Amid mounting financial pressure and struggles among yungeleit learning in Eretz Yisroel, US healthcare giant, Chuny Herzka and his wife Chavi, have intensified their Achrayus for Klal Yisroel.

On an unprecedented level, they have donated a massive sum to Yeshivas Mir Yerushalayim to provide each yungerman with an additional 500 shekel Tosefes Chag stipend ahead of Sukkos.

The yungerleit continue shteiging in ruchniyus and Avodas Hashem, leading lives of Simchas Hatorah, despite being forced to endure the difficulties being thrust upon them. “There was no way I could sit idly by,” Chuny remarked. 

Recent implemented governmental decrees, along with a worsening economic situation amongst charedim in Eretz Yisroel, have intensified the financial difficulties of yungerleit, imperiling their capacity to endure further monetary strains. 

But Chuny and Chavi Herzka have stepped up, taking achrayus upon themselves to defend and uphold Torah, giving yungerleit the Simchas Yom Tov they so much deserve. The Chuny and Chavi Herzka Tosefes Chag is not simply a bonus – it is a literal lifeline for the yungerleit who remain steadfast in their limud haTorah without regard to the crippling circumstances. 

“He has an incredible ability to keep his finger on the pulse of exactly what is going on and what people need and then he follows through – in a very big way. He saw what is happening in Eretz Yisroel and took the initiative. He didn’t ask, he didn’t waver, he just did it. That’s what leadership looks like, that’s what taking achrayus looks like,” a talmid of Mir Yerushalayim said. 

Last year, Chuny and Chavi Herzka did the same. As the Covid-19 pandemic destroyed livelihoods and made the already tight budgets of kollel yungerleit untenable, Chuny and his wife Chavi stepped up. Together, they gave Mir Yerushalayim 500 shekels for every kollel family as a tosefes chag stipend ahead of Sukkos. For many of the yungerleit, the tosefes chag was crucial and allowed them to avert an otherwise unavoidable financial meltdown. 

As the hanhala and talmidim of the Mir step up in their commitment to Torah, Chuny and Chavi Herzka are there to take achrayus, stepping up in support of them.