The comforts of home in the hospital

I was asked by a friend to post the following request for help based on her own experience having to bring her son to the hospital:

This Thursday night I experienced a miracle. I had to take my son to the emergency room in the middle of the night. I was completely resigned to spending the night on a chair sitting by his bed (and that was if I was lucky, I have had nights in the emergency room with no chair-when it was really crowded). I sat down on the chair and told myself that I should be grateful that I had the chair, but the strain of dealing with a sick child was really overwhelming. Baruch Hashem things were stabelized and I was able to fall asleep. Suddenly, a nurse woke me up to say that they had an extra bed, would I like to lie down. I felt like I had been given a hug from Hashem. How many times have we gone to bed and totally ignored how yummy and delioucious it is to lie down on a bed.

The next time that you lie down on a bed, in a house with healthy children thank Hashem for how lucky you are. If you would like to help someone in the hospital who needs a little of the comforts of home please buy some raffles tickets from Chesed 24/7 who built and maintain Chesed Rooms all over the greater New York area in more then a dozen hospitals.

Right now you can enter their Chinese Auction for free to win an ipod touch just by going to THIS LINK.

If you can, please bid on more items to help that organization, or you can just enter for the ipod and it won't cost you anything. Any help will be appreciated. The auction will be over a week from Tuesday, on March 1st.

Picture courtesy of Chesed 24/7. Click here to get Dixie Yid in your e-mail Inbox or here to subscribe in Google Reader.

Help R' Chaim Kramer get last 2 Vols of Likutei Moharan in English Published!

FINISH THE WORK STARTED OVER 200 YEARS AGO! Dear Chaver (Friend) of Breslov Research Institute,

After many years of hard work and tremendous help from the One Above, we are nearing completion of the multi-volume Likutey Moharan in English project. This is a milestone in Breslov history. The series features full Hebrew-English text on facing pages, a running commentary based on traditional Breslov sources and profound, highly accessible notes drawing from the Written Torah, Gemara, Zohar, Midrash and kabbalistic works.

As you may know, Breslov Research Institute recently published Volume 13 of this series. There are only two more volumes that remain to be done. The zekhus (merit) of joining us is in completing this mitzvah is open to everyone and anyone who believes in bringing this unprecedented project to fruition.

Our Sages observe, "im ein kemach, ein Torah . . . Without money, there is no Torah" (Pirkey Avot 3:17). Breslover Chassidim point out that the Hebrew word kemach (literally, flour) has the same gematria (numerical value) as the name “Nachman.” This means is that if we give some of our "flour" for Rebbe Nachman’s holy books, we’ll surely succeed in connecting to Torah—and in helping others to do so, as well, for Rebbe Nachman’s works are keys to each area and level of Torah. The Breslov Research Institute is in earnest need of your partnership. Our Sages teach that one who helps complete a mitzvah is accredited the entire mitzvah. Your contribution, great or small, gives you a genuine claim to this rare mitzvah. For a generous contribution of $180 you can sponsor a page of Likutey Moharan with an opportunity to dedicate that page in honor or in memory of the person of your choice. Upon completion of the project, you will receive a complimentary copy sent directly to your home. So please join us for the final leg of this project and be sure to share this opportunity with your friends. Please take a few minutes to watch this video, in which Rabbi Kramer gives more details about this amazing project. To contribute online, please visit https://www.breslov.org/LM/sponsorapage.html

If you are unable to contribute the entire amount right now, Breslov Research will gladly accept ten payments of $18 a month. A list of lessons available for dedication is also available, please click here. Additionally you may mail your contribution to: Breslov Research Institute POB 5370 Jerusalem, Israel
Tel.: 972.2.582.4641 Fax: 972.2.582.5542 North America: POB 587 Monsey, NY 10952-0587
Tel.: 732.534.7263/ 1-800-33BRESLOV Fax: 732.608.8461

All contributions are fully tax deductible in the USA, Canada, UK and Israel.
Thanks for being a part of this monumental mitzvah!

