(Click HERE for photos) In the days leading up to Pesach, the team at Bikur Cholim of Boro Park was extremely busy in preparing for the Yom Tov. The goal was to ensure that anyone in need of a hot meal, a place to stay, some quiet respite and a little Simchas-Yom-Tov would not be denied these needs.

Patients and relatives who had the misfortune of having to shuttle in and out of hospitals over Pesach this year, were assured that their needs were taken care of with the utmost care and attention.

Leading up to the charge, Rabbi Naftali Teitelbaum, who recently took over the Bikur Cholim operations at Methodist, was in charge of logistics. He was busy overseeing the koshering of the hospital facilities. He shuttled back and forth throughout Chol-Hamoed to ensure a constant food supply. Matzo, grape juice, bottled water and the like were made available throughout the week.

While Pesach preparations are nothing new for Bikur Cholim—they happen annually– the recent addition of a new annex down the block from Maimonides Hospital, at 5017 10th Avenue, meant that this year’s Pesach was made all the more comfortable and convenient for people with relatives in the hospital.

The daily hot meals that many have come to rely on when visiting relatives in the hospital, continued over Yom Tov.

People from all walks of life, with varying dietary traditions, single people, mothers with children, elderly visiting their spouses or others visiting family in the hospital, were all able to get warm Pessach meals at the recently opened Bikur Cholim annex. Located down the street from Maimonides, the annex was open twice a day for hot meals prepared by Wise catering, known for their gourmet food. Yom Tov meals included Chicken, Kugels, matzo, eggs, fish, soup, and top quality fruits and vegetables. Other delicacies included nuts, cookies, water bottles, seltzer, grape juice, Seder Platters and more.

“Having the annex gave the people in need greater peace of mind , both in terms of strict adherence to kashrus and by providing a degree of comfort in time of need ,” said Chaim Schoenblum, executive officer of Bikur Cholim of Borough Park. “In the annex you felt like you are in your own dining room at home.”

In addition, the Bikur Cholim Room at Maimonides was fully stocked and operational 24/7 for anyone who found themselves visiting relatives at the Medical Center.
 
At Methodist Hospital, where the Bikur Cholim facilities are bigger, those very same hot meals were served in the hospital itself.

But the service didn’t stop there. In addition to the daily meals and food supply, Bikur Cholim conducted a beautiful Seder at
Maimonides. Roughly 30 attended the first night, and about 20 the second. All logistics were taken care of so that patients who wished to attend were transported to the Seder. . Mr. Herschel Reiss led the seder with his whole family at Maimonides hospital, and Chezki Klein oversaw the logistics.
Sevetny personal Seder plates were made available to patients who couldn’t make it to the cafeteria where the Seder took place.

This year marked another milestone, a pesach merger between the Masbia soup kitchen and Bikur Cholim. Mr. Alexander Rapaport, co founder of the Masbia soup kitchen brought the two organizations together to ensure that the neediest wouldn’t be forgotten over Passover. Masbia sent postcards to 150 single women in Borough Park letting them know they would accommodate anyone in need of meals. Thirty women called to inquire.

In the last three years Masbia was closed over Pesach , but the expansion of Bikur Cholim enabled Masbia to expand and be able to help needy men women and children, who were able to have wholesome, Pesach meal at the new Bikur Cholim annex. “This “merger” was a great example how Chesed organizations can effectively pool their resources to help the klal”, said Yisroel Hershkowitz, Executive Officer at Bikur Cholim.

As we were going to press, “Bikur Cholim volunteers are already back at work stocking the hospital with year-round Kosher foods” said Rabbi Shmule Steinharter Executive Director of Bikur Cholim, “ and Doing -Bikur Cholim- in many ways”.