(PHOTOS IN EXTENDED ARTICLE)

Just days before Chanukah, the president of the Misaskim Organization flew to Israel for a 48-hour whirlwind trip to obtain Brachos from six Gedolei Hador on behalf of the close to 2,000 yesomim and almanos (orphans and widows) on the Misaskim roles.

Taking with him $10,000 in crisp, new, one-dollar bills, the Gedolim hovered over this money (see photos) and gave tear-felt berachos to the eventual recipients of these “g’bentched” dollars. The six included Hagaon HaRav Chaim Kanievsky, The Mekubal Rabi Dovid Abuchatzeira, HaRav Tuvia Weiss, Ga’avad of Yerushalyim, the Rachamstrivka Rebbe of Yerusalyim, the Mekubal HaRav Gamiliel Rabinowitz, and Hagaon HaRav Yechezkel Roth, the Karlsberger Rav, who had just finished sitting shiva in Meron.

Every single dollar bill was then inserted into plastic sleeves, before distributing these 6 single dollar bills, on Chanukah, to over 1,500 orphans, together with a crisp $50 bill for additional Chanukah gelt.

The impact was immeasurable:

During Chanukah, Misaskim received a phone call from a teacher who said she had just received a call from a yesomah, saying she dreads Chanukah. She said that while Chanukah is so exciting for everyone else, for her it is a very hard and sad Yom Tov. While everyone has family get-togethers, she has nothing… and she was really down. Well, the very next day, one of the dedicated Misaskim volunteers delivered her family one of the many hundreds of Misaskim Chanukah packages, filled with g’bentched Chanukah gelt, plus a crisp $50 bill for each sibling, and you made her day… and her Chanukah. She called the teacher the next day, all excited, and said, “I felt like Hashem heard me the day before and gave me this big huge hug and said ‘I didn’t forget about you’.”