All the best to you and yours,
Breslov Research Institute

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Please donate to my son's cheder by going to minivanraffle.org to buy a raffle ticket. The drawing for a new minivan, car, or $20,000 cash will be IY"H Chanukah time. $100 for 1 ticket. $360 for 5. Where the form says "Referred by," please write "Dixie Yid." Tizku l'mitzvos!

Author of Moon's Lost Light Seeking Help For Someone in Need

I received the following letter from a Rebbetzin who is very learned and an innovative thinker. I featured a guest post based on her fascinating book, The Moon's Lost Light, a couple of years ago. She is looking to help someone who desperately needs if. If you can, please send a check to the address at the bottom of the letter. We should only know simchas. Kol tuv & gut chodesh.

Dear Friends,

My name is Devorah Heshelis, and I live in Yerushalayim. I'm a speaker and author.

About three years ago I read a flier about a woman in Bet Shemesh who died, leaving behind eight orphans. The flier, which was trying to raise money for the orphans said that the woman had been divorced and had no family to help her. In addition to trying to raise the children, she cleaned a school at night for income. She also received some help from tsdaka funds but it wasn't nearly enough. She begged the gabai tsdaka for help, saying that if they didn't raise the money for her, they would have to raise it for her orphans, but nothing helped. There simply wasn't enough money to go around. Then, one night it happened. She went out to clean and never came back. They found her dead body in a field.

The story shocked me to the core of my being. Over and over again I asked myself how our Jewish society could allow such a thing to happen. Yes, there is a recession. Yes, people give lots of tsdaka to many different worthy causes. But many people still have money for good food, cars, nice furniture, and even vacations. And even those who have less are still buying ice creams, pizzas, and an extra pair of shoes to match a new outfit. Why didn't people help? Why, why, why??? The story gave me no peace. I kept thinking about it, over and over, and over again.

A few days later a woman knocked on my door asking for help. She was divorced with eight children. Two are already adults, two live with their father, but four of them live with her. She got no support from the father. Although she received welfare, it didn't nearly cover the basics. The main problem was her rent which was $400 a month, a relatively small amount, but totally beyond her capacity to pay. I felt as if Hashem who had read my thoughts was saying to me, "Well, here's your chance to act differently. See what you can do about it."

I called former students, especially one who had gone to America and worked as a lawyer. For a couple of years I was able to help her. Then my sources dried up, each for their own reason. I went abroad to speak about my book and was able to raise some more money for her. She also began to receive some government help for rent payments, although still too little. She was even offered a rent free apartment from the government, but there was a condition that she pay 6000 shekels (about $1700) for security. She didn't have the money, and so lost the apartment. She has now been placed again on a waiting list for an apartment and her case should be reviewed in about three months, but she still has no money for the security payment. Furthermore, she now has nowhere to live. She has been evicted from her previous apartment and is staying for a few days with a friend, while the children were sent to their father - who doesn't want them! In order to rent another apartment she must give two months payment in advance, which means at least $900. She also must pay $1000 for what she owes her former landlord. Her landlord's lawyer sent her a letter stating that if she doesn't pay the sum immediately the case will be taken to court and she will have to pay the court expenses. Furthermore, each letter from the lawyer is billed to her, for an additional 100 shekels. (I read the lawyer's letter.)

I went with her to the Va'ad Harabonim Li'inyonei Tsdaka who said they would consider the case after Rosh HaShonoh. But what is she supposed to do until then? And even if they do help her it will be a maximum of 2000 shekels, (about $480). I am not blaming the va'ad hatsdaka. They get thousands of requests which they cannot cover. But how is this woman going to survive? She is out on the street and her children are in a different city with a father who can't care for them. And where will they go when school starts? How can we let this happen?

