_(english).jpg "My Son's Yarmulka")
_(english).jpg "Soul Food")
_(english).jpg "Searching for Superman")
_(english).jpg "Tammuz: Forces of Nature")
_(english).jpg "America and Jewish Values")
_(english).jpg "Seven Wonders of Jewish History")
+.jpg "Bilaam Versus Abraham")
+.jpg "Friends and Family")
+.jpg "Following the Leader")
_(english).jpg "Giving the Jewish Way")
Some people engage in charitable acts in a very public fashion. When movie stars or politicians want to do good, they make sure the press is there to witness their acts of kindness. They hope they will make the cover of People magazine. They pose, smiling (a very expensive smile no less) amidst poverty and misery.
Jewish wisdom teaches us that truly righteous people say little and do much. They don't hold press conferences. They don't write books. They don't look for photo-ops. They just see a need and act on it.
In less than year they have helped over 40 brides and grooms make their weddings.
So it wasn't easy to discover the existence of a special fund to help orphaned brides and grooms in the land of Israel. The founders of the fund wish to remain anonymous. They do no advertising; it is all word of mouth. Yet in less than one year they have helped over 40 brides and grooms make their weddings.
These kind and caring individuals are not invited to the simcha. They don't get to see the joy on the faces of the happy couple. They don't get to dance. Yet they continue to give. Because it's good. Because it's right. Because there are Jews in need. And because they appreciate their own blessings and want to share them with others.
Matan B'Seter began when a close friend made aliyah. Somehow she found herself the recipient of impassioned pleas for help -- from orphans and their acquaintances. Every letter was a fresh and unique tragedy. I can't get the image out of my mind of the young girl who nursed her mother through a failed liver transplant, held her hand as she passed away and then had no financial resources left to make her own wedding. Matan B'Seter earned her lasting gratitude.
So the woman in Israel (our friend who made aliyah) poured out her heart to a friend in America who cried herself to sleep at night thinking of these abandoned Jewish children.
Most of us can't even begin to imagine the devastation in these families -- disease, poverty, terrorism... It's hard to sit comfortably by.
So these women acted. They circulated among their friends asking for donations -- and asking them again, and yet again. They will never appear on Oprah. There are no mailings, no fancy brochures, no elegant banquets, no honorees.
Just some orphans in need and some women who care. It's giving, the Jewish way.
Anyone who wants to participate in helping a needy bride or groom, an orphan in the land of Israel, can mail their tax-deductible donations to:
Matan B'Seter
P.O. Box 10802
Beverly Hills, CA 90213
(3) Anonymous, October 19, 2011 11:30 AM
I have always believed in giving anonymously. My only motivation is to do what I can with what I have. Thank you for writing this very important article.
(2) Anonymous, November 9, 2007 1:47 AM
response to "orpahn brides"
There are local branches of hachnassos
kallah (to help any needy bride not only
orphans) in most large US cities. Contact them directly for help.
(1) Anonymous, October 22, 2007 2:46 PM
not just in Israel
There are orphaned brides and grooms walking to their chuppah without their beloved parent or parents by their side in the United States as well. Please, don't forget these orphans who still should merit to have a beautiful chasanah.