Yad Eliezer

Yad Eliezer, also known as the Yad Eliezer Association, is an Israeli Jewish poverty-relief organization that developed from a small neighborhood charity into a broad social-support network. It was founded in Jerusalem in 1980 by elementary-school teachers Rabbi Yaakov Weisel and Hadassah Weisel, and named in memory of Hadassah's father, Rabbi Eliezer Lipa Benzman. The organization's origins lay in a local response to food insecurity. After learning that a neighboring family was suffering from malnutrition, Hadassah began collecting food with the help of her daughters and local schoolchildren. What started as weekly deliveries gradually became a structured operation supplying food packages to hundreds and then thousands of families. For roughly two decades, the Weisel family operated the charity from their Jerusalem apartment. The apartment became a collection, packing, and distribution point, serving approximately 360 families at an early stage and around 1,800 families by 1995. The organization later expanded its fundraising internationally through the American Friends of Yad Eliezer and developed a larger volunteer and logistics infrastructure. It is led by Orthodox Jewish management but serves both religious and secular families in Israel. Food relief remains the organization's best-known activity. Its programs have included monthly packages containing staples such as eggs, oil, flour, sugar, canned goods, and fresh produce; Shabbat packages with items such as challah, fish, salads, chicken, and cake; and special holiday distributions for periods including Passover and Rosh Hashana. The reference material describes monthly food support reaching approximately 6,000 families, while the organization has also distributed thousands of holiday packages during periods of reduced public welfare support. Food is sourced through a combination of overseas donations, wholesale purchasing, surplus produce from Israeli farmers, religious agricultural tithes, and neighborhood collections of non-perishable goods. Volunteers, including students, soldiers, and visitors from abroad, help sort and pack the goods. Yad Eliezer also operates a significant baby-food program. The cited material describes monthly assistance for approximately 2,000 infants, including Materna formula for about 1,400 infants. Other support services have included emergency grants, assistance for orphans, second-hand furniture and appliance distribution, shoe distribution, family visitation during illness, and job-training programs. A further major area is assistance with weddings. After encountering a bride whose family could not afford a wedding, Hadassah Weisel and her daughters began preparing and catering weddings for families in need. The initiative grew into a catering and event-support operation. In 2000, the organization acquired an industrial kitchen and promoted a sponsorship model in which overseas donors could help fund a needy couple's wedding. In 2005, it purchased the Armonot Wolf wedding complex in Jerusalem's Givat Shaul neighborhood. The complex's halls have hosted weddings for low-income couples as well as discounted events for religious families, and the organization has also supported events at other Jerusalem halls. The organization's mentoring program for boys from single-parent families began in 2000 with approximately 400 participants. By 2013, the program was reported to involve about 4,000 boys in 35 cities, including orphans and children whose parents, siblings, or households were affected by divorce or serious illness. Across its programs, Yad Eliezer combines direct material aid, volunteer coordination, donor fundraising, and longer-term family support. Its public identity is consequently associated less with a commercial product than with practical poverty relief delivered through food distribution, family services, and community-based assistance.

Yad Eliezer began in 1980 as a neighborhood food-relief effort in Jerusalem. Hadassah Weisel, working with her husband Rabbi Yaakov Weisel, organized her daughters, schoolchildren, and local residents to collect food for a family experiencing malnutrition. The weekly collection and delivery system expanded as other families sought help. The Weisel home served as the organization's operational base for approximately twenty years, first supporting hundreds of families and later thousands. By the mid-1990s, the operation had grown substantially, and Yad Eliezer began seeking overseas donations through the American Friends of Yad Eliezer. This international fundraising helped the organization move beyond an informal neighborhood charity and build a larger food-distribution network. Its later headquarters were established in Jerusalem's Shmuel HaNavi neighborhood, with the organization's leadership passing to the Weisels' son, Dov. Food distribution became the central program. Yad Eliezer assembled monthly packages of staple foods and fresh produce for families across Israel, in addition to Shabbat and holiday packages for families and elderly people with limited resources. The organization developed a mixed procurement model. Donations from abroad supported wholesale purchases, Israeli farmers contributed surplus produce, Orthodox agricultural producers supplied food through the maaser ani poor-tithe system, and girls in religious neighborhoods collected non-perishable goods door to door. Volunteers then sorted, categorized, and packed the items for distribution. The organization expanded its infant-support work by providing recurring packages of baby food and formula. It also added assistance for weddings, emergency household needs, orphans, illness-affected families, furniture and appliances, shoes, and employment preparation. These services reflected an approach that addressed both immediate consumption needs and broader household vulnerability. Wedding assistance originated from the same practical, volunteer-led tradition as the food program. After helping a bride whose family could not finance a wedding, the Weisel family began arranging and catering weddings for needy couples. The effort eventually involved paid workers from economically vulnerable backgrounds and expanded through an industrial kitchen. In 2005, Yad Eliezer acquired the Armonot Wolf wedding complex in Givat Shaul, Jerusalem, allowing it to operate two halls and provide both fully or partly supported weddings and lower-cost events for other families. In 2000, Yad Eliezer launched a mentoring program for boys from single-parent homes. The initiative initially enrolled about 400 boys and later grew to approximately 4,000 participants in 35 cities by 2013. Its target group included orphans, children of divorced parents, and children affected by serious illness in the immediate family. The organization has been described as operating under Orthodox Jewish management while serving religious and secular Israeli households. Its development illustrates the institutionalization of grassroots charitable activity: a local food collection project became a nationwide network supported by donors, volunteers, farmers, community coordinators, and specialized service programs.

