By giving charity these days we are able to bring the Geulah closer in mercy, and helping this dear family from our community is surely an excellent and fine charity
My dear fellow Jews,
My name is Eliyahu Wagner. I’m a Chabad Chosid from Beit Shemesh and am the father of six children, all of whom have severe ADHD and require multiple therapies.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic wreaked havoc on the world, I owned a restaurant and my wife ran a playgroup for toddlers. We made a nice living and managed well.
Sadly, both of us came down with corona, and as a result, my wife developed difficult side effects. She became diabetic and is still overcome with exhaustion that barely enables her to function, let along return to work. My illness was not as severe, however my business suffered terribly during the ongoing lockdowns and restrictions. I had to close my restaurant, and with no clients coming in and no income, I couldn’t afford to pay the rent or the suppliers to whom I owed money from before the onset of corona. I found myself having to deal with exasperating financial issues, hundreds of thousands of shekels of debt, law suits and creditors who justifiably wanted their money.
Everything hit me at once. I was left with no income, no help, a wife too weak to function and children with emotional issues who needed therapies and care. I tried to take control of my life and took a job as a mini-bus driver.
I work longer and harder hours now, leaving the house at 4 AM each morning and only returning home at 10 PM, but it I still don’t make enough to pay off the interest on my debts, which are only getting bigger and bigger. All of my income goes to the banks and I don’t have any money left over for the costs of everyday living expenses. Our situation is going downhill from day to day. I haven’t paid the rent on our apartment for almost a year and we are in real danger of being evicted.
This stressful situation is having a negative effect on my wife’s already precarious health and my children’s delicate emotional wellbeing. My wife has repeatedly fallen apart in front of them while I’m at work, usually far from home, and it is nothing less than a miracle that nothing dangerous has transpired.
My dear fellow Jews!
My heart cannot take this pressure any longer. I can’t cope with the financial and emotional stress and I am so afraid that I will collapse!
I beg of you, from the bottom of my heart! Please help me get back on my own two feet.
I have professional training and I want to find my way out of this terrible crisis. I want to find work befitting my experience and abilities and I want to support my family honorably, to provide my children with all of their needs and the necessary therapies that they so badly require!
Right now, I can’t even keep my head above water and all of my hard work is for naught.
I am embarrassed to ask for help, but I don’t see any other way out of this vicious cycle.
My explanation here has been long, and I thank you for taking the time to read what I wrote.
I offer you my blessings, dear fellow Jews, that you and your loved ones should never know scarcity or want; that you never know sorrow or pain and all of your life’s desires should be fulfilled with happiness and blessing.
Thank you so much!
Eliyahu Wagner
All contributions are Tax-deductible
