Last week, Avi Esses and Howie Hershkovich of Woodmere spearheaded a massive chessed operation at their shul, Congregation Aish Kodesh. The goal was to create a toy drive and deliver it to children in the South, but it turned into something much more.
“When we had this idea to organize a community-wide chessed drive with my kehilla at Aish Kodesh, I thought we’d be giving comfort and putting a smile on the face of the children, especially those badly affected from the southern areas of Eretz Yisroel. Little did I realize that we’d be giving chizuk to countless adults who were so appreciative and incredulous at the sentiments from an ocean away, and then ultimately being the beneficiaries ourselves of the chizuk experience of a lifetime”, said Avi, as he got ready to board Elal back to Newark last night.
Avi & Howie put together this incredible outpouring of gifts and love, that began last Tuesday in Aish Kodesh.
Almost a thousand boxes were accumulated in the shul, with all kinds of wonderful goodies to be sorted by the children of the shul, into knapsacks and then into duffels to be taken to Eretz Yisroel.
About 200 of the shuls' children packed hundreds of knapsacks filled with dozens of items, from iPods to sunglasses to coloring books, to give to their Israeli brothers and sisters. It was such a fantastic and successful drive, that Long Island Chanel 12 News set up shop in the shul to document it and interview the kids and adults involved. It was the feature story of the night - what a Kiddush Hashem!
On delivery to Eretz Yisroel, Howie, and Avi bore eyewitness to a lot of the suffering inflicted by the terrorists from Gaza, as they visited with victims in hospitals all across the country. They made home visits and deliveries to the traumatized families, bringing these knapsacks and a lot of love and warmest regards from the US.
They also visited multiple Shiva homes in the South, their mere presence comforting and warming the mourners' hearts. They were mechazek soldiers, arranging delicious barbecues, singing and dancing with them, and sharing all the love and tefillos that we have for them.
Avi remarked, “We came to bring them chizuk and tell them that their not alone, yet we walked away with a treasure-full of chizuk and full hearts”.
May the Shomer Yisroel bring the Yeshua Shelaima to all of Klal Yisroel b’karov mamash.
24 окт 2023
