IFCJ: Dedicated, Even at Forty Below

Only the most committed rabbis make home visits in temperatures of forty below.

Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein, a Board member of JDC, and president and founder of the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, is such a Rabbi.

But this act of dedication is not carried out in Chicago or Jerusalem, where the Fellowship offices are based. Not even the Windy City gets that cold. Rather, Eckstein endures frigid temperatures while visiting needy children and elderly in the former Soviet Union (FSU). He has made such visits with JDC professionals to gather stories of Jewish needy. He then shares news of their plight with others, getting the word out about the needs of Jews young and old.

"For four years, Rabbi Eckstein has provided critical support and tremendous proven dedication to JDC's welfare efforts in the FSU," explains Asher, JDC's Director of FSU Programs. "He is a true advocate and is passionate for this cause."

The Eckstein-led Fellowship promotes understanding and better relations between Jews and Christians, while building broad support of Israel and other shared concerns – the plight of needy Jews in the FSU among them.

"Rabbi Eckstein communicates the message that there are Christians who care about Jews and are willing to contribute towards Jews in need," says Asher.

Eckstein's initial support was towards hunger relief and welfare assistance for Jewish elderly through JDC-supported Hesed Welfare Centers in the FSU. IFCJ is still a key partner in JDC's efforts to provide such critical welfare assistance throughout the FSU today.

More recently, Rabbi Eckstein approached JDC regarding the possible launch of a new FSU Children's Initiative, one that helps Jewish communities in the FSU address the most desperate needs of their children.

"Since the fall of communism and the collapse of human-service infrastructures in that region, we have focused on the poor and hungry elderly," Eckstein said. "But now we must care for that society’s youngest victims as well."

Eckstein pledged to provide capital support to improve the physical surroundings of Jewish children, helping to create optimal environments in less-than-optimal conditions.

"There are so many Jewish children without parents or whose parents are unable to care for them in the FSU today, some literally on the street and others in horrible, unsafe state institutions," said Eckstein.

The International Fellowship of Christians and Jews recently announced a $1 million donation to improve living conditions for orphans and abandoned Jewish children in the FSU. The funds will support physical improvements in independent Jewish Children's Homes in Kiev, Kharkov and Odessa, which are directed by local orthodox Jewish communities. The funding will renovate the buildings' crumbling walls and ceilings, unsafe electricity, and old, inadequate plumbing fixtures. Renovation of additional Homes in Russia and Ukraine will follow.

"I told JDC we would provide the lead gift in a campaign to raise millions of dollars to provide safe, warm communal housing for these children," Eckstein said. "Our initial $1 million contribution already has attracted another $1.3 million, and we will keep working to get more. There is no choice. These are children, and we are parents."

In addition to capital projects for independent Jewish Children's Homes such as that IFCJ helps support, JDC's FSU Children's Initiative provides urgent humanitarian relief to children through Deitsky (Children) S.O.S. Emergency Assistance (D.S.O.S.), support for community-initiated projects that benefit children in need, as well as training for staff of independent Jewish Children's Homes.

"It is our responsibility to move forward and provide aid and hope for Jewish children in need," says Asher. "IFCJ has been critical to enabling us and our partners in the field to carry out this historic initiative."