Surviving on Hope

“What did you have for breakfast?” I asked the elderly Jewish lady in front of me. “A cup of tea,” she replied. “And what will you have for dinner?” I asked her, hoping for a more promising response. “A cup of tea,” came the same heartbreaking reply. As we stood in the soup kitchen filled with elderly Jewish people having a hot, nutritious lunch, I realized with horror that this could be their only meal for days to come. Each Jewish patron who comes through the door out of the bitter cold carries a container in the hope that there will be food left over to take home. The staff at the soup kitchen is well aware of the bare cupboards these precious people face at home and will do their best to stretch the food to fill the containers. The meager extra portion will have to last for the next two days until they can visit the soup kitchen again.

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