Maccabi World Union is committed to participating in community involvement and views itself as an integral part of Israeli society and annually, continues to supports the following groups:
Holocaust survivors
There are 50,000 Holocaust survivors in Israel who live below the poverty level and suffer from severe isolation. The assistance provided to the Holocaust survivors is reflected in two areas: food packages and via cultural programming. One of the main difficulties for the survivors is the feeling of being lonely and the desperate need to connect with society. We are able to assist them via our cultural programs which bring them and others together. One of our top programs is the “Yiddishpiel Theater” where we finance and give out several hundred tickets at a special price for the Holocaust survivors.
Families in Need
During Pesach, we package and deliver the food parcels to needy families. This was a project that from its inception 18 years ago was operated by the late Rivka Rabinowitz. We have since named this program in her memory and continue to provide for those families in need. The lists are provided to us by the welfare departments in the various cities and usually are a mix of new immigrants, single parent households, large families, lone soldiers, the elderly, handicapped and Holocaust survivors. We make sure each Pesach they have enough food as well as the items to use for their Seder.
The IDF
Maccabi World Union has always been available in times of crisis and assisted IDF soldiers and those residents who live on and near the front line.
During the Second Lebanon War, the movement organized extensive activities for the children of the North and sent trucks with equipment and food products. At the beginning of Operation Tzuk Eitan, the movement sent thousands of personal kits to soldiers and hundreds of packages to the children of Sderot and Netivot, which included sports equipment for youth clubs and school supplies for the classrooms.
In preparation for Rosh Hashanah, each year the movement gives hundreds of gifts to Lone Soldiers from the Ordnance Corps and the regular Northern Divisions.
In October 2014, Maccabi World Union organized a program with the FIDF and brought 16 reserve soldiers who were wounded during Operation Tzuk Eitan, to two Maccabi Tel Aviv basketball games that were held abroad in the States. One game was in Cleveland, OH and the other in Brooklyn, NY. The project was called “South with Love”.