I am trying desperately to get help for her. Yes, everyone has expenses, times are hard, etc., but most of us have comfortable homes and all our basic needs. What will HASHEM say about us if we don't help?

I personally went from door to door raising money, but it isn't nearly enough. I gave my own money as well, but we have very little and I can't help her on my own. Please, please, help!

Sincerely,
D. Heshelis

P.S. Anyone wishing to verify this story can e-mail Dixie Yid, who will forward the message to me.
Tax deductible checks can be made out to Tsedaka V'chesed and mailed to Mrs. Manne, 1433 East 16th Street, Brooklyn, NY 11230. I will make sure it goes to help this family.

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Please donate to my son's cheder by going to minivanraffle.org to buy a raffle ticket. The drawing for a new minivan, car, or $20,000 cash will be IY"H Chanukah time. $100 for 1 ticket. $360 for 5. Where the form says "Referred by," please write "Dixie Yid." Tizku l'mitzvos!

Marathon Run for Chai Lifeline in Memory of Rebbetzin

I've been hearing alot about Chai Lifeline recently! One donation I made recently was to this runner (pictured above), Dana Ginsberg. She's raising money for Chai Lifeline, a camp and service organization for kids with cancer and their families. She's doing this by running in their Miami Marathon in January.

She's doing it in memory of a Rebbetzin of hers, Rebb. Zlata Geisinksky obm, Shlucha of Chabad of Bethesda-Chevy Chase in Maryland. So click on the links below to get more information and to donate. Good cause! (Also check out the official Times Square Camp Simcha video below)

Dana Ginsberg's Chai Lifeline Marathon Runner's page

CLICK HERE to sponsor her race.

CLICK HERE to see an article on Dana's efforts at COL Live.

Picture courtesy of COL Live. Click here to get Dixie Yid in your e-mail Inbox or here to subscribe in Google Reader.

Please donate to my son's cheder by going to minivanraffle.org to buy a raffle ticket. The drawing for a new minivan, car, or $20,000 cash will be IY"H Chanukah time. $100 for 1 ticket. $360 for 5. Where the form says "Referred by," please write "Dixie Yid." Tizku l'mitzvos!

If You've Read This Blog, Please Read This Post

A local school is going through an extremely rough financial time. To help pay the Rebbeim and staff, the parents are selling raffles, one ticket for $100, 5 for $360. The prize is any car valued up to $25,000 or $20,000 cash. Our total projected deficit for this year is $450,000. Our Annual Dinner and other smaller fundraisers bring in $200-250,000. Every dollar counts. Last year, we raised $192,000 in this campaign. This year, we have already raised $65,000. If you haven't already guessed, my son goes to that school. I have to do something to help out. If everyone pitches in, we are very optimistic that we will reach our goal of $215,000. The only thing standing in the way of reaching of our goal is your purchase. To purchase a raffle, click on this link: https://www.minivanraffle.org/submission_new.aspx. Note that purchases may be paid for in installments.

As a favor to me (and yourself, all the kids in the school and Hashem of course), if you have ever benefited from this blog, (or even if you haven't), please buy one or more raffle tickets. Please put "Dixie Yid" in the "Referred By" box or my real name, if you know it.

May you be zoche to always be on the giving end.

Again, the link is MinivanRaffle.org.

Adank!

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Liiiitle More Help Needed to Bring R' Lazer Brody to Five Towns

As announced here, Rabbi Lazer Brody will be speaking at "The Shtiebel" in Cedarhurst on Wednesday night at 7 (men & women invited). But, as mentioned here, sponsors are still needed.

Thanks to several people who responded to the first post, and to several others, over 2/3rds of the sponsorship has been raised. However, we must still raise another $450. So if you (or someone you know) can pledge $36, $50, $100, whatever, please respond. It will facilitate the Five Towns Community's ability to bring Rabbi Brody and it will help support his "Emunah Outreach" work.

So again, to help out, please e-mail Benyomin Wolf or call him at 516-668-6397.

