Feeding the Poor in Wartime
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When in Bahá'í history
Haifa (today: Haifa, Israel)

During the First World War the Master's life was very full. Not only did He care for the friends of Abú-Sinán, but in ‘Akká and Haifa all the poor looked to Him for their daily bread. Even before the war the spectre of starvation had not been very far from many of these pitiful people, but now when all the breadwinners (Germans and Turks) had been taken for the army, the plight of the women and children was desperate, for alas! there were no government "separation allowances." Nothing and no one but the Master stood between them and certain death from hunger. He also instituted a dispensary at Abú-Sinán, and engaged a doctor, Ḥabíbu’lláh Khudábakhsh. This doctor was qualified to perform operations and to give instruction in hygiene. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá did not neglect the education of the children. He arranged schools where they were taught by some of the most gifted of the Bahá’í friends.
Source: Lady Blomfield, The Chosen Highway, “‘Abdu’l-Bahá in War-time”
Collected from bahaistories.com (Subject: poor).
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