Quarantined?

OPEN YOUR HEART

The poor and needy families
in Eretz Yisroel
NEED YOU NOW
much more than ever!

…And one day, b’ezras Hashem, we’ll tell our children and grandchildren about this bizarre period in our lives. We’ll reminisce of days spent in quarantine, of school and jobs cancelled, of shuls closed. We’ll regale them with stories of chassanahs celebrated in homes and minyanim held in backyards, and we won’t forget the Kimcha d’Pischa campaign of 5780.

Some, perhaps, won’t speak of it, preferring to conceal their part to ensure that the mitzvah remains complete and pure even many decades later.  Others however will surely recount all they remember in order to emphasize the importance of the mitzvah and teach future generations to love, cherish and strive to fulfill this mitzvah even in the most challenging of times. Whichever approach we choose, this year’s annual tzedakah campaign will surely be engraved in a special place in our hearts.

Kimcha D’Pischa, 5780. Until several weeks ago, no one dreamed that it would be any different than the previous years’ successful campaigns. For over three decades, Alexander Chasidim around the world have united in a magnificent trend of giving, opening their hearts and hands to enable those less fortunate to celebrate the Festival of Redemption with joy and peace of mind. Unexpectedly, all this changed as our Father and King—the same Master of the world Who redeemed us from Egypt 3000 years ago—decreed that this year would be different. Thus Kimcha D’Pischa 5780 spontaneously evolved into one of the magnificent wonders of this upended world in which we live.

Tens of families, friends and fellow community members anxiously wonder if the annual Kimcha D’Pischa campaign will assist them this year as always? Is there any hope for them to celebrate Pesach with peace of mind in spite of global financial crises, elevated prices, worldwide product shortages, and reduced incomes and salaries due to the rampant unemployment?

The answer to this pressing question, we know, lies in the hearts and hands of each and every one of us. So let’s take the time to calculate just how much we can spare to those less fortunate than us, and then extend ourselves just a bit more! Let’s all reflect upon the urgency of these times, and also upon the inimitable power of tzedakah to save us and safeguard us.  Because you—together with all of Klal Yisrael—will be the one to answer this question with a resounding “Yes!”

YES! Even in these challenging times of 5780, in the dark shadow of trepidation, we won’t abandon our brothers or ignore their pitiful cries. Even in these alarming days and weeks, when fear of the unknown chokes us, we know that it’s up to us. It’s up to us to redeem our brothers and friends from poverty and adversity. It’s up to us to grant our fellow community members a beautiful, radiant Yom Tov.

Kimcha D’Pischa of 5780 shall be gloriously remembered for many years and generations to come as a time unprecedented in history, and im yirtzeh Hashem, a time that shall never be repeated. This is a historic opportunity to engrave yourself in golden letters in the Book of Tzaddikim, the book of those who stand faithfully at their brothers’ sides even in the worst of times.

Together, let’s seize the mitzvah and shout out loud, “YES!”