For eighteen years, I led a picture-perfect life. I was pretty, popular and intelligent, at the top of my class socially and academically. No one had a doubt that I’d be one of the first in my class to get engaged and be a radiant young bride. 

Chazal teach that shidduchim are as difficult as Krias Yam Suf, and I learned this the hard way.  I turned twenty-two, twenty-four and twenty-eight… I davened my heart out, traveled to kivrei tzaddikim in Eretz Yisrael and Europe, and visited Gedolim and Rebbes to receive their brachos. I tried every segulah in the book, but nothing worked. At 30 years old, I was still single. My heart had been broken time and again, and I was beginning to doubt that I would ever find my zivug…

One day, I was reading an article about Rabbi Yeshaya’le of Kerestir zy”a and was deeply inspired by the chessed and miracles that he performed during his life. I felt a powerful urge to do something l’iluy nishmaso, and on the spot, decided to donate a generous sum of money to Yeshua V’Chessed as a zechus for a shidduch. 

Exactly one week (!) later, I received a call from a shadchan that I was acquainted with, and this time, her suggestion sounded like everything I’d been waiting and davening for. The inquiries went quickly. We met, and less than two weeks after I’d donated to Yeshua V’Chessed, my tefillos were answered, and I was a radiant bride—all in the zechus of my donation to Yeshua V’Chessed!

הפוסט From Tzedakah to A Diamond Ring… הופיע לראשונה ב-yeshua-vchessed.

I work hard to support my family, but my salary is barely enough to put bread on the table and cover basic utilities. How in the world would I come up with the astronomical sum of money required to cancel the foreclosure order?

I was heartbroken, at a loss… I didn’t know what to do… Or rather, I knew what, but didn’t know how…

The solution, I knew without a doubt, was the same solution I’d implemented countless times when faced with challenges in life—to donate money l’iluy nishmas Rabbi Yeshaya’le of Kerestir…

My dire financial situation didn’t allow me the liberty of donating a large sum, but I made a gallant effort to give whatever I could, adding a special tefillah to Hakadosh Baruch Hu that in merit of the tzaddik, I would see yeshuos!

Several days passed, and unexpectedly, I received a phone call from the bank’s lawyer. My heart shuddered, expecting the worst, but instead, he offered me a very attractive payment plan that would allow me to buy back the house in relatively easy installments, while eliminating the majority of interest and fees accrued throughout months of delayed payments. 

Miraculously, I was able to secure the money to repay the debt and buy back my house! Once again, Rav Shaya’le proved that when one endeavors on his behalf, he endeavors on the person’s behalf as well…

I also want to take this opportunity to thank the wonderful volunteers at Yeshua V’Chessed who reached out to my family in our hour of need—sending us weekly food baskets stocked with a variety of food, gift cards before the Yomim Tovim, and everything we needed to continue holding our heads high during our hardest hours. 

Thank you!

הפוסט A Debt Erased הופיע לראשונה ב-yeshua-vchessed.

One late Motzaei Shabbos, a unit of Jewish soldiers from the Hungarian army arrived in Kerestir and asked to join the Melave Malka and fill their empty stomachs. 

R’ Shlomo peered into the pot and saw that its contents were almost depleted, without nearly enough to satisfy the hungry platoon of Jewish soldiers.

Turning to the tzaddik, he whispered frantically, “Rebbe, the men are hungry, and we don’t have enough food! The borscht is almost gone!”

The Rebbe gazed back at him wonderingly. “There’s always enough, Reb Shloime. Just stir and ladle out, stir and ladle out!”

The tzaddik rose from his seat, took the ladle from his chassid’s hand and gave the pot a vigorous stir. Before R’ Shlomo’s disbelieving eyes, he produced an overflowing ladle of steaming borscht and cubed potatoes which he poured into a bowl. Dipping the ladle back into the pot, Rav Shaya’le removed another ladle, and another… The tzaddik continued stirring the pot and ladling out generous portions of borscht until all the soldiers had eaten their fill!

Chassidim recount that every Erev Shabbos, right before the onset of Shabbos, Rav Shaya’le would enter the kitchen, pick up a ladle and give the pots containing the Shabbos food cooked for his many guests a stir.

Once, a chassid heard him whispering: “Ribono shel Olam! We have so many guests this Shabbos. Please help me that I shouldn’t be ashamed and there should be enough food for everyone…”

On another occasion, a large group appeared unexpectedly in Kerestir several minutes before Shabbos.  Rav Shaya’le’s gabbai entered the Rebbe’s sanctum, fretting that the cooked food would never suffice for everyone.

Replied the tzaddik: “Please go tell the Rebbetzin.”

