Orphan Brides

A very nice lady approached us at the market. Though we could not understand her Hebrew, we knew she was asking for money. We have learned to be highly selective with our donations, since every time we turn around someone has his/her hand/cup out. But Bill gave this lady a few shekels. She was pleasant and seemed to have a legitimate cause. She retrieved a few words from her English vocabulary, smiled, thanked us, and said, "Orphan Bride. To help young lady get married and be happy."

This got me to wondering what an orphan bride is. Seems that when a young lady does not have family to help her, or her family is impoverished, organizations will assist her with her wedding and help her get settled as a newlywed wife with housewares and financial support.

Interested in learning more about this charitable cause? Check out: http://zdaka.org/Hachnasat-Kallah.php?name=Hachnasat%20Kallah and http://www.yadeliezer.org/program_info.php?program_id=11.