A fundraising campaign for the family of a convert to Judaism who left the United States and moved to Israel is in its final, urgent stage, according to organizers accompanying the family. They say the father, who recently lost his livelihood, is collapsing under the cost of supporting a household of nine and needs immediate help.
Rabbi Naftali Tzvi Halevi Feldman, a dayan and one of the heads of the Shomrei Hahomot kollel, issued an emotional public appeal. He described the man as someone who left America with self-sacrifice, came to the Holy Land, and built a faithful Jewish home, but whose source of income has now been broken. “He is in a very difficult situation,” Feldman said. “He has a family of nine, and the situation is very, very difficult.”
Feldman called on the public to contribute 397 shekels, a sum linked in the campaign to the phrase “ger tzedek,” and said the donation would help save the home and allow the family to continue “the path of Torah and tradition.” He stressed the duty to fulfill the commandment of loving the convert, citing it as repeated 46 times in the Torah.
The appeal warns that any further delay could determine the family’s fate. Feldman concluded by invoking a promised blessing from the Torah, quoting, “And I shall be gracious to whom I shall be gracious.” Organizers say those who give the specified amount will merit the mitzvah and the blessing attached to the campaign.
