MAS'EI
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Haftarah: Yirmiyahu 2:4-28, 3:4, 4:1-2
JULY 26, 2014 28 TAMUZ 5774
DEDICATIONS: In memory of my grandmother Victoria Gindi – Victoria Bat Rosa – 1 Ab
So how can you help? Participate with us in this mitzvah. The approximate cost per combat company for Tzizit is $1,800. A full battalion is $5,000. Whatever amount you or any of your friends or congregants can do in this regard is appreciated. It all adds up accordingly. Sidurim are $1.30 each and packages that we are having prepared for the soldiers are about $3 each. Send us an email. Let us know how much you can sponsor - email me at DavidBibi@gmail.com and send a check made out to the Sephardic Congregation of Long Beach c/o Rabbi David Bibi, 979 Third Avenue, suite 1705 New York, NY 10022. I am sure that based on our experience with the gum, you will generously assist us here too and we will be able to double our order and add care packages for each soldier. These young men and women serving in the armed forces need us to know we are there for them.
Editors Notes
How Can I Help?
"Tell the people that when you cross into the land of Canaan, you shall drive out all people who live there and destroy all their symbols, idols and places of worship. I have given this land to you. If you do not drive out the people who live there then those left behind will become like a thorn in your side. They will oppress you as enemies in the land in which you dwell…"
As I write this, our prayers and our thoughts are with the brave soldiers of the IDF who hope their mission into Gaza will yield some relief for the residents of Israel who find themselves under the constant rocket attack which has gone on for years and now threatens eighty percent of the country. The discovery of dozens of sophisticated tunnels whose sole purpose is to terrorize the people is chilling.
The question that is posed to me again and again is, "how can I help?" Every misvah we do, every prayer we offer, every chapter of Psalms we read helps to reinforce the spiritual iron dome of protection. We can each spiritually adopt a soldier – visit Shmiraproject.com or call 443-203-8592 to participate. But we can and should do more.
I am reminded of a call my wife received in December of 2008 prior to operation caste lead. A friend told her of the army's need for packs of a special high dose caffeinated gum that was unavailable in Israel at the time. They wanted a pack for each soldier and needed someone to purchase the gum and then deliver the gum to Israel preferably within a few days. That was on a Wednesday if I recall correctly and Chantelle contacted the manufacturer that day and arranged for the huge purchase and a special delivery over night to our home charging everything to her credit card. After it arrived, she packed the gum into carry on duffles and arranged for a large group of students to each carry a bag onto their plane. She and her friend Shoshana Pilevsky delivered the gum with police assistance to Newark airport and miraculously the El Al jet waited for them. They were whisked through security and the duffles arrived in Israel the next day Friday where the students were met at Ben Gurion. The gum was distributed in the field on Sunday morning. When I wrote about all the amazing coincidences that allowed this all to happen, in a matter of hours so many of our readers wanted to participate in the cost of the project and pledged and later on sent in tens of thousands in donations. We, through your generosity, were able to accommodate a request for a second shipment a week later.
But this year nobody asked for gum.
With many friends who have children in the army and with our own children identifying with their own friends who have volunteered to serve we realize that one of the most important things for those serving especially the youngest of them is knowing that people around the world are with them in spirit and are supporting them. For them to realize that they are not alone is crucial.
With that in mind my daughter Mikhayla and a couple of friends started a project last week called challah for our soldiers. Within a day they had a website up challahforoursoldiers.org and arranged for volunteers from New Jersey to LA and in three cities in Israel as well. In more than a dozen places around the country challot are baked and sold and in turn thousands of challot and care packages are distributed to the soldiers on the front. Imagine the emotion when one of these kids receives a package. "I am not alone".
I marvel had how amazing these kids are and how much they care. And you can participate by visiting their website. Every nickel collected goes to help. There are no administrative costs. Even the challah baking and supplies are donated. And this week they have added a feature, "Write a letter to a soldier."
But the question still remained. What else could we do? And here's where I need all of you to get involved.
On Friday, my colleague Rabbi Yosef Colish put me in touch with the rabbinate of the friends of the IDF. The challenge after repeated requests from the command level both from units in the south around Gaza and in Judea and Samaria was as follows.
They needed Olive green "dri-fit" Tzitzit (what many of the combat soldiers in the field call: "HaShaChPaTZ HaAmiti" - the real bullet proof vest!) Which the IDF Rabbinate is supplying as fast as it can but does not have the significant quantities it needs. The necessity is many tens of thousands more as the Operation expands together with a major call-up of reserve combat troops.
My first thought was for us as a community to sponsor at least five thousand pairs.
Then after speaking with Lt. Colonel Rabbi Yedidya, I felt we should also undertake to sponsor a printing of the Magen Yisrael Tehillim-Siddur for Combat Soldiers. They were printing 40,000 copies but with our commitment they were able to go into another printing this morning (Monday) of another 20,000. Each siddur is made pocket size and is enclosed in a transparent thick plastic envelope to fit exactly in the soldier's fatigue shirt pocket.
A popular saying is that there are no atheists in the fox hole. Just imagine how important these Tzitzit and siddurim with tehillim are to these boys. And knowing they are coming from their friends in America compounds that importance. As my daughter suggested, we need them to know that we are one nation with one heart.
So on Sunday night, without having collected a dollar in donations and anticipating the generosity of our readers and friends, we sent them a check for both the Tzitzit and the books.
So how can you help? Participate with us in this mitzvah. The approximate cost per combat company for Tzizit is $1,800. A full battalion is $5,000. Whatever amount you or any of your friends or congregants can do in this regard is appreciated. It all adds up accordingly. Sidurim are $1.30 each and packages that we are having prepared for the soldiers are about $3 each. Send us an email. Let us know how much you can sponsor - email me at DavidBibi@gmail.com and send a check made out to the Sephardic Congregation of Long Beach c/o Rabbi David Bibi, 979 Third Avenue, suite 1705 New York, NY 10022. I am sure that based on our experience with the gum, you will generously assist us here too and we will be able to double our order and add care packages for each soldier. These young men and women serving in the armed forces need us to know we are there for them.
As of this writing after speaking in my own Synagogue and some of the guys in the early minyan at the Safra Synagogue on 63rd street, we already have commitments of $18,000 and we would like to triple that. With your help we will.
This week's portion of Masei names all 42 encampments of Bnei Yisrael on their 40-year journey from the Exodus until the crossing of the Jordan River into Eretz Yisrael. The journey was made as one nation with one heart. Let us continue that journey together. Let us prove especially during these three weeks and this time of need that we can be one people with one heart.
Please join me.
Shabbat Shalom,
David Bibi
