In preparation for the anniversary of Rabbi Yeshi'la of Krestir, the charity organization Ezrat Achim opened its huge and innovative charity kitchen, which has already produced thousands of cooked meals that were served to the families of patients suffering from serious illnesses, in homes that have ceased to function properly due to the medical cases that have befallen them.
In preparation for the Day of the Dead, the organization is launching a special fundraiser to operate the "Jesus Kitchen," which operates year-round in memory of the pure soul of the righteous man who dedicated his entire life to this lofty goal - that no Jew should go hungry.
"Rabbi Yeshayla of Krestir's legacy is to feed hungry Jews," says the organization's chairman, Rabbi Avraham Kap. "Rabbi Yeshayla always made sure that every Jew who came to him would eat and be satisfied, and now we are offering every Jew the chance to make the deal of his life: to donate an amount of money according to his ability to the Ezrat Achim's soup kitchen, and to deserve guaranteed salvation from the blessing of that holy and pure righteous man."
"They say about him, about the Rebbe of Krestir, that he would stand on Rosh Hashanah during the Musaf prayer in the kitchen next to the synagogue, cutting cakes and setting tables so that the Jews would have food ready immediately after the prayer.
"He would say that all the righteous intend 'Razin Drezin' in the Rosh Hashanah prayer, but he has a different intention, "to be full and not to be thin." In Yiddish, it even rhymes... but even without the rhymes, the idea is understandable. Rabbi Yeshayla saw his main mission in this world as feeding the hungry.
"Today, every Jew, especially on their day of celebration, can follow this path and donate to 'Ezrat Achim' an amount of money that will allow the organization to distribute cooked food rations to families with hungry children because father and mother are in the hospital all day, families who may not lack money but do lack cooked food because there is no one to take the poultry out of the refrigerator and defrost and season and bake and roast and cook, because mother is lying in bed and cannot get up because of the doctor's orders."
Rabbi Kap adds: "We dedicated the new kitchen of 'Ezrat Achim', which was inaugurated ahead of Yom Hilula, to the elevation of the soul of Rabbi Yesha'ela of Krestir, in his name and in his pure memory, because we truly aspire to walk in his ways and adhere to his wonderful qualities."
Ezrat Achim notes that over the past few years, since the organization's charity kitchen began operating in its previous home, which had become too small to accommodate the enormous activity, the organization has accumulated countless stories of salvation and visible miracles that happened to people who donated and assisted the organization's activities.
"The story that occurred at the passing of Rabbi Yeshayla is well known: the day before, he informed his collectors that many people would come to Kerestir the next day, and that they should make sure that they had plenty of cooked food. But he was afraid that the collectors would not listen to him because they would not understand why so many people would come tomorrow, so he called one of the village residents who needed salvation, and told her that she would be responsible for making sure that there would be plenty of food the next day, and thanks to this she would receive great salvation. And indeed, the next day he departed for his earthly home, and that same woman stood at his funeral and called the Jews to come and eat, announcing over and over again, "Yidan, eat! I need salvation!" - Jews, eat, I need salvation.
"And indeed, we see that Jews who need salvation and donate to the activities of the Ezrat Achim's Jesus Kitchen see salvations. It simply works in a wonderful and extraordinary way."
The organization sends us one of many stories that was recently published by 'Dresho' and received a great response: "Rabbi Yohanan Kliger (pseudonym), loves to dedicate his time to volunteering at the 'Ezrat Achim' organization.
He has a great fondness for volunteering in the organization's charity kitchen: "I peel vegetables, fry onions, season chicken quarters, and basically feed children, sick and unfortunate people...
"The Sages say that Mr. Ukba was burned when he entered the fiery furnace and his wife came out unharmed, and Mr. Ukba said it was because she served prepared food to the poor," says Rabbi Kliger. "We see how great and important this is a mitzvah, and although we are very far from being on the level of these supreme saints, we can and should learn from them what is truly important in life..."
The organization cooks food dishes every day of the week, but as Shabbat approaches, the activity becomes much more intense, due to the need to cook three meals for Shabbat, including lunch on Friday, and also due to the fact that many families prefer not to receive food in the middle of the week because they manage to manage on their own. However, preparing Shabbat meals is already too big a challenge for a family dealing with a sick child or parent, God forbid, and therefore the demand for cooked food is greater.
"One Thursday afternoon, I get a call from a volunteer who is standing in the kitchen counting the portions, checking how many portions still need to be defrosted and what quantities I have, and then he discovers that we are actually 135 kits short, with each kit including food for Friday lunch, two meat meals for Shabbat, and a third meal....
"The orders were more than expected and the amount of raw materials was not enough," Rabbi Kliger explains the problem. "I thought to myself what to do, I knew that the organization was facing very heavy expenses because of the Corona virus and I decided to take action.
"I called the organization's chairman, Rabbi Avraham Kap, and told him that I wanted to go out and buy more raw materials to prepare 135 additional meals. "I will raise donations to finance 70 kits," I told him as I began to calculate where I would raise such a large sum of money... "Will you organize everything else in the near future?..."
"Rabbi Kap approved, of course, and I went to call friends and acquaintances to start raising the amount of money I had pledged...
"At that moment I saw my eight-month-old daughter coughing incessantly, hysterical coughing, she was literally choking. I grabbed her with both hands, tried to see if she had put anything in her mouth, I patted her on the back... nothing helped... the girl simply turned blue in my hands and I stood there helpless and at a loss.
"Call for rescue...", I screamed with all my remaining strength, and the older children, who stood rooted to the spot and paralyzed with terror in the face of the terrible spectacle, didn't know what to do with themselves.
"I started crying and praying to God to save my daughter, and suddenly she spits out a piece of rolled-up foil that she swallowed while playing, and Rahal almost choked on it."
"The first thought that crossed my mind at that moment was "Charity will save from death." Because indeed, a moment ago I had taken it upon myself to raise a large sum of money for charity, and in a short time I was privileged to witness the grace of the Most High Providence and the miracle of saving my dear daughter..."
In conclusion, the organization's management requests that you contact the organization's offices at 1800-999000 and raise your donations, the richer according to his wealth and each according to the generosity of his heart, so that no Jew will remain hungry, and so that we may all deserve an abundance of blessing and salvation from heaven on high, through the merit of that righteous man and through the merit of deeds of charity and kindness.
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