On the surface, they couldn’t be more different. Joseph Gitler, a Modern Orthodox lawyer from New York, Yeshiva University graduate. Aryeh Lurie, a Jerusalem-born Sephardi, descended from the Ben Ish Chai, who knew hunger firsthand as a child.
Yet both men were stirred by the same plea: Jews in Israel without enough food. Each answered in his own way, building organizations that grew into nationwide lifelines. Thirty years later, Gitler and Lurie have united their efforts — creating a new force in Israel’s battle against hunger.
When Gitler’s “Leket Israel” rescues fresh vegetables from farms across the country, they go straight to Lurie’s “Yad Ezra V’Shulamit” warehouses — where chicken, fish, bread, rice, noodles, canned goods, oil, dairy, and other staples are added — turning each basket into a lifeline for 72,000 of Israel’s poorest people every week – and hundreds of thousands for Rosh Hashanah.
When Poverty Knocks
Aryeh Lurie was born and raised in Jerusalem — in poverty. Many days, he went to school with nothing but a paper bag instead of a backpack, and often without a sandwich for lunch. But his parents taught him that no matter how little you have, you can always help someone with less.
As a boy, Aryeh promised himself: “When I grow up, I will feed the poor.”
“My great-grandfather in Basra, Iraq, was not a wealthy man,” Lurie recalled. “But he opened his home to those in need, providing food, shelter, and jobs. Among those he helped was my grandfather, who went on to marry his daughter.
That spirit of giving carried into the family’s arrival in pre-state Israel. During the siege of Jerusalem before the War of Independence, the Luries used their delivery trucks to bring food along the treacherous Burma Road. “Arab marauders constantly attacked,” Lurie recounted. “One family member stepped on a mine and was killed. When my grandfather heard, he died of a heart attack.”
The family was left destitute, but the ethic of caring for others endured. Lurie’s mother, Shulamit, shared her hamin (Sephardic cholent) with neighbors who were even poorer.
Those early lessons shaped Yad Ezra V’Shulamit, which Lurie founded in 1988 — named for his parents — to bring food to struggling families in Jerusalem. What began as 50 food baskets for Jerusalem families has grown into a nationwide network: 12,000 food baskets delivered weekly – and 62,000 food baskets and grocery vouchers before Rosh Hashanah – hot lunches, homework help, and therapy for children, youth-at-risk centers, winter coats, school supplies, baby formula. Today, Yad Ezra V’Shualmit feeds hundreds of thousands of people all across Israel, with weekly grocery distributions and extra support before every holiday, delivering more food baskets than any other organization in Israel.
“When I started Yad Ezra V’Shulamit in 1988 giving 50 baskets, I had no idea it would grow to 12,000 a week.”
As a member of the community of those he helps, Lurie observes their needs firsthand and opens new programs to support them. Once he saw a woman diluting the formula in her baby’s bottle – this led to the organization opening its Feed a Baby program.
With four warehouses, fifteen trucks, and 93 distribution points nationwide, Yad Ezra V’Shulamit has become the largest distributor of food baskets in Israel, and Leket’s main partner in distributing rescued produce.
Food Rescue – Bridging The Gap
In 2000, Joseph Gitler moved from New York to Israel. What he saw shocked him: an abundance of food going to waste while so many went hungry. Determined to bridge that gap, he started gathering surplus meals from caterers to feed the poor.
From that small beginning, Leket grew into Israel’s largest food rescue organization — collecting tens of thousands of tons of fresh fruits and vegetables, every year from farms, hotels, caterers, and IDF bases. Today, Leket partners with over 300 nonprofits to make sure good food reaches the people who need it most.
“Yad Ezra V’Shulamit is our biggest partner, distributing more food than any other of the 300 organizations we work with”
More Than Just Vegetables – Thanks To Yad Ezra V’Shulamit
The partnership begins in the fields, where volunteers harvest fresh vegetables for Leket. From there, produce is sent to Yad Ezra V’Shulamit’s warehouses, where other essentials are added — chicken, fish, dairy, dried goods, canned food, and pantry staples like rice, beans, oil, noodles, challah and grape juice for the holidays – honey for Rosh Hashanah.
Each week, Yad Ezra V’Shulamit delivers the food baskets to its 93 distribution points where local volunteers help people in need gather what they need to sustain them for the week ahead.
“We may be on the front lines getting food to the needy, but it is only because of Leket that we can provide so much produce. To buy the amount of fruits and vegetables Leket gives us would cost a fortune,” says Aryeh Lurie, founder of Yad Ezra V’Shulamit.
“We need our partners to get food directly to the poor in local Israeli communities. Yad Ezra V’Shulamit is our biggest partner, distributing more food than any other of the 300 organizations we work with,” says Leket founder, Joseph Gitler, “Our end goal is shared: to feed the poor, to avoid waste, and to make sure everyone has their basic food needs met.”
Scaling Up Giving In Time For The Holidays
Together, Lurie and Gitler have fed hundreds of thousands of people — and they’re not slowing down. This Rosh Hashanah, they invite the Jewish community worldwide to take part.
“We scale up operations for Rosh Hashanah, because we know we can rely on good people across the world for support. Rosh Hashanah is a time to give, to care, and to make a difference in the lives of those who need help putting food on the table. One food basket can fill a family’s table for the holiday, and last them the week ahead,” says Lurie, “No Jew should start the new year with an empty table. You can make the difference.”