From Israel to Zambia, with hope

With war raging in Gaza, tens of thousands evacuated  in the north and south, many hostages feared dead and prospects of a regional war, it is understandable that Israelis  are preoccupied with their own crises.

But one extraordinary orthodox rabbi and activist Micha Odenheimer, in addition to thinking about Israel’s plight, is keenly focused on another country that is in deep distress: Zambia, where a national emergency has been declared due to famine. It is the latest part of his longstanding and multifaceted mission to engage Jews and Israelis in a kind of tikkun olam outreach (“heal the world”) for impoverished parts of the world.

During a phone interview from Zambia in early August, Odenheimer described to The Jewish Independent how the Israeli NGO he founded and directs, Tevel b’Tzedek (World in Justice) is responding to a crippling drought threatening millions of people. It was caused by a major drop in rainfall at a critical time, which led to huge crop failure, including of the staple, maize.

“We’re focusing now on growth of emergency irrigated maize,” Odenheimer said. Tevel had just hired four additional Zambian agronomists to help work on rapid fire solutions for farmers. “The efforts seem to be going well,” he said, adding that the desperately needed maize crop should be ready in November, when it will be dried and turned into cornmeal.

Tevel’s estimate is that the produce will be enough to assure at least one meal a day for about 3000 residents of Mphande, the locale village Tevel helps, through March-April.