Dear Friends, 

My grandfather was a traveling salesman in the Jewelry trade. His travels took him to small cities in the mid-west and northern United States. One day in the early 1930’s as he was traveling through a rural town, he saw a fire on a farm. He stopped to look and saw the farmers from all the neighboring farms form a fire brigade. All their efforts unfortunately failed. The farmers stood around and mourned the loss. “Poor John,” they said “everything is gone.” “John, we are so sorry.”

My Zaide hearing this spoke up in his European accent “I’m shorry ten dollars vorth, how much you shorry.” His words took the farmers by surprise. Not only that he was sorry, but that he was putting money where his mouth is ($10 in those days was a handsome sum.)

Each farmer, taking my Zaide’s cue spoke up one by one, pledging a dollar or two to help poor John. Eventually enough money was collected to rebuild the farm. On Tisha B’av, we mourn the destruction of the Holy Temple. The goal is not to remain with the mourning but to bring about the rebuilding of the Bais Hamikdosh (Holy Temple.)

At Chabad on 17th St, we have the custom to offer the z’chus (merit) of the Kinos (prayer of mourning) to be purchased.

All donations that will be in multiples of 770 (the Bais Rabeinu Sheb’bovel) will be used to buy chairs (a real necessity these days) for our Mikdash Me’at (little Temple).

(All other donations will be used for the day to day expenses unless specified.)

Rabbi Avrohom Levitansky