PHOTO LINK BELOW: The Fourth Annual Flatbush Breakfast Reception held at the Agudath Israel Bais Binyomin of Avenue L this past Sunday, January 10th, attracted more than 1,000 supporters who came to be inspired by the words of Rav Mattisyahu Salomon, shlit’a, Mashgiach of Beth Medrash Govoha in Lakewood; Rav Moshe Tuvia Lieff, shlit’a, Mara D’Asra of the host shul and Rav Uri Zohar, shlit’a, leading light of the Teshuva movement in Eretz Yisroel.

Under the leadership of Chairman Yanky Arem, more than 120 chairmen from 70 different shuls and 16 summer colonies teamed up to persuade their neighbors and mispalelim to come out in a massive demonstration of support for the vital kiruv activities being performed in Eretz Yisroel by P’eylim / Lev L’Achim.

Much preparation for the past three months was done under the guidance of Mr. Yanky Arem who has served as chairman of this reception that has now become a major event on the winter calendar for Brooklyn residents. Mr. Arem was presented with a special framed certificate of appreciation by Rav Eliezer Sorotzkin, Director-General of the P’eylim / Lev L’Achim Administrative Board in Israel. The declaration, signed by HaRav Aharon Leib Shteinman shlit’a, bestowed upon Mr. Arem the title of “Chairman of the Executive Board” in acknowledgement of the leadership role he has assumed at the helm of the US fundraising efforts of Lev L’Achim.

Doing Good for Others

Rav Moshe Tuvia Lieff spoke on the pasuk in Parshas Shemos that mentioned how Moshe grew in greatness and went out (from the comfort of Paroah’s palace) to see his (Jewish) brethren and saw their burdens.” He explained the gedulah, greatness is nothing less than being maitiv, doing good for others.

What is the gedulah of Hakodesh Baruch Hu, so to speak, kaviyachel? He is a maitiv, a Bestower of good who sustains us with food and kindness. The world is a difficult and dangerous place. And most people are not satisfied with what they have. Those people who are satisfied are the talmidim chachamim. They are happy with their lot because they find enrichment with their lives and this flows over to their families and their neighbors and eventually to the whole world.

Rav Lieff recalled being an American yeshiva student in Eretz Yisroel when he was 17 years old. He came to the Central Bus Station in Tel Aviv to make a connection to a bus in order to visit an uncle who was a rosh yeshiva in Givatayim. He was stunned to see a group of Israeli youth also waiting for buses, who were drunk and were smoking drugs. The shocking realization struck him that these were most definitely Jewish youth wasting their lives away. And yet, at that time, there was nothing he could do to help them.

Knocking on Secular Doors

Since the inception of Lev L’Achim, kollel yungeleit and their wives have regularly gone out weekly as volunteers to various secular communities in Eretz Yisroel to knock on doors, asking the residents if they would like to have regular Torah shiurim established in their homes or to enroll their children in special Lev L’Achim Torah schools. In the past decade, tens of thousands of assimilated youngsters have been enrolled and many thousands of adults have also been offered the opportunity to study Torah and make life-altering commitments to Yiddishkeit.

A highlight of such efforts was a recent siyum that Rav Lieff attended with Rav Chaim Kanievsky in Bnei Brak. A group of 100 men from Ramat Gan under the guidance of a Lev L’Achim teacher had completed learning the entire Seder Moed over the course of 13 years. This was the result of a Lev L’Achim volunteer who had knocked on a door 14 years ago to find out if the residents of a Ramat Gan apartment would like to set up a Torah learning program in their home on a weekly basis. If not for Lev L’Achim many of those from Ramat Gan celebrating the siyum Moed might have spiritually wasted their lives as had those teenagers that Rav Lieff saw many years ago in the Tel Aviv Central Bus Station.

Making the Fourth Flatbush Community Reception for P’eylim Lev L’Achim a great success with the many from all over Brooklyn who came to attend was the delicious breakfast that was catered and presented by Pomegranate. The crowd applauded mightily with their appreciation when Yanky Arem singled out Mr. Abraham Banda, the proprietor of Pomegranate, to thank him for his partnership with Lev L’Achim.

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In addition to an inspiring video presentation entitled “The Mitchazkim Phenomenon: A Generation Returns” that highlighted the current kiruv activities of the organization, those in attendance also heard an inspiring talk from Mr. Avi Lazar, CEO of Mishpacha Magazine and Reception Co-Chairman who urged all to when making their next trip to Eretz Yisroel, arrange before with the Brooklyn office to take a guided tour of one of the many P’eylim / Lev L’Achim programs that are literally changing the face of Israel and setting the stage for the coming of Moshiach.

YWN PHOTO LINK: Click HERE for photos taken by Shimon Gifter for YWN.

(YWN Desk – NYC)