US Ambassador Friedman, family make thousands of Shavuot cheesecakes for elderly

US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman and his family joined a special online broadcast to help make cheesecakes for the elderly ahead of Shavuot.

The Friedmans, alongside a small group of guests, joined celebrity chef Jamie Geller, who showed them how to make the perfect cheesecake. Together, they worked to prepare thousands of mini-cheesecakes for the elderly and those unable to leave their homes ahead of the holiday of Shavuot, as the dessert is a traditional dish for the holiday.

The broadcast, which also featured a virtual appearance by comedian Elon Gold, took place at Pantry Packers, a food packaging facility in Jerusalem managed by Colel Chabad, which plans to distribute over 100,000 packages of food across Israel for Shavuot. This is following the Labor and Social Services Ministry’s tasking of Colel Chabad to significantly increase food distributions due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

“It’s great to be back here at Pantry Packers,” Friedman said in a statement.

“We are going through this horrible time throughout the world, where people who were in need before the coronavirus are in even greater need now,” Friedman added.

“While most people would be tempted to give up and cut back, you have done just the opposite. You have ramped up your operations. You have gone and delivered necessary food to everyone in this country – to Jews, to Muslims, to Christians, to Druze, to elderly people who can’t get out of the house. It is very much appreciated by someone who is here representing the United States in seeing how much commitment and love you have for the people of Israel” he said.