Picture courtesy of R' Lazer Brody. Click here to get Dixie Yid in your e-mail Inbox or here to subscribe in Google Reader.

Article in Mishpacha Magazine About the Rubashkins - Legal Defense Fund

An article on Shalom Rubashkin by Reb Yisroel Besser has just come out in the latest issue of Mishpacha Magazine. You can see the full article HERE.

The family is requesting help with their legal defense fund. You can click here to donate. Even though the website does not mention the Rubashkins specificially, that is who the money will go to.

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The Machlis Yerushalayim Shabbos Experience Needs Help

If you can help the Rabbi Machlis Shabbos Kiruv project, pleae click here. My wife was actually an beneficiary of their chesed during her year in Israel when she took at class with Rabbi Machlis. So definiely worthy of our help!

Picture courtesy of the machlis campaign.

Derech Hamelech Needs Help to Continue Its Unique Role Among Yeshivos

Dear Friends and Family of Derech HaMelech, PLEASE take the time to read this important message!

As we conclude the fourth successful year of Derech HaMelech, we are also about to complete the last portion of our smicha program. In a few weeks, the members of our kollel, many of whom have formed the backbone of the yeshiva since its inception, will receive rabbinical ordination after having completed a rigorous curriculum in practical Jewish Law. The young men have spent the past three years studying the laws of kashrus, Shabbos, and family purity at the highest level of scholarship. The group is scheduled to receiving comprehensive testing from Rav Mordechai Friedlander, Rav Asher Weiss, and Rav Zalman Nechemia Goldberg prior to their ordination.

We extremely proud of their monumental accomplishment, having personally witnessed how far each one has individually come from the time that they first arrived at the yeshiva all those years ago. Many of them had never even experienced learning from the Shulchan Aruch, the Code of Jewish Law. Now they have become real first class scholars and are all ready to go on to become leaders of the Jewish people. Of course none of this could have been possible without the unending devotion of Rosh Kollel, Rabbi Yeshua Levine, whose expertise and clarity has lifted everyone up to a new level.

In addition to this, over the past four years of Derech HaMelech’s existence, we have helped spiritually and physically to marry off over 30 students, we have trained dozens of them to go on to become sofrim, ritual scribes, and helped countless more to find their own personal connection with Torah and divine service so that they will eventually be ready to raise beautiful Jewish families of their own. Our website receives thousands of visits each month and enables the greater English speaking public around the world to gain from our inspirational classes in Chassidic thought, Talmudic history, and Jewish Law all for free. We have already surpassed our highest expectations and we will continue to reach our dreams and goals in the future, b’ezras Hashem.

As we all know, this has been a difficult year for everyone. Although we are all struggling to make ends meet, yeshivas and other non-profit organizations have been hit the hardest. Unfortunately, Derech HaMelech is no exception. Personally I have incurred tremendous personal debt over the past four years in order to keep the yeshiva going. This year alone, the yeshiva has taken on a critical deficit. As much as I wish that I could continue to shoulder this burden alone, I am forced to turn to the greater Derech HaMelech community to help us to continue. With your help, MUST raise $40,000 in the next few weeks in order to open our doors in Elul. We won’t be able to meet this goal unless we all make a conscious effort to keep this special Torah community alive. We strongly believe that we can do it—but we need help from each and every one of you.

Derech HaMelech continues to fill a gap in the English speaking yeshiva system in Israel, offering warmth and spirituality together with the highest level of Torah study. Based on our unparalleled successes over the past four years, we believe that Derech HaMelech must continue to exist to provide our present and future students with the tools to live their lives according to the Torah and to go on to help to make the world a better place. If everyone who shares this dream with us were to chip in, there is no question that we can continue to make this dream into a reality.

With all of our best wishes and gratitude,

Baruch Gartner

P.S. Please feel free to contact me personally if you have any questions of how you can help.

The easiest way to donate is thru our website (For online donations, scroll to the bottom of the page).

