Yad Yehuda recently spoke with a current recipient in our Tomchei Shabbos program. She was kind enough to share some of her family’s challenges so our community can understand how Yad Yehuda was there to help them through a crisis.
I reached out to Yad Yehuda when my family was experiencing a terrible medical/financial emergency. We were dealing with a very sick child and making a wedding for another child at the same time. One of us had to stop working to give their total attention to our sick child. The thought of also paying for a wedding was so overwhelming.
Our expenses literally snowballed while our income decreased. The financial challenges consumed us with worry.
And then, with hashgacha pratis (Divine providence): I discovered Yad Yehuda and applied for assistance. Their immediate response was:
“How can we help you?”
“Please let me put you in touch with a person who can help with your medical issues.”
“Of course we’re going to help you find the money for the wedding.”
They signed my family up for Tomchei Shabbos; it turned into a relationship that, at this point, I couldn’t imagine doing without.
It’s hard when you are thinking: How am I going to pay for all my groceries? Where’s the best sale on the foods we need? Do I have to stock up on sale items? And then having to look at your kids and say, “I think we can’t buy that for you right now.”
You balance all that with what you’ve been told about Hashem always paying for Shabbos and Yom Tov expenses — but understanding that Hashem’s help may come through tzedakah can be difficult..
[pull quote] We definitely were not excited about this new “I need to take tzedakah” aspect of our lives, but the reality is that kosher food is expensive and we couldn’t just shop at a regular supermarket for everything we needed.
When I was first given Tomchei Shabbos cards, I realized how much this was going to help us. It began to take the edge off those extra groceries that make Shabbos nicer; it made me feel like, okay, I can buy that nice lettuce and other things at Shalom that make Shabbos nicer for everybody.
I never know when I’m swiping that Tomchei Shabbos card if people are wondering, where did she get that? But it has made such a difference because everyone else shops in the kosher stores for Shabbos, and doing so too makes me feel normal. You just want to feel a little normal, to have nice food on your table for Shabbos. Tomchei Shabbos makes all the difference in the world.
Going through hardships that you can’t share with a lot of people can be lonely; it can affect your life, your mental state, and how you deal with stress. You’re trying to maintain some sense of normalcy while hiding what’s going on.
To know that Yad Yehuda is there for you — that they’re not judging you, that they’re not going to say, “You know, you should be handling this better” — is very comforting and gives you strength. There has never been a single time when I felt ashamed or embarrassed. They just make me feel like they’re here to help. I just feel that they are a shaliach from Hashem — offering me a hug.