When a crisis throws the middle class off the charts, anywhere in the world

On the 11th of Nisan, the Yahrzeit of Rabbi Joseph Caro, it is my custom to visit Tzfat, a city which I love, which thrives on education and on tourism.

With both industries gone haywire, thousands of gainfully employed people in Tzfat have been thrown out of work.

As a result, this year we had only a virtual sojourn to Tzfat.

All of a sudden, as income has disappeared, many people in Tzfat now find that they cannot buy food.

This is not the classic situation of poverty, where someone who is infirm or ill is in need.

Charitable funds are often only raised only for such people

But take Ketivot 67 B, where a “Ben Tovim” is suddenly impoverished, & the burden rests on the community to feed him, in a way that will preserve his dignity.

Yet how do you preserve the dignity of someone who has never asked for help in his life?

Suggestion: Create a discrete food coupon system.

Help people with food coupons, to enable those who have suddenly lost their source of income to shop for food.

Since the effects of the Corona Virus syndrome will last for many months, such a food coupon system would have to last for many months, if not for a year.

The community where we live in has adopted such an idea, and has acquired coupons for the local Rami Levi supermarket.

The community let people know that if you find yourself where you cannot buy food, there is certain respected person whom you can see privately who can provide you with coupon (s) for the local Rami Levi supermarket.

Funds will flow to Tzfat and to every place in the world, to help people in sudden distress.

Every community on earth is affected.

It behooves each city in the world to create a system to provide for those who could never imagine that they would need their community to feed them.