Or checks can be sent to our New York office
c/o Rabbi Yoseph Abramowitz
Yeshivas Derech Hamelech
1846 49th street
Brooklyn NY 11204

R. Baruch Gartner
Founder and Dean
Yeshivas Derech HaMelech
972-52-773-3836(Israel)
410-608-3836(US)
www.derechhamelech.org
baruchgartner@derechhamelech.org

Picture courtesy of Derech Hamelech. Click here to get Dixie Yid in your e-mail Inbox or here to subscribe in Google Reader.

The Depth of the Mitzvah of Maos Chitin - And a Great Way to Fulfill It

An friend of mine in Baltimore, who would prefer to remain anonymous, has shared a short, 20 minute shiur that Rav Moshe Shapiro gave in someone's home there, on the deeper meanings in the mitzvah of Maos Chitin, giving tzedakah to ani'im before Pesach. You can CLICK HERE

I also wanted to share the following resource through which you can fulfill the mitzvah of Maos Chitin, the organization Kimcha D'Pischa. My community is zocheh to have two long-time friends of my rebbe visit at least once a year. Yesterday, I was also zocheh to have these two great Karlin-Stoliner chassidim, Rabbis Asher Klitnick and Moshe Shapoff, in my home for a few minutes. Rabbi Shapoff was even a talmid of Rav Moshe Weinberger in high school about 25 years ago and they have remained close ever since. Rav Weinberger speaks publicly once a year in Shul on Shabbos morning about what a great work Kimcha D'Pischa does. And he does not do that for any other mosad that I am aware of. Their overhead is covered and so all of the donations go directly to the Ani'im that they support.

In order to donate (tax deductibe), send a check to:

Beth Aaron V'Israel Chesed Fund (Checks: "BAVI Chesed Fund")
606 Est. 2nd St.
Brooklyn, NY 11218

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Win an Apartment in Yerushalayim in Derech Hamelech's Raffle!

Introducing Yeshivas Derech Hamelech's
Dream Dira Raffle
WIN A LUXURY APARTMENT IN RAMAT ESHKOL JERUSALEM

Take a tour
1 ticket for $180, 2 to for $340, 5 for $800 in up to 10 payments -
as little at $18 per month! to benefit Yeshivas Derech Hamelech's Student Scholarship Fund
*PLUS 12 CHANCES TO DOUBLE YOUR MONEY!*enter before January 30th for the first drawing
Enter Raffle

-Dixie Yid

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Please Help Out Our Friends Whose Son Is Battling Neuroblastoma

(UPDATE 11/25/08: See this post for the latest news/urgent need for "Menschie.") Our friends from Community Kollel back in the day, the Landons, are a great family that have been dedicated to helping and teaching people in Jewish communities in several cities. We were with them doing chinuch and community work for several years in Des Moines, Iowa and now they are in Savannah, Georgia. Mrs. Landon was even Mrs. Yid's roomate before I was! However, they are going through a very tough time. Their young son "Menschie," has been battling Neuroblastoma practically since birth, as you can see in the picture above.

Rabbi Landon, though originally from the great white north, is now living in Dixie, teaching Torah in Savannah. Mrs. Landon must go back and forth to Atlanta, GA for treatments and as you can imagine, the whole thing puts a tremendous human and financial strain on them. They get support from Chai Lifeline and other worthy organizations, but we need to help as well, both by davening for the Refuah Sheleima of Menachem Shalom ben Miriam and by donating to their 501(c)(3) tax deductible fund at Chai Lifeline.

You can donate in two ways (donations cannot be earmarked for the Landon Family Fund online):

• By Phone: Call Chai Lifeline at (877) CHAI LIFE and earmark your donation to the Landon Family Fund.
• By Mail: Make checks payable to: "The Special Fund" *It is very important to note in the memo portion of the check "Landon Family Fund." Mail Checks to: Marilyn Bensinger, Chai Lifeline Southeast Division, 1140 Northeast 163rd ST #8, North Miami Beach, FL 33162

You can also stay updated on how Menschie and the whole family are doing at their blog, The Landon Family Page. Please daven for Menachem Shalom ben Miriam and donate!

