Double Your Wedding Simcha For As Little As $500
There is a particular joy to hearing the “Mazel tov” wishes upon one’s child’s engagement to be married. It is an occasion of great simcha. But for some parents, the occasion also brings with it an anxiety that is greater than the concern about finding the right dress and best caterer for the celebration. They have no such options simply because they do not have the money to pay for even the most basic components of a simcha. But they do have somewhere to turn to that will grant their wish for a wedding befitting the joy of the chasson and kallah.
The Gitty Perkowski Simcha Fund of Yad Eliezer caters the weddings of these couples whose parent do not have the resources to do it on their own. Since its inception over twenty years ago, this special fund has allowed over 10,000 couples to marry with simcha and dignity. Just $1000 provides full sponsorship for a wedding. There is also an option for a $500 joint sponsorship. $2,6000 pays for a “Wedding Package” sponsorship, which subsidizes some of the other costs associated with the simcha. The money for the fund comes many couples from around the globe who choose to enhance the experience of their own wedding day by sponsoring one in Israel. The generosity of these couples allows them the opportunity of dancing at two weddings, as their donation gives them an honored place at the wedding in Israel in addition to their central role at their own. The sponsors receive a beautiful certificate with the date of their adopted wedding to commemorate the celebration enabled by their gift.
An Investment That Really Pays Off
It is a wonderful accomplishment, but, unfortunately, it still is not enough to cover the needs of some couples. As the fund only covers the catering, the families still have to bear the cost of renting a hall for the wedding. This expense is, unfortunately, beyond the means of many. So Yad Eliezer came up with a brilliant solution. In 2004, the organization purchased two wedding halls in central Jerusalem for about $3.7 million. This allows the couples to save the cost of rental, which amounts to about $3000, a large sum for those in their distressed circumstances. Yad Eliezer made 400 wedding for couples in these halls. The estimated return on the investment is an excess of $1 million per year for the indigent couples.
You May Become A Kallah As A Result of Helping One
As the expenses of getting married entail far more than the wedding itself, Yad Eliezer came up with a program to address those needs. In 2004 another type of hachnosos Kallah fund was established. Kol Kallah gives needy brides a means with which to furnish the household items they need through the use of special vouchers. Yad Eliezer establishes relationships with local merchants who offer the best prices for these couples who obtain their merchandise by redeeming the vouchers. This voucher program is very flexible for sponsors. You can commit any amount for the voucher. The kallah that gets the voucher purchased by your donation is given your Hebrew name so that she can offer tefillos at the time when, we are assured, Heaven is most receptive to requests – while she is standing under her Chuppah. The tefillos of a kallah whom one has personally helped through this form of tzedakah can effectively convey one’s request for a shidduch or some other form of yeshua.
In 2005 Yad Eliezer extended the voucher program to chassonim. The Bircas Rachel sponsorship provides the means to purchase a suit, shoes, and other personal items, so that the groom can look his best on the wedding day. These programs offer a tremendous benefit to the recipients by allowing every chasson and kallah to look forward to the simcha of the wedding day with a joy that is not overshadowed by the worry created by poverty. But, ultimately, the greatest benefit is for the donor. As
IR’ Yehoshua declares( Ruth Rabba 5:9): “Yoser mima shebaal abayis oses im ha’ani, ha’ani ose im baal habyis.” –The poor person does more for the one who gives him than the giver does for the poor person. Those who have the z’chus of enabling these couples to marry and set up a new household can derive tremendous benefit. Hachnosos Kallah is one of the mitzvahs specifically distinguished for reward both in this world and the next. What better way to merit hatzlocha in finding a shidduch or in embarking on one’s own marriage than by sponsoring the wedding or needs of a kallah? The Yad Eliezer programs provide the opportunity to reap the benefits of this tremendous mitzvah.
For information on wedding sponsorship or the Kol Kallah or Bircas Rachel programs to assist needy kallahs and chassons, call 718-339-6536 or 718-258-1580. You can also visit their website at http://www.yadeliezer.org