July 25, 2006

Dear Friends,

"Kol Yisrael Arevim Zeh ba Zeh" "All Israel is responsible for one another." (Midrash Rabbah)

Israel is in the midst of a crisis that is in some ways unprecedented in its fifty-nine year history. I am asking you now to do what our people have done for the last two thousand years when Jews are in need: We help.

Temple Micah is going to lend assistance in a very specific way through our Temple Micah Israel Fund. We are going to send as much money as we can raise to our sister congregation in Haifa, Or Hadash. As you all know, in the last few weeks as the war has raged, Haifa has been very heavily hit by Hezbollah rockets. Eighty percent of the city’s residents have fled. Jews have become refugees in our own land.

Or Hadash is one of the leading providers of social services for the entire city. They help immigrants, widows, anyone in distress – the demands on them, always enormous have increased astronomically. Their own regular income from their membership has disappeared with this crisis as the economy of Haifa has come to a standstill. After the war, the demands will only increase as people seek to put their lives back together. They fear for the very survival of their community. We will not let this happen.

The crisis is of such magnitude that we are forced to ask you to send any contribution that you are able to make as soon as possible. Please make your checks payable to Temple Micah and mark "Israel Fund" on the memo. We are a great congregation that has always risen to meet the challenge of every mitzvah opportunity before us. Please be generous in what ever amount you are able.

"The time is short, the task is great, we are not required to complete the work, but neither are we free to abstain from it." (Pirke Avot)

Shalom,

Rabbi Daniel G. Zemel