive environment as every charity needs, including fundraising.

Another organization that has a significant part in the activities of Shabbat Metuka is the Sahi Charity in Jerusalem, which cares for at-risk youth and is involved every week in the packaging of food baskets and the delivery system in this area. Thanks to the Sahi Charity, Shabbat Metuka manages to reach about 200 homes of survivors in the city of Jerusalem, something that could not have been done without their help and support.

Shabbat Metuka is open to receive more volunteers who will help fulfill its purpose, and reach as high a number of survivors and people in need as possible on a weekly basis. You can contact Shabbat Metuka about information about the various volunteers and in addition donate to Shabbat Metuka via Leket Israel.

We will be happy if you also join the Shabbat Metuka family and be partners in our vision and doing good for society – we are waiting for you.