Philanthropists and askonim from the U.S., England,
Canada and Israel joined hosts Melach Lehman of Jerusalem and
Kurt Rothschild of Toronto on Wednesday of Chol Hamoed Succos
at a Simchas Beis Hashoeva sponsored by the Mesila
organization in recognition of its supporters and friends.
"Mesila's financial revolution owes its success to the
generosity and vision of its supporters and friends, and we
wanted to show our hakoras hatov to those
individuals," explained Mesila Chairman Shmuli Margulies.
Mesila is a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping
families and businesses in Israel achieve permanent financial
stability and independence. With over 25 chapters across
Israel, Mesila is changing attitudes towards financial
responsibility and rescuing hundreds of families and
businesses from the cycle of poverty and debt.
Mesila's three-pronged approach of Education, Counselling and
Financial Assistance is revolutionizing the way people look
at financial responsibility and combating the negative
poverty trend in Israel's underprivileged Jewish
communities.
Rabbi Zev Leff, the evening's guest speaker, expressed his
admiration for Mesila's work in particularly compelling
terms. "There are not too many things in the world that I am
envious of," he said, "but when I heard about what Mesila is
doing I was envious. This is a fresh idea, something that is
extremely important and necessary for Klal Yisroel.
"When you lend or give someone money without providing them
with hadrochoh, you're throwing money down an empty
pit. It is just going to regenerate the need over and over
again. But when you give people guidance and teach them how
to use what they have without squandering it and how to
budget properly — that is real tzedokoh."
Held in the spacious succah of Melach and Elaine Lehman in
Bayit Vegan, the Simchas Beis Hashoeva included divrei
brochoh from HaRav Ezriel Auerbach as well as musical
entertainment by the Neilander brothers.
HaRav Ezriel Auerbach described how Mesila brings simchas
yom tov to many needy families who think that the only
way they can make Yom Tov is by taking tzedokoh. Ein
simchah kehatoras hasfeikos — there is no greater
joy than resolving doubts, he said. Mesila assuages people's
financial worries by guiding them to discover that they can
indeed manage on their own, which results in tremendous
simchah.