-Dixie Yid

(Picture courtesy of The Landon Family Page)

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Help Needed to Save a Life

I was alerted to this by Mike Cohen from GalelianWord. You can check out his site for updates on the situation. To help out, CLICK HERE for the information, posted by Jameel at Muqata.

-Dixie Yid

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High School for Teen Girls at Risk Needs Assistance

I received the following e-mail from Rabbi and Rebbetzin Micha and Yehudis Golshevsky, who have known Basy and Raviv Shaked, the founders and heads of Tzofiah High School, for years. With their word about the importance and credibility of this organization, I know for sure that it is extremely worthy. Please read the e-mail below and consider donating online or mailing a check to one of the addresses below.

Q. Who is helping young girls from frum families in crisis? Girls abandoned, orphaned or raised in extremely dysfunctional homes, who turn to drugs, alcohol, promiscuity, petty theft, self-mutilation & eating disorders?

A. Tzofiah High School in Ramat Beit Shemesh, founded by Rabbi Raviv & Basy Shaked.

Tzofiah's students, girls from "glatt kosher" homes…

Meet Malki, the youngest of eight children from NY. One Friday night, when Malki was ten years old, her parents got into an argument. Huddled outside the bedroom, she & her twin brother were petrified by their mother's screams. Peeking through a crack in the doorway, they watched their father beat their mother until she was no longer screaming. While their father sat in prison for murder, Malki lived with a single relative who expected her to help with expenses by stealing from local supermarkets. By the time she got to Tzofiah, Malki was full of rage, tearful, distrustful & almost incapable of engaging in any form of relationship. To make matters worse, her life skills were non-existent & she was reading at the level of a second grader.

After two very challenging years at Tzofiah, Malki was able to say: "I don't do stupid things anymore because I love myself too much! I never thought I'd be able to read & now I'm getting A's just like all my friends! I have a job & it doesn't overwhelm me. I can't believe this is me!"

An unusual story? Unfortunately I can easily tell you sixty more tales of severe crisis in the Jewish community.

Tzofiah…pikuach nefesh, every day…

Tzofiah, a dormitory school, founded in 2000 for English-speaking girls from the US , Israel and other countries, addresses their mental health needs as well as offering them a high school diploma, a certified vocation & an opportunity to re-explore Judaism & become productive members of society.

Thank G-d, our success rate is astounding, with happily-married alumni raising healthy children in Jewish communities around the world, alumni who have graduated college with degrees in psychology, education & business, alumni who have moved on to nursing school & other Masters programs.

It's hard to believe that these successful, put-together young women were once loud, red-eyed, pierced & hooded angry teens, hanging out at street corners till the wee hours of the night.

Most of the presently-enrolled girls are planning to return for a 2nd year of growth & support. Indeed, many feel that Tzofiah is a 2nd home & the Shakeds & other staff members are like family.

Why am I writing this?

Because the Shakeds face a serious dilemma:

After a year of building trust & telling the girls that finally someone is there for them, can Tzofiah refuse them for a 2nd year due to lack of funds?

Can they say: "Yes, we care about you but only if you can foot the bill."?

Must love come with a price tag???

And what about the many girls praying to begin in Tzofiah next year? Girls holding on by sheer will to survive a summer of neglect & abuse, until they can get to Israel?

Caring for these needy teens is a costly effort for Tzofiah & the debts are mounting. But what is the alternative? To send these precious Jewish souls back to the streets? To lawlessness & violence? It is time for all caring Jews to help the Shakeds shoulder this burden.

Rabbi Shaked will be happy to contact you & tell you more about this special school. Please see this as the emergency it is & do your part for Klal Yisroel.

