(RNS) Tens of thousands of poor, elderly Jews in the former Soviet Union — some of them Holocaust survivors — have been promised $52 million in food and medical services through a Christian-Jewish partnership.
The money for the program will be raised by the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews. The group, run by Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein, chiefly supports projects in Israel with funds donated mostly by evangelical Christians.
Over four years the aid will be distributed by the U.S.-based American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, which calls itself “the world’s leading Jewish humanitarian assistance organization.”
While visiting Holocaust survivors in Ukraine who are living in poverty in February 2016, Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein, right, brought food and heating supplies to Anna, plus words of encouragement and hope from The Fellowship’s friends and supporters. Photo courtesy of JDC/Vladimir Shraga.
“There are countless hungry and sick elderly Jews across the FSU, including over 100,000 needy elderly and Holocaust survivors, who depend on our help,” Eckstein said, using the acronym for the former Soviet Union. “Through this powerful new partnership, we will, God willing, be able to come to their aid.”
The new program, called the “IFCJ Food and Medicine Lifeline,” expands on an existing partnership established two decades ago between the Fellowship and the Joint Distribution Committee.
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