The gabbai hurried to fulfill the tzaddik’s wish and inform the Rebbetzin of the guests’ arrival.  The Rebbetzin, who was already dressed for Shabbos and waiting to light candles, wasted no time. Changing her clothes, she hurried to the kitchen, opened the simmering pots and stirred them vigorously with her giant ladle… Miraculously, there was more than enough food for all the guests!

הפוסט Blessings in the Pot of Soup הופיע לראשונה ב-yeshua-vchessed.

Europe was at war, and the world was in disarray.  War is not limited to the battlefield, but impacts every realm of life, robbing families of their men and wealth and drastically limiting national food supplies.

Food was scarce, and there was a huge shortage of potatoes. 

 Throughout the year, people managed, but as Pesach rapidly approached, the Jews of Hungary absorbed that they were in trouble.  How would they make Pesach without potatoes?  

In the home of Rav Yeshaya’le of Kerestir, the anxiety was keenly felt. Where would they procure a quantity of potatoes necessary to feed not only their immediate family, but the dozens of guests who flocked to the Rebbe’s Court and legendary soup kitchen on Yom Tov and Chol Hamoed?

Several days before Pesach, three horse-drawn wagons bearing giant crates of potatoes drove down the narrow streets of Kerestir. When they reached Rav Shaya’le’s house, the horses came to a full stop and despite the wagon-drivers’ repeated urging and furious slapping of the reins, they could not get their horses to budge.

Rav Shaya’le dispatched a message to the wagon-drivers with a request to purchase several giant sacks of potatoes. The drivers refused, explaining that the delivery was intended for the soldiers on the battlefield, and that the produce was not theirs to buy or sell without express permission from the military generals who had ordered the supplies.

The wagon-drivers tried spurring their horses along, to no avail. Rav Shaya’le sent another missive and invited them to rest their horses in his spacious yard. Seeing that the horses had no intention of continuing farther, the weary wagon drivers gratefully accepted the invitation. 

The horses proceeded entered Rav Shaya’le’s yard, but refused to move any farther! Recognizing the miracle, the wagon-drivers agreed to sell giant sacks of potatoes to Rav Shaya’le which was enough to suffice for the entire Pesach!

הפוסט Potatoes, Horses and Everything in Between הופיע לראשונה ב-yeshua-vchessed.

Millions around the world contracted the dreaded virus and were dying in droves. I was one of Israel’s first victims of Covid-19, and my situation was dire. It was still in the early days of the virus, when doctors in Israel and around the world were at a loss, unable to vanquish a mysterious, deadly virus that was felling countless around the world. 

When I began displaying suspicious symptoms and shortness of breath, I was hospitalized in one of Israel’s prominent medical centers where my condition deteriorated daily. After several days in the ward spent in quarantine, I was attached to an ECMO (heart-lung) machine as a final effort to save my life.

Barred from visiting or having any contact with me, my family was terrified about my fate. Would they ever see me again? Unable to assist me physically, they determined to do everything possible in the spiritual realm as a zechus for my refuah shleimah. They davened, stormed the heavens and gave tzedakah.

One of my sons proposed that they sponsor food baskets for needy families l’iluy nishmas Rabbi Yeshaya’le of Kerestir. He contacted Yeshua V’Chessed, which is the premier organization that performs acts of tzedakah and chessed l’iluy nishmas the tzaddik.

Exactly one day (!) after my family donated to Yeshua V’Chessed, my wife got a call from the doctor informing her that there were positive developments and that I was, hopefully, out of the woods. In short time, I went from death’s door to medically stable, to the extent that the doctors themselves couldn’t believe the sudden and radical change in my condition! Less than a week later, I was released from the hospital in perfect health, without any of the long-term medical issues that impacted many Covid patients. 

All in the zechus of Rav Shaya’le!

הפוסט Medical Miracles in the Zechus of Rav Shaya’le הופיע לראשונה ב-yeshua-vchessed.

Rav Shaya’le was in the midst of doling out food for the poor and hungry. The avreich joined the long line of people waiting for food and decided to exploit the moment when the tzaddik would place a large chunk of meat into his bowl to request his brachah.

When it came his turn, Rav Yeshaya’le greeted him, nodding his head as if to say, “Your wish shall be fulfilled.” 

Reaching into the pot, the Rebbe removed a chicken bone and announced, “Du hustu a bein” which can mean “you have a bone” or “you have a son”!

The avreich’s face shone in joy and gratitude. He understood that his tefillos had been answered and his yeshua would come soon. Indeed, one year later, the avreich returned to Kerestir with his firstborn son to share his simchah and request the tzaddik’s brachah again for his child!

הפוסט You Have A Son הופיע לראשונה ב-yeshua-vchessed.