You May Mail Your Tax-Deductible Donation (Specify at Bottom of Check "Student Scholarships") To:

American Friends of Tzofiah
874 East 9th St.
Brooklyn, NY, 11230 USA
718-258-8659 - 917-846-1941 (cell)

In Israel (only $ checks are tax-deductible):

Tzofiah-Machon Rivkah
13/1 Nachal Micha
Ramat Beit Shemesh 99000 Israel
02-999-8096

Sincerely:
Shoshana Lepon
Ramat Beit Shemesh
054-747-1188

For more information about Tzofiah, please visit our website.

-Dixie Yid

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Shavuos Learnathon for One Family Fund for Terror Victims

Received by e-mail:

There are two main goals of the project; trying to get shuls, schools and yeshivot across the Jewish world learning b'achdut (no political content at all, the aim is to purely increase the learning of Torah worldwide), while raising funds to support the families & students of the Mercaz HaRav High School.

Our project website is also now live at www.shavuotlearnathon.com.

We are also working on Ivrit versions of the material, and also a version which does not require email or internet access to participate (rather we will distribute paper flyers & forms in charedi communities and participants can drop forms and money collected to our office or pay by credit card over the phone).

I have also attached a draft of our starter pack that shuls and schools can use to facilitate their participation in this project.

Please feel free to contact me if you would like further information.

Kol Tuv,

Yaakov Cohney
Mob: 054-262-9454 (Israel)
ycohney@gmail.com

-Dixie Yid

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Ought We Withhold Support from Poor Kollel Yungerleit?

A Simple Jew has posted the question that I have copy/pasted below on his site, along with my answer to the question. Click on over to read the answer...

A Simple Jew asks:

It seems that sometimes there is a misperception that a person who is paid to learn full-time in kollel is living a parasitic existence. A person who is antagonistic to the kollel system faults the system and the person learning in kollel for having a large family. This antagonistic person may even unmercifully turn down requests for financial assistance from these families who are suffering from poverty because it goes against his principles.

The Shulchan Aruch, Yoreh Deah 251:10 states that if a person approaches us asking for clothing we must investigate whether he is truly in need, however, if a person comes to us and ask for food we should simply give it to him without investigating.

What are your thoughts about the mindset that prevents a person from helping a hungry person because intellectually he has a problem with how that needy person is living his life?

Dixie Yid Answers...

-Dixie Yid

(Picture courtesy of A Simple Jew)

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Are These Proper Criteria From Choosing Justices?

Though this sounds, at the beginning, like a political post, it's not. I was upset recently by what I read about what the Democratic front-runner for the Nomination, Barack Obama, has said about what criteria he would use in appointing supreme court justices, were he to become president.

Here's one comment, among several, that he made about his criteria: "We need somebody who's got the heart, the empathy, to recognize what it's like to be a young teenage mom. The empathy to understand what it's like to be poor, or African-American, or gay, or disabled, or old. And that's the criteria by which I'm going to be selecting my judges."

This seems to imply that a supreme court justice (who is charged with deciding the law on a given matter, and not issues of fact), should not judge based only on the law, but should have a broader role, that of affecting social change for the victims and the helpless of the world. Now that sounds very beautiful, but this former constitutional law professor is forgetting that there is a separation of powers in this country! Judges, at least in the supreme court, are judging issues of law. They are merely there to decide the meaning of statutes and the Constitution, not as agents of societal change.

The Torah speaks about this when it commands judges, in Vayikra 19:15, "--לֹא-תִשָּׂא פְנֵי-דָל, וְלֹא תֶהְדַּר פְּנֵי גָדוֹל: בְּצֶדֶק, תִּשְׁפֹּט עֲמִיתֶךָ," "Do not favor the the poor man, nor should you honor the rich man. With truth shall you judge your people." The Sifra on Vayikra 4:2, Parshas Kedoshim, clarifies, "שלא תאמר עני הוא זה, הואיל ואני והעשיר הזה חייבים לפרנסו - אזכנו ונמצא מתפרנס בנקיות; לכך נאמר: 'לא תשא פני דל." "Lest [the judge] say, 'Since this man is poor. And this rich man [the other litigant] is obligated to support the poor, I will cause him [the poor man] to win, and he will be supported honorably.' Therefore, the Torah says 'Do not favor the poor.'"

