Passover Packages in Israel
Around the world, the Claims Conference funds food programs that feed thousands of Holocaust survivors all year long. These programs are especially important during holidays.
Every year in the weeks before Passover, the Claims Conference and our partners at Birkat-Margalit, a nonprofit in Israel, come together to prepare food packages for Holocaust survivors living in Israel. This is just one example of the many Pesach food package programs we are funding throughout Israel.
This year, representatives from both Birkat-Margalit and the Claims Conference came together with the local municipality in Shlomi, a town on the northern border of Israel, to deliver food packages in person. Many Holocaust survivors have been isolated in their homes since the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020, so visitors are a rare and welcome event.
Gavriel Naaman, the Head of Municipality in Shlomi, was on-hand at the packaging warehouse to help prepare food boxes for delivery. “I’m proud of this great project led by Yitzhak Vaknin [founder of Birkat-Margalit] together with the Claims Conference,” he said surrounded by thousands of boxes and hundreds of volunteers.
“The distribution of food packages for Passover complements our national food projects which span across the entire year,” said Shlomo Gur, Claims Conference Associate Executive Vice President for Israel. “In total, more than 18,000 Holocaust survivors enjoy our food projects, during Passover and throughout the year.”
Yitzhak Vaknin, the founder of Birkat-Margalit and manager of the Pesach Food Package project, has worked with the Claims Conference for nearly two decades. “I want to thank all our partners for this great project,” he said, recognizing that it takes many organizations to provide the food as well as others to help prepare the packages. “The Claims Conference brings joy, together with Birkat-Margalit and the authorities here in Shlomi to Holocaust survivors. And that’s the least we can do, to make them happy on Passover.”
