The Mazal Tov Fund Blog

Help a Bride in Israel today!

2007-06-24T18:07:00.000-07:00

June 22, 2007
Dear Friends,

I am not writing about the latest cool Jewish programs that we are doing or anti-Israel activity on campus. Today I am writing for a special mitzvah…

I need your help to make a wedding for a poor bride/kallah and groom/chatan who are very special souls. The wedding is next week in Israel, and they don’t have enough money. It’s the saddest and happiest story. Sad because they really have no one to help, and happy because they have such beautiful faith in G-d and want to build a Jewish family in Israel.

Supporting a poor bride brings healing to those who are ill, and help for those in need of a match/shidduch!

Please help me in this huge mitzvah, and read their story below.

Please PAYPAL your contributions to this worthy cause to: donations@mazaltovfund.com

I have personally verified this story and spoken with their Rabbis.

Dear Rabbi Yonah,

Hello! My name is Deborah* and Baruch Hashem, I am a kallah! I am getting married IM”YH in a week and two days. It is very hard for me financially to fund my own wedding. My mother lives in Chicago* and is in a very tough financial situation. On Shabbas she sleeps in her car so she can walk to shul. She is on the verge of bankruptcy and has no means in which to help me.
My father is completely against the wedding. He doesn’t understand that I have found my soulmate, why I want to live in Israel, why I have chosen a more spiritual life and future. He won’t give a dollar.
My chatan’s family are in a lot of debt , they are an older couple and it is tough for them as well to help us. They want to help, but just have no way.
We cannot put off getting married any longer. We are looking for all the help we can get. We found the cheapest hall to do it in. We still need money for food, and a band. We are borrowing the money to do everything and it is all very tough. If there is any way which you can help, even for after the wedding to pay of the loans, that would be the biggest blessing for us.
We are trying to get everything done a.s.a.p. with Hashem’s Help. Thanks for everything . Hopefully we can everything done . Everything is through faith.
Sincerely,
Deborah
*Names changed for privacy

Thank you for taking the time to read this story. I have spoken with their Rabbis and verified their story. Please help me bring joy to life and support this couple. Everything you send to the Mazal Tov Fund will be sent directly to them but is not tax deductible.

Sincerely,

Rabbi Yonah Bookstein

Success!

2006-09-14T18:31:00.000-07:00

The Mazal Tov Fund out out the word in June that we were raising funds for a very special couple. We are happy to report that not only were the couple married, but that our campaign brought in thousands of dollars to help this couple get their lives started. They have used it to by the most basic things for their apartment and pay for many costs of the wedding. Donations poured in from many communities, and we were able to meet our goals.

The mitzvah of helping a bride and groom is very great. Many people ask what is the solution to the high rates of intermarriage and assimilation. While I do not have all the answers, I do know one thing that works. Help Jewish couples marry and start a family!

Mazal Tov Fund on MySpace

2006-07-07T13:13:00.000-07:00

With MySpace becoming the most visit site on the internet, we felt we had better make a profile soon! So without great fanfare we officially announce....

Mazal Tov Fund has started a MySpace page ADD US as your friend, and help spread the word!

Our recent campaign has been very good. We have raised several thousand dollars, and are waiting for some promised donations until we can rest. The funds have ben given directly to the young couple for their immediate needs.

An amazing couple needs your help!

2006-06-30T17:36:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends,

I don’t write appeals. I don’t write to mass emails. In fact, I realize that everyone has plenty on their plate with life, making an living, and doing mitzvahs. I only am writing this letter because I truly believe that this is a cause that you will be happy to help with: bringing an amazing couple to the Chuppah. Especially if you or a loved one is searching for a soul-partner in life, helping another couple can help.

A few words about this couple that I know very well.

Both are children of families decimated by the Holocaust and raised without access to a regular Jewish community. Their families suffered through persecution and hardship, and kept Judaism hidden from the outside world. Through sheer will and determination, both of these young Jews succeeded, embracing Jewish life with a passion, and becoming lights of inspiration for many others today.

They have chosen a career in serving the spiritual and material needs of the Jewish people. Their efforts will undoubtedly produce amazing results, spreading the joy and beauty of Judaism, Jewish values and Jewish learning to Jews everywhere.

Help me to help bring this couple to the Chuppah, and bring merit to the Jewish people and our families.

Please feel free to contact me for additional details and thank you in advance for your help.

Shalom, may you and your family experience the joy in helping others,

Rabbi Yonah Bookstein

Please include a copy of this letter with your tax-deductible check made out to "Kupas Ezrah" and mail to:

Kupas Ezrah Of Rockland County
C/o Rabbi Y. Mashinsky
219 Adar Ct.
Monsey NY 10952

Future Plans for Mazal Tov Fund

2006-06-30T17:22:00.000-07:00

Creating a web site and mailing list

The Mazal Tov Fund wants to develope an interactive web-site with information about its activities and an on-line donation service. In consultation with experts in not-for-profit web content, we will provide a site that explains the entire issue, and how The Mazal Tov Fund is filling in the gap. It will allow people to network and suggest couples that need assistance. It will promote fundraising campaign ideas and have a section for potential volunteers to show how they can become involved. It will also have a sign-up service for our e-bulletin that will be sent out quarterly. This project needs a sponsor... Could it be you?

