I was in my kitchen preparing the shabbos meal, when a woman rushed in, breathless: “Yehudis, come quickly! We need to make kiddush right now; someone is fainting.”
Join our WhatsApp groupSubscribe to our Daily Roundup Email
After making kiddush, I turned to my guest to ask what had happened.
Her answer shocked me to the core.
“I’m not sick,” she said. “This is the only hot meal I eat all week. I have nothing in my refrigerator.”
At that moment, I came face to face with the harsh reality of many single mothers.
WATCH THE VIDEO:
Many are struggling to put food on the table, saving every bit for their children while enduring hunger themselves. Their one reprieve is waiting to be invited to a shabbos meal, that one warm and comforting moment in a challenging week.
As a single mother myself, I know firsthand the sacrifices women are making to raise their children alone. Many, who find themselves thrust back into the trenches of singlehood, have little support. Be it financial, spiritual, or emotional.
Too often we forget about these women. And they are starving because of it.
We don’t see their bare cupboards, the meals saved for their children, that solitary bowl of cereal eaten on a Friday night, nor the hunger etched in their eyes.
With Mishpachtainu, my mission is clear: No single mother should ever be forced to spend shabbos alone and without food.
Mishpachtainu unites women from across the spectrum of yiddishkeit―Ashkenazi, Sephardi, Chadidic, and Litvish. Fifty-two shabbosim, all year round, I host women from local communities to far-reaching places like California and Israel. In addition to shabbos hosting and hospitality, Mishpachtainu offers vital support, food pantries, emergency funding, workshops, holiday gifts and toys to help our Mighty Moms continue to provide for their families and raise happy, healthy kids.
Today, there is an ever-growing demand for our services. The escalating number of women grappling with divorce or the loss of a spouse, combined with the mounting cost of living, intensifies the burden on single moms as they navigate the challenges of providing for their families.
The single mothers in your lives are relying on you today.
Our entire community needs the kind of support Mishpachtainu provides—a space where single mothers give chizuk to each other and are embraced with the message: “You are our family. We’re with you.”
Act now. Give your sisters the dignity they deserve as Bas Melech!
Please, join me and help make a difference in a single mom’s life―and in the lives of her children―by donating generously.
May your generosity unlock unlimited brachos by supporting Hashem’s chosen ones, as it is promised:
“!אם אתם משמחים את שלי, אני משמח את שלכם”
Yehudis Sherman
Founder, Mishpachtainu