Get More Involved

Living Emunah By Rabbi David Ashear

One of the pillars upon which this world stands is Gemilut Chasadim.Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Friedman, author of the Noam Siach , related that he was in Israel this past Yom Kippur. He went to Viznitz for Kol Nidre , and as is known, they start a half hour before everybody else. He was so busy on the phone helping people back in America that he arrived almost at the end of Kol Nidre . He was so disappointed, especially since one of the highlights of his tefillot on Yom Kippur is saying the Or Zarua LaTzadik , which he had already missed. This was a very bad start to a most important day. A little later, during a break, the rabbi noticed the Be'er HaParasha bulletin on the table in front of him, written by Rabbi Elimelech Biderman. He opened it randomly to a page and started reading. There, it said that a chasid of Rav Shlomka of Zvil was at the bedside of a sick friend the entire day of Rosh Hashana. He had missed all of the tefillot and only managed to get to shul for the Tekiat Shofar .When the Rebbe saw him, he said to those around him, "This man is a ben Olam Haba ," because Gemilut Chasadim is such a powerful mitzvah, and that's what he was involved in. Rabbi Friedman felt like Hashem was talking directly to him. Here he felt so bad that he was late for shul on Yom Kippur, but it was because he was involved in Gemilut Chasadim , and Hashem showed him how valuable that was. People who dedicate themselves to helping others see so much siyata dishmaya when helping people. A man who started an organization called the "Mitzva Man" told me that every year they get 5,000 toys donated and give them out to children in hospitals for Chanukah. One year, after the distribution was already made, they received an additional 5,000 toys from generous sponsors who wanted to be a part of the mitzva. Being that they had already distributed to all the children they knew, and it was just two days before Chanukah, they didn't know what they were going to do with all the extra toys. So the Mitzva Man did what he always does. He turned to Hashem and said, "Please help me, Hashem, find the right place to give these toys to." A few hours later, he received a call from an organization in Lakewood saying they saw a picture of the Mitzva Man and his staff in a magazine distributing toys for Chanukah. They said they give out toys every year as well, but this particular year they didn't have funding for it. The man on the line asked if perhaps the Mitzva Man had any extra toys he could give them. The Mitzva Man asked, "How many toys do you usually distribute?" The person on the other line said, "About 5,000." "That's amazing," the Mitzva Man replied. "I have 5,000 extra toys ready for pickup right now." This conversation took place at 10 o'clock at night. The organization from Lakewood happened to have a huge truck of theirs in Brooklyn, where the Mitzva Man was located at that time, ready to head back to Lakewood. The truck, the man said, is rarely in Brooklyn, but because Hashem knew it was going to be used to transport these toys, He sent it there that day. Five minutes after that phone call, the truck was already by the location, ready to have the toys loaded on. Gemilut Chasadim is such a precious mitzva. There are so many selfless individuals, giving up their own time to help others every single day. The Mitzva Man told me he received a phone call from a woman asking if he could find a ride for her and her two sons to visit her husband, who was in a rehabilitation center very far away. He would be there for maybe almost a year, and it was a three-hour drive to get there, and she couldn't drive, which meant if she couldn't find a ride, neither she nor her children would be able to see their father and husband. The Mitzva Man knew finding someone to drive for seven hours, dedicating an entire day to doing this would be very difficult. It would be three hours each way and one hour of visiting time. He put out a message with the request, and at first, there was no response. But then a gentleman responded that he takes a minivan to that rehab center at least once a week, bringing family members to visit their relatives. He said it was because he himself had been in that center, and he rarely got visitors, and he understood how hard it is not to have visitors. So he vowed that when he left that place, he was going to drive people every single week to make visits. With the right motivation, everyone can get more involved in Gemilut Chasadim .