It’s Neilah on Yom Kippur. All hunger pains and headaches are gone as each man wraps himself in his own desperate pleas and entreaties. No physical discomfort can bother him now, no surrounding factors can even penetrate the cloud of holiness he’s encased himself in. It’s just him, Hashem, and the holiness of the hour. He bends his face into his siddur and – Beep. A second later, the man on his left has bounded out of the shul, jumped into his waiting ambulance, and sped away as the Gates of Heaven slowly begin to close on this Holiest of days….
As we stand at the threshold of the Yom Yom Kipper, let’s remember the sacrifice made by Hatzolah volonteers every day of the year. The Hatzolah team are regular people who daven in shul, make simchas, drive carpool, and attend PTA meetings. But they will and do drop everything and anything to help another Yid in need…can you say the same? And what if, chalila, you were that Yid? Or it was, lo alainu, your child?
The Tomeich Hatzolah Campaign was established over thirty years ago with the haskamah of the Rosh Yeshiva, R’ Shneur, ztz”l, and the Mashgiach R’ Nosson, ztz”l, and is continued with the support of the present Rosh Yeshiva, shlita, and Mashgiach, shlita, of Lakewood. The idea of this campaign is for the entire community to come together to raise funds for Hatzolah’s daily operating budget. Last year alone, the operating budget grew to $1,300,000, not including any building or capital expansion costs.
Hatzolah needs this budget so that they can continue to be there for the Lakewood community whenever needed, in order that they can be there whenever we call. Hatzolah responds to over six thousand calls a year, averaging more than eighteen calls each day.
They’ve always been there for us, and now is the time to be there for them.
Hatzolah is in need of the support of every member of the community. We ask that you take the time to pledge at least $104 dollars a year to the Tomeich campaign, which only comes out to two dollars a week. Wouldn’t you pay two dollars a week for the safety and security of a quick emergency response team? It’s a lot more than what Hatzolah spends per week for you.
If you can, there are also pledges for eighteen dollars per month. We ask that you don’t take this campaign lightly, and that you donate as much as you are financially able.
As a bonus, all pledges will be entered into a raffle to win two free tickets to Eretz Yisrael.
The community’s wholehearted support will enable Hatzolah to continue to serve the Lakewood community as efficiently as possible, with the best equipment and to the highest medical standards available.
So, if you didn’t donate yet, please don’t wait any longer. Log onto www.Lakewoodhatzolah.com and donate as soon as you can.
In the merit of your generosity, may you and all of Klal Yisrael never need to make a Hatzolah call.