• 2013

  Mentoring network reaches 4,000 boys

  [1]Yad Eliezeren.wikipedia.org

  The mentoring program is reported to serve approximately 4,000 boys across 35 Israeli cities.

• 2005

  Armonot Wolf wedding complex acquired

  [1]Yad Eliezeren.wikipedia.org

  Yad Eliezer purchases the Armonot Wolf wedding complex on Beit Hadfus Street in Givat Shaul, Jerusalem, expanding its wedding-assistance infrastructure.

• 2004

  Expanded Passover distribution

  [1]Yad Eliezeren.wikipedia.org

  The organization distributes approximately 9,000 Passover food packages, an increase of about 5,000 packages from the preceding year.

• 2000

  Industrial kitchen and mentoring program

  [1]Yad Eliezeren.wikipedia.org

  Yad Eliezer acquires an industrial kitchen for wedding support and begins its mentoring program for boys from single-parent families.

• 1995

  Local distribution expands

  [1]Yad Eliezeren.wikipedia.org

  The food-relief operation is reported to have grown from its early base of roughly 360 families to approximately 1,800 families.

• 1980

  Yad Eliezer is founded

  [1]Yad Eliezeren.wikipedia.org

  Rabbi Yaakov and Hadassah Weisel establish the organization in Jerusalem as a neighborhood response to food insecurity, naming it in memory of Eliezer Lipa Benzman.

A community-based Israeli poverty-relief organization combining recurring food assistance with family, child, emergency, and wedding-support programs. Its model relies on volunteers, philanthropic donations, agricultural surplus, and local collection networks.

• Food assistance

  Monthly family food packages

  Recurring packages for low-income Israeli families containing staple foods such as eggs, flour, oil, sugar, canned goods, and fresh produce. The program is supported by international donations, wholesale purchasing, agricultural surplus, religious poor-tithe contributions, and community food collections. The cited material describes assistance reaching approximately 6,000 families.

• Food assistance

  Shabbat and holiday food packages

  Special food parcels for Shabbat and Jewish holidays. Shabbat packages may include challah, fish, salads, chicken, and cake, while holiday distributions provide additional support before occasions such as Passover and Rosh Hashana.

• Infant support

  Baby food assistance

  Monthly baby-food packages for infants in financially vulnerable households. The cited description refers to approximately 2,000 infants receiving assistance, including Materna formula supplied to about 1,400 infants.

• Family support

  Wedding assistance

  Financial and operational assistance for weddings that families could not otherwise afford. Yad Eliezer has arranged catering, operated wedding halls, and supported discounted events. The cited material describes assistance covering all or part of the expenses for approximately 400 needy couples annually.

• Youth support · 2000

  Mentoring program

  A mentoring network pairing boys from single-parent, bereaved, divorced, or illness-affected households with mentors. Started in 2000, it was reported to serve approximately 4,000 boys in 35 cities by 2013.

• 2000Dancing at Two Weddings

  Israel · United States

  A donor-oriented wedding sponsorship concept invited overseas families celebrating a wedding to finance a needy couple's wedding in Israel on the same night.

  Outcome. The initiative supported the expansion of Yad Eliezer's wedding-assistance activities and industrial-kitchen operation.

  Source

• 2005

  Acquire a dedicated wedding complexStrategy

  Background

  Yad Eliezer's wedding assistance had grown from volunteer catering into a recurring service requiring dedicated facilities.

  Action taken

  The organization purchased the Armonot Wolf wedding complex in Givat Shaul, Jerusalem, with two wedding halls and associated event infrastructure.

  Aftermath

  The acquisition enabled the organization to host supported weddings for needy couples and discounted events for other religious families in Jerusalem.

  Source

1. 1Yad Eliezeren.wikipedia.org
2. 2Yad Eliezer official websiteyadeliezer.org