Being a judge is not easy. Sometimes the law simply does not come out on the side of the party who you or I would like to see win, because of their unfortunate situation. But the Torah says that the solution is not to pervert justice to get the desired outcome. Similarly, l'havdil, in secular law, we would be in a very bad place if judges and justices did as Barack Obama here seems to imply they should do, i.e. let their sympathies determine the outcomes of their judgments, rather than the law.

Hashem gave us the mitzva of tzedaka to give us merit by doing this mitzva. There is no need to obviate the need for this zechus/merit by perverting justice to support the poor and the oppressed through the judicial system. There are many things outside of the judicial sphere that we can and should do to help those that need it.

-Dixie Yid

(Picture courtesy of student.bricanica.com)

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Funds Needed to Restore the Kever of Devorah Hanevia

I received the following e-mail from Nava. Any help on this project would be a big mitzva!

-Dixie Yid

Informational flyer: click on image to enlarge.

Please make a donation to assist in the renovations of the kever. The reward for helping to renovate this kever is immeasurable.
For further information please see DevorahHanevia.com.

May HaShem reward your efforts in Olam Haba, amen.

Kol Tuv and blessings, Nava

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Reb Zusha - How to Truly do the MItzva of Tzedaka

Heichal Hanegina - Reb Zusia - Perfect Tzedaka

Upon hearing the tailor’s woes, I didn’t hesitate, and gave him the dress as a gift for his daughter’s wedding.

-Dixie Yid

(Picture courtesy of guttenberg.org)

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Little Jewish Boy in Need of Big Yeshua

Orthomom wrote:

This beautiful and bright child has been battling a rare form of pediatric cancer known as Neuroblastoma since he was 3. Following nine months of intensive treatment at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Hospital (MSKH), Zev was in remission. Fourteen months later, he relapsed. Zev has had to undergo major surgery, chemotherapy and radiation; nearly a year later, Zev's scans look good.

Unfortunately, Neuroblastoma has an extremely high rate of relapse.

Zev needs another drug to stay in complete remission. His little body is fighting the drug 3F8 with which he's currently being treated. Currently, a new is being developed. The improved drug could help cure Zev and 300 other children with this disease. But the new drug needs to be manufactured, at a cost of almost five million dollars.

Researchers have developed techniques that can be used to make antibodies like 3F8 more human-like which will be more effective and better tolerated by patients. A portion of the work will be carried out at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Hospital Cancer Center, and part contracted to a small pharmaceutical company

Large pharmaceutical companies do not see the profit in healing only a few hundred children annually. We are appealing to you to leverage your influence, relationships and support to drive the humanization of 3F8 to benefit the several hundred children, like Zev, who fall victim to Neuroblastoma every year. When this antibody is better tolerated and more effective, and when it can be manufactured on a scale that is economical, the lives of more children will be saved from this deadly cancer.

Helen and Ranan Wolff, Zev’s parents are grateful to be a part of this community. Time and time again you have shown your generosity to the Wolff family. The meals, babysitting, blood donations, words of support.

Now I am asking for your generosity again.

Please, open your hearts to Zev Wolff. Zev has come so far, he's been so brave and so strong.

You must see this slideshow, telling his story.

For more information, please contact Asher Mansdorf at amansdorf@aol.com. Tax-deductible checks can be made out to:

Zev’s Fund, Inc.,
P.O. Box 58, Cedarhurst,
New York 11516

-Dixie Yid

(Picture courtesy of The Jewish Star)

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