Dear Shul Family,
The High Holidays are almost here. In just days we will stand before our Father in Heaven, hearts open, pleading for life, health, and blessing for ourselves and those we love. The gates of Heaven will be wide open and one of the most powerful keys we have to draw down Hashem’s mercy is Tzedakah.
Right now, there are families in our own community, perhaps the person you exchanged “Good Shabbos” with last week, perhaps the child who sang beside yours at the Shabbos table, who are silently struggling. In their homes, the pantry shelves are almost bare. The Rosh Hashanah suit or dress they hoped to buy for their child remains only a dream. A mother stares at her kitchen table, imagining the Yom Tov meal she wishes she could prepare, while knowing she cannot afford it. A father sits quietly in Shul, davening with tears only Hashem can see, praying that someone will notice without his having to ask.
Tzedakah is not an extra; it is the beating heart of who we are as Jews. It is how we say to each other, You are not alone. It is how we restore dignity to those who feel forgotten. It is how we fill their homes not only with food, but with hope.
This is why I am turning to you now. Our Community Charity Fund is our lifeline to these families. Your gift can turn the anxiety of “How will we manage?” into the joy of “We will celebrate together.” It can transform the heaviness of their shame into the lightness of belonging.
Our sages teach that Tzedakah saves lives, averts harsh decrees, and opens the gates of blessing. When you give, you are not just meeting someone’s needs, you are helping write a different story for them and for yourself. You are entering Rosh Hashanah with the merit of having lifted another Jew’s burden and warmed another Jew’s heart.
But the moment is now. Once Yom Tov begins, it will be too late to fill their cupboards, too late to clothe their children for Shul, too late to wipe away the quiet tears of worry. The need is immediate, and the opportunity is in front of you. Please take a moment, right now, to give generously. Let this mitzvah stand beside you as you walk into the Days of Awe, tipping the scales of blessing for you and your loved ones.
Let us enter the new year knowing that no one in our Shul family will greet Rosh Hashanah in darkness. May the light you bring to others return to you and your family with overflowing goodness, sweetness, and peace.
With blessings, love, and deep esteem,
Zalman Lipskar
Adapted from the writings of my dear Father and Teach, Rabbi Sholom D. Lipskar, obm
