H eadlines
Jewish Groups Rally for Haitian Communities
L OCA L
SASHA ROGELBERG | JE STAFF
WHEN A 7.2 magnitude
earthquake hit Haiti’s southern
peninsula on Aug. 14, leveling
buildings, reducing some areas
to rubble and killing hundreds,
Jewish organizations local and
abroad responded with helping
hands to Haitian communities.

The Merow Family Mitzvah
Food Pantry at Beth Sholom
Congregation in Elkins Park
serves around 165 Haitian
families in the area monthly
through weekly food distri-
butions, according to Brian
Gralnick, director of social
responsibility at the Jewish
Federation of
Greater Philadelphia. The Jewish
Federation provides much
of the pantry’s logistical and
financial support and staffing.

When last month’s earth-
quake, as well as previous
earthquakes, hit Haiti, MFP
didn’t see an influx in house-
holds, but rather an increase
in those who want to stay and
chat about their families back
home for a while.

“We’re a friendly face that
they see on an every-week
basis,” pantry co-manager
Stuart Warsetsky said.

As of 2016, there are about
8,800 first-generation Haitian
immigrants in Philadelphia,
according to Pew Charitable
Trusts, and Haitian households
make up the majority of the
280 households the MFP serves
every month. As a result, MFP
prioritizes cultural compe-
tency in its service.

Sarrah Cesar, one of MFP’s
volunteers, is Haitian and
speaks Haitian Creole. She
began working at the pantry
for a class she was taking at
Temple University this spring
but continued volunteering
over the summer. In addition
to serving as a translator for
the Haitian clients and MFP
volunteers, Cesar would ask the
Haitian people questions about
themselves and their families,
building deeper connections.

“Even though they were
getting help [with food], it was
a way to talk to them more, to
see what else they needed help
with,” Cesar said.

After the earthquake, some
clients were asking for extra
food to send along with clothes
and toiletries to relatives
impacted by the disaster, or
who might just need a little
help, Cesar said. Cesar’s family
sends those care packages to
her family in Haiti twice a year.

Since beginning to volun-
teer at MFP four months ago,
Cesar has encountered familiar
faces — people she’s befriended
who come into the pantry
often. “People that we know would
come all the time; they would
just say hi and talk, ask how
we were. Then they were on
their way, and it was just a fun
thing to be able to have that,”
Cesar said.

Alongside MFP, Hebrew
Immigrant Aid
Society Pennsylvania has helped to
assist the population.

Though HIAS Pennsylvania
helps MFP by providing
additional translators, it is
MFP that provides groceries
to many of its Haitian clients
who are eligible and waiting
for immigration benefits,
such as asylum or temporary
protective status, but cannot
access public benefits in the
meantime. “The Mitzvah Food Pantry
always provides what they
provide with compassion and
understanding,” said Carolyn
Miller-Wilson, executive
director of HIAS Pennsylvania.

And in Haiti, Jewish
JDC partnered with the Afya Foundation to pack and deliver medical
supplies to a hospital in Aquin, Haiti.
Courtesy of Michael Geller
organizations are assisting
locals. The Joint Distribution
Committee partnered with
the local Haitian organization
Afya Foundation to distribute
2,500 pounds of medical
supplies, such as IV starters,
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sutures, gloves, masks, face
shields and clean linens, to
hospitals in Aquin the day after
the earthquake.

JDC also partnered with
Heart to Heart International
to deploy a medical team in
the area, which treated more
than 500 patients. Even after
the immediate impact of the
earthquake dissipates, JDC
will continue to partner with
Prodev Haiti, which provides
housing and ongoing medical
care. JDC is guided by the Jewish
principles of arevut, or mutual
responsibility, and tikkun
olam, repairing the world, but
aims to take these ideas a step
further. “Repairing the world is
not about a Band-Aid,” JDC
Director of Media Relations
Michael Geller said. “Repairing
the world is about mending and
making stronger. And that’s
really what we focus on.” l
srogelberg@jewishexponent.com; 215-832-0741
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM



H EADLINES
Financial advice
from a
knowledgeable neighbor.

ISRAELBRIEFS U.S. Military Tests Iron Dome
UNITED STATES TROOPS tested the Israeli-made Iron Dome
missile defense system over the summer in New Mexico, Th e
Times of Israel reported.

Israel sold two of the batteries to the U.S. under a 2019 agree-
ment, with one delivered in late 2020 and the other in January.

Th e Army then began integrating the system into its air defenses.

In the fi rst live-fi re trial in June, soldiers shot down targets,
including drones, at the White Sands test range. Aside from
intercepting rockets, Iron Dome was upgraded to shoot down
cruise missiles, unmanned aerial vehicles and mortar shells.

Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd. of Haifa announced
last year that it would partner with defense contractor Raytheon
to open a domestic Iron Dome production line.

E. Matthew Steinberg
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Clients able to invest a
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to best utilize our services.

Israeli-Arab Wins Gold in Paralympics
On the fi rst day of the Paralympic Games in Tokyo, swimmer
Iyad Shalabi made history, becoming the fi rst Israeli-Arab
athlete to win a medal in either the Olympics or Paralympics,
JTA reported.

Shalabi, 34, won gold on Aug. 24 in the 100-meter backstroke
in the S1 division. Paralympic sports have a wide range of classi-
fi cations; S1 denotes severe activity limitations.

“My heart was pounding,” Shalabi’s father, Yusuf Shalabi, said.

“When he overtook his competitor, I cried. He was constantly
training. Six years every day he trains. It’s like a dream.”
Shalabi was born deaf to a Muslim family in Shfar’am,
in northern Israel. He was paralyzed in an accident, falling
from a rooftop at the age of 12, and lost the full use of his
lower limbs.

IDF to Vacate Three Bases by Year’s End
Th e Israel Defense Forces will vacate bases in Sirkin (near Petah
Tikva), Tzrifi n (Rishon Lezion) and al-Tira (Haifa) by the end of
2021, Globes reported.

Th e Ministry of Defense will hand over the bases to the Israel
Land Authority, which will destroy buildings there then rehabil-
itate the land through Environmental Services Co., Ltd., which
is government-owned.

Th e Sirkin base is slated to hold 2,700 housing units, along
with 100,000-square-meters of commercial and offi ce space and
public lands and parks on 325 acres.

At the Tzifi rn base, 75 acres will be used for 3,400 housing
units and 100,000-square-meters of commercial and offi ce space.

And 62.5 acres at al-Tira will feature 2,400 housing units,
100,000 square meters of commercial and offi ce space, and
200,000 square meters of public space and parks.

Israel Ends Restrictions on Gay Men Donating Blood
Israel ended restrictions on blood donations that eff ectively
prevented gay men from donating blood, JTA reported.

Israel previously prohibited any man who had same-sex
relations over the past 12 months from donating. Th e question’s
wording will be changed to asking whether prospective donors
have had “high-risk sexual relations with a new partner or
partners” during the past three months.

Th e change was spearheaded by Israeli Health Minister
Nitzan Horowitz, who is the fi rst gay man in the position.

Th e change is similar to those made in the United States last
year and in the United Kingdom earlier this year. ●
— Compiled by Andy Gotlieb
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