Hineni, a ray of hope for Hernias
Dear friends, The past year was very eventful. There was a great increase of visitors in our soup kitchen, and hundreds of people ask for our help on a daily basis. We moved to a new location where we can focus even more on helping the needy. We hope that we can present our soup kitchen as humanitarian restaurant. We will remain open during the evenings, on Shabbat and during the holidays.
Hineni’s aim is to give people, who are less fortunate, a second chance. Like Hernias, who was born in Ethiopia and came to Israel, at the age of five, with his grandfather. It was not an easy time for him. He missed his mother, brothers and sisters who, to this day, still live in Ethiopia in anticipation of a family reunion. His loneliness prompted him to really make an effort with his integration, studies and military service. And he has lived a prudent life in order to send money to his mother in Ethiopia.
Volunteers at work in the kitchen
Hernias started a company with an Israeli associate, but things, regrettably, went wrong. He ended up with a large debt. Down and out and all alone, he became homeless. Because he felt so humiliated, he did not ask for help from appropriate institutions. Deeply depressed, he started drinking, and when he managed to find a part-time job as chauffeur, he was arrested for driving under influence, and was sentenced to five months in jail.
Hernias
On his discharge from prison he had nothing and no one, and was appointed a social worker. She saw his situation as an emergency, and sent Hernias with a letter to Hineni, with a request for a warm meal daily. When we, at Hineni, heard about the sad story of this homeless Ethiopian immigrant, we did not only give him meals, but a second chance as well. He is currently employed in the Hineni kitchen, and receives a salary. We are trying to help him fulfill his dream of getting of the street and seeing his mother, brothers and sisters again. He is very embarrassed about his inability to send them money. We will, hopefully, be able to be a ray of hope for Hernias and his family.
Benjamin Philip
Shalom,
Benjamin Philip – Director Hineni
Become a volunteer
Would you like to become a volunteer at Hineni? There are many opportunities to help:
- preparing meals
- packing meals
- or serving meals in the humanitarian restaurant.
You are also welcome to help out for just a day!
Contact Hineni at: hineni@netvision.net.il
Please inform us one week in advance.
Jerusalem is Israel’s poorest city where a majority of the poor depend on meals from soup kitchens. Therefore we serve at Hineni’s soup kitchen in Jerusalem about 200 meals a day and offer food packages and /or vouchers on a regular basis.
Please support Hineni to enable this much needed work!
Costs of a hot meal: € 5 or US $ 6
Costs of a sandwich: € 2 or US $ 2.50
