Happy Hanukkah

Just before Hanukkah, Tikvat Yacov was able to enter into a partnership with Agape, in Tel Aviv, to open up our second center in Israel. Agape had been running a distribution center in Tel Aviv but their work was significantly diminished when their landlord decided not to renew their lease. Although they continued to distribute some food packages from an administrative office, they could not afford to open a full distribution center due to the high rents in Tel Aviv. Fortunately, we connected with Agape through a mutual friend and easily reached an agreement to renew their work in Tel Aviv. Although the initial location we had chosen fell through, we were able to find another location where, amazingly, both the head of Agape and I know the owner.

In Ashdod, renovations to our center have been completed and I will be heading down there this week to transfer all the utilities from the owner. I will post pictures as soon as I am able.

In addition to our two centers, our partnership with Rivers of Living Water continues in Karmiel. We had a food distribution for Hanukkah on December 12 and are planning another food distribution targeted for Ethiopian Jews living in Karmiel in January.