The cost to subsidize one family is $250. Please help so we can subsidize 400 families this Yom Tov season. Sukkos. Zeman Simchaseinu. It’s one of the most joyous times of the year, anticipated by one and all, young and old. But this year, it will be different. For the first time in history, due to the current Covid-19 restrictions, Yerushalayim will be devoid of the tens of thousands of guests who arrive each year to celebrate the grand Yom Tov of Sukkos in the Holy City. There’s no Sukkos like Sukkos in Yerushalayim. The feelings of festivity are almost tangible. Prior to the Yom Tov, the streets are filled with vendors selling daled minim and all sorts of Yom Tov paraphernalia.

It is Erev Yom Hadin. We are busy with seemingly mundane things; showering the children and wiping the kitchen floor. Putting away the pots, taking out a baking pan, back to the store for more challos, setting the timer for the lights and maybe the air conditioner too… In another minute the Mishpat begins. Fatal decisions affecting an entire year. Life is hanging in the balance. Recent events demonstrated what can happen.  Most would love to be at the Kosel Hamaaravi right now, standing by the holy, ancient stones and offer a prayer that immediately flies up straight to Heaven.  In truth, we are there.

Choked sobs filled the air in the streets of the southern Israeli town of Yerucham as family members gathered to mark the passing of 35-year-old Rabbi Pinchas Waldstein. Rabbi Waldstein was the father of 7 children, the youngest of whom is only 6 months old. He learned in Yeshivas Beit Meir. Waldstein was hospitalized after contracting the coronavirus, and ultimately passed after the disease reached his heart.  Those close to the family know this is not the first time they have seen tragedy. Just two years ago, they lost a 1 year old child to cancer. The Waldsteins had only just begun to heal from their loss when COVID robbed them of the very foundation of their family: their beloved father. Mrs.

On the Chofetz Chaim’s Yahrtzeit (24 Elul), you have a unique opportunity to bring the merit of Shmiras Haloshon to advocate for your friends and family for a good, healthy, prosperous year. The Chofetz Chaim Heritage Foundation, dedicated to spreading the Chofetz Chaim’s teachings, is running a “Tip the Scale” Charidy Matching Campaign (charidy.com/cchf) aimed at raising $500,000 for its extensive, global network of programs to foster the mitzvos bein adam l’chaveiro.  For the first time ever:  While donating, please be sure to include your name and that of your family to be prayed for by the kever of the Chofetz Chaim Zt”l on the day of his Yahrtzeit!  Deadline for submission of names for prayer is Motzei Shabbos at 1:00 AM – don’t miss out!

Not everyone will have the privilege of mastering Shas in their lifetime. According to the Rosh Yeshiva, HaRav Yitzhok Scheiner, shlita, Avraham Moshe Yavrov has already done that and he is only 23. He has even authored books on Shas and Halacha. When one considers that he lost his father at 13, his accomplishments in learning are the more incredible.  Recently, Avraham got married to Devora, a girl from a family of Yirei Shamayim. His mother, a widow with 10 kids, had a hard time paying for the wedding. At one point, it looked like the wedding wouldn’t be able to take place but with Hashem’s help last minute, she was able to provide a beautiful wedding for her son, giving the family a welcome respite from their usual hardships. After the wedding, the chassan’s hardships continued.

generation’s leading Rabbanim, including Rav Chaim Kanievsky shlita, the Belz Rebbe shlita, the Viznitz Rebbe shlita and Rav Baruch Mordechai Ezrachi shlita, is making headlines. Many families have been impoverished by Covid-19. The leading Rabbis are overwhelmed by the sheer number of families who need help to prevent imminent starvation and homelessness. Knowing that something had to be done quickly, the 28 Gedolim convened a special Beis Din empowered to make decrees.

Very few people will ever go through the difficult challenges Pinchas Deutsch has, let alone live to tell about it. At the age of 7, an eye injury caused by protruding, sharp objects caused him to go blind in one eye, despite extensive surgery. The other eye developed Sympathetic Ophthalmia, a painful disease so rare that he was the only one in all of Israel to have it. Since no local doctor had any experience with this ailment, he had to go to the US for extensive surgery. His situation became so dire that the Steipler Gaon, ZT”L, took upon him to daven 3 times a day for him. He was prescribed Cortisone, the only medication able to treat this rare disease. The pills came with a hefty price tag, but because his life depended on it, there was absolutely no choice.

Agudath Israel of America has meant so much to so many people, on a klal level and to the yochid as well.  Today’s case in point: Founded in 1994 to help those who are out of work find meaningful jobs, PCS, a division of Agudath Israel, also offers direct placement services, career counseling and educational programs.  In the case of Daniel, who was in dire need of a job, PCS actually served as a stepping stone to something even loftier than an employment opportunity.

The Agudah is Vital to You…You are Vital to the Agudah Agudas Yisroel of America. Many of us think of the Agudah as a klal organization, and indeed, it is one. It is vital to our community as a whole. But it is also so vital to the yochid, the individual. From the moment we wake up until we retire at the end of the day, the programs, efforts and influence of the Agudah impact us in numerous ways. In the morning, Totty awakens and goes to learn at a Daf Yomi shiur – a shiur whose formation and growth were due to the Agudah’s efforts through the Daf Yomi Commission and the Siyum HaShas. A short while later, the children head off to school, riding school busses whose funding was arranged thanks to the efforts of Agudah askanim.

“It was the day of my wedding, and my father and sisters and I were almost ready to leave for the hall. Down the hallway I heard my sister scream, and saw that my father was on the floor. He had had a heart attack.  We lost him that day. The wedding was cancelled, of course, and we went straight into shiva. Dad had raised us alone after Mom passed away, and we were lost as to what to do next. For a full year, I worked as a nurse to save up money to re-make the wedding. We sold everything we had before to help take care of my siblings, and repay our debts. I am starting from scratch.” Tamar, 23*   Nearly 40 young men & women with stories comparable to “Tamar”’s are getting married this month, with the support of Kupat Ha’Ir’s Elul orphan wedding campaign.