What does the Mazal Tov Fund do?

2006-06-30T17:15:00.000-07:00

1) Raising funds to assist couples get married and furnish an apartment

The largest and most time consuming activity is to raise funds and organize weddings for couples. This is done through a network of volunteers and includes emails, letters, and personal appeals. This activity is very time intensive, requiring hundreds of hours to prepare for one wedding.

We have determined that we need to raise on average $10,000 per couple to pay for the wedding clothing, invitations, wedding hall, rabbi, ceremony, caterer, photographer, band, flowers, transportation, and basic home furnishings. The national average is $22,000 (according to Condé Nast Bridal Infobank). Without this assistance, some couples cannot afford to mary, and put it off indefinitely.

In order to more quickly reach our targeted goal, the MTF determines what each couple will need and must raise through traditional fundraising techniques. In addition, the MTF also searches for support through in-kind donations of goods and services. The MTF act as agents on behalf of couples to seek assistance from some generous donors that require background checks and verification of a couples need.

Fundraising is conducted through direct appeals and through letters. Letters are written to potential supporters with anonymous details of the needy couples. Email letter campaigning, one of the most cost beneficial methods we have at our disposal, has shown a great degree of success. Volunteers are coming up with other creative ways of raising funds. We have also initiated phone trees, calling potential supporters at their homes and offices.

2) Identifying couples that need assistance

The first step in helping is to find out who needs the help. We have created an application form that can be filled out with all the information we will need to determine what help that we can offer. Mazsl Tov advisors and directos we will be publicizing the Fund and soliciting information on couples that may be in need. The Fund operates in such a fashion that the recipients do not know that name of the donors. Without this, some needy couple might be to ashamed to accept the help. Therefor, all donations are anonymous, and all couples that receive aid will remain anonymous, should they choose to. Only the Directors of the Fund, and any professionals that the Board deems fit, will know their identity.

3) Raise awareness of the issue in our community

There are young couples who are putting off getting married today because they cannot afford to pay for a wedding. Part of our future activities is to raise awareness of this issue in the community, so that donors who are interested in helping young cuoples will step forward to act and help.

Why do we need a Mazal Tov Fund?

2006-06-30T17:07:00.000-07:00

There are several social and historical factors that created the necessity for this type of charitable and educational origination. Traditional Jewish society was centered on large extended families. Modern life in Europe and North America changed traditional life very significantly. And while at the turn of the last century the costs of furnishing a basic wedding were burdensome, a different attitude existed on what constituted a proper wedding. Families lived closely connected. Parents would begin collecting items for a young woman's trousseau years in advance of her wedding. And young couples would not have to find their own accommodations and furnishings because they would begin their married lives at one of their parent’s homes. However, today's Jewish society reflects the greater society at large. Families are dispersed across great distances. The closely knit social bonds have unraveled in all but the most pious and insular communities. The costs have skyrocketed, and young couples are expected to be able to make it on their own, from the day after the wedding. In short, the support network is gone which enabled young people without means, and without parents, to have simple weddings, and live simply till they could afford to get on their feet.

In the greater American society, one of the answers to this problem is that couples are marrying very late, and often live together for several years prior to getting married. They plan and pay for their own wedding, and already have furnished homes where to live. However, in religiously observant, modern, Jewish society, this is not an option. Young couples will not live together before marriage. In addition, couples want to marry when they are in their twenties and start families when they are young.

Thankfully, even with these socioeconomic realities, most couples are in a position to finance getting married. Even Jewish couples are getting married later, and have savings and earning potential. In addition, both families generally pay for the event and furnishing a couple with an apartment, spreading the cost. However, still not all couples can afford it. The ones who are at the distinct disadvantage are ones who are orphaned, immigrants, working class, and/or come from broken homes. Current social services provide for the most needy of people, and for most basic needs. Currently marriage is not considered a basic need, so there is nowhere for a couple to go. The Mazal Tov Fund helps to provide this basic need—marriage and starting a home.

History of the Mazal Tov Fund

2006-06-30T17:04:00.000-07:00

The idea for the Mazal Tov Fund started when Eric Feinstein, Mati Kos, Yonah Bookstein, and Rachel Bookstein had just celebrated the wedding of two orphans. The entire cost of the wedding and trousseau had been raised through small monetary donations and donations in kind. From across the world we received an outpouring of encouragement and support. We realized that there was a need for an organization of volunteers that would help to raise funds for couples that cannot afford to get married, and provide guidance and education to young couples before they wed. Many couples cannot afford even basic wedding costs, home furnishings, or pre-marriage counseling. Orphans, immigrants and Jews by choice do not have the support network and infrastructure to raise the necessary funds for the wedding. Therefore, the Mazal Tov Fund fills a very unique and special role in contributing to the charitable character of the community and assisting those in need. There is not one single organization that acts on a community wide basis, across social, cultural, and religious lines to provide this important service.