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Chesed of Flatbush Event - Full Coverage
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Jen, you got me that ginger.
>> Everybody,
>> you need it.
>> We need the mic.
>> Pick up the sound.
>> Like the Olympics.
stuff
everybody.
Thank you very much again. We've been uh
connected and has said some 20 some odd
years now. I've been in this home
multiple multiple times.
You've opened the doors to so many
organizations
and work you've done
all those years for the people in need.
I think tonight's theme
before we get to today should be about
the downtrodden,
the people in our communities that are
in need, those that otherwise are not as
fortunate,
that need our help. We have to be a
nucleus
of warriors that go out there
Seven days a week obviously we do what
we have to do is here
saving lives
and that's why I said seven days a week
seven nights. We don't stop. We're here
for the people that need us and need us
most.
This past summer I'm bad on timing.
So you'll have to correct me when you
and your partner were
>> fasting was a fast I don't know if I was
fasting but
it was a fasting
>> I don't remember that that's why that I
met you in Rabbi El Manaw
[clears throat] on Lawrence Avenue and
we got to talking I was upstairs meeting
the great rabbi
he's living greatness rubbing my man
saw. And then we went downstairs and we
started talking and that was the first
time I interacted with you and
I saw that
our community had not yet
caught on in the way that they should
have and that you needed to. in uh high
of flatbush. He told me all about the
mission
about the building.
I even remember that it was two floors
stacked with merchandise and when I say
merchandise I mean life saving
equipment.
Uh I was actually in the early years one
of your clients. I know that you
remember that when I came back from the
hospital in April of 2021,
Allan and Toby,
good friend Toby, the head of Shine, I'm
talking soft because I'm around such
incredible people in this room, brought
me oxygen
and they replenished it. And I didn't
know that was coming out of your I think
it was a basement or if it was a
warehouse at the time, but
>> it was a sh that was closed
>> a closed synagogue. One of the shoes.
Anyway, the most important thing is that
Isaac, where is Isaac? He was there,
too. Remember?
>> Mhm.
>> They came into my home week after week
and replenished the oxy. So, you know,
until you need it, you don't know you
need it. And I'm looking. Not right now.
I was going to step away from video at
the the vast amount of equipment that
people would need on a daily basis. It's
so unbelievable how these volunteers and
these people that are working within the
system are constantly picking up
delivering and bringing and taking and
I don't know where if not for your
organization that you two men have
founded. I don't know where they would
be able to get this service.
And uh like I said, it could be anybody.
It was me. It could be anybody that is
in that great need at that moment. And
that's what we're all about. You are now
ordained into the
but
safe with
salah.
And you know, we have to always be
careful, right? and every organization
that is within our grