Brothers and sisters, can I be vulnerable with you for a moment?
There are two compulsions I have that are often in conflict. The first is a very powerful drive to provide for my family and the second is a very powerful drive to not be a burden to anyone.
The reason these two powerful drives within me are often in conflict is that here in Israel, it's REALLY hard to provide for a family all by oneself.
Most families struggle to pay for everything they need, even with both parents working. That was true even before this war (which shows signs of being close to being over, thank God) and in the last 22 months that the war has continued, it's gotten harder and harder for families to make ends meet. There is every indication that this is going to continue, because the government has warned that it will have to raise taxes and cut services in the months ahead. This war has cost Israel's government money in all kinds of ways, and the costs are going to stay high for a long time. They will filter down to households and individual citizens, far beyond the taxes and cuts to services I've already mentioned.
Let me tell you a short story that will help you better understand just how difficult the situation already is.
As I said, I have these two compulsions, which are often in conflict, and recently, the first one won out over the other when I finally decided to ask a certain Christian Zionist organization that operates here in Jerusalem for help in paying some of my bills. The person I reached out to is an old friend of mine, and he told me right away that he couldn't give me money, but he COULD give me a pre-paid gift card, which I could use at the grocery store. I could tell he wanted to give me more than that, but I told him, truthfully, that it was a big help.
However, these cards are mainly used at a store I don't go to very often because the nearest outlet is kind of a long way away from my apartment, and I usually do my shopping at a store that is much closer. But I couldn't use the card at my usual place, so I gratefully took it to the store where I could use it to stock up on essentials.
Now here's where the story gets more interesting and maybe even a little shocking.
There were four checkout lanes operating that evening and I was in the second one from the left. This allowed me to turn around and observe everything that was going on in almost all four lanes, which is something that my training and experience as a journalist compels me to do (I do NOT have a conflicting compulsion to "mind my own business" because journalists who do have that compulsion don't remain journalists very long.)
After a few moments, something clicked in my brain as I watched one person after another pay for their groceries with pre-paid cards just like the one I had in my pocket.
After I'd paid for my stuff, I was on my way out of the store and I saw a manager, who I know from past visits is an English-speaker, being the offspring of parents who made Aliyah from South Africa many years ago. So I caught this individual's eye and when he walked over to me, I asked him about what I'd seen.
He informed me that this is quite normal to see many people paying for their groceries with these pre-paid cards. He added that there are several organizations in Israel that use donations from around the world to buy enormous numbers of these cards so they can distribute them to people who need help. He had been a checkout clerk for years before being promoted to manager, and he told me that before the war, he would see perhaps one or two shoppers paying with one of these cards in a typical 8-hour shift. But these days, a solid majority of people, probably close to 70%, use them.
I stood there for a moment, taking that in, and then he took a deep breath and blurted out "I don't even want to think about what would be happening in this country right now if people in other countries weren't donating to these organizations so they could give people these cards. I mean, we would be in REALLY big trouble if Israel weren't getting so much help. This store probably would have closed by now, I'd be out of a job, and who knows what else."
He then started on a big, long, meandering rant about all the things he's angry at the politicians for, and I was starting to get nervous because I agreed with some things he was saying and disagreed strongly with others. On top of that, I had some cheese and milk I wanted to get home so I could put them in the refrigerator.
Happily, before too much time had passed, one of the checkout clerks needed his help with something so I was able to get away and go home. But I have not been able to get what he said out of my mind for the last few days.
So, this afternoon, I sat down to write this blog to let my readers know about this situation, which most of you probably have some idea about, but I doubt most of you have any real idea of just how severe the problems have become.
If you're a supporter of Israel, I'm sure you're happy to see how successful the IDF has been in this war. It is miraculous, and even very secular people are acknowledging that. I am hopeful that it will lead to some spiritual breakthroughs in Israel and there are many other positive things that are in the pipeline.
One positive thing we're looking forward to is a large number of Jewish people making Aliyah to Israel from Western countries, where anti-Semitism is on the rise. This will bring a lot of blessings into the country, but it will also require the government to spend a lot of money, adding to the strain on the economy that I mentioned earlier.
All of that is to say, brothers and sisters, that Israel needs your help. Please continue to pray for us and if you are contributing financially to a ministry or charity organization that operates here, please don't stop. If you can, increase the amount you're giving. Remember what you've read in this blog, that there are many families who would be underwater already if it wasn't for all the help these organizations are able to give to people, because they're receiving donations from other countries.
The kinetic war to defeat Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran, and all the other enemies that have come against Israel in the last 22 months is almost over. The war at home, to simply put food on the table and otherwise live in dignity here in the Land of Israel, is just beginning, and Israel is going to need all the help it can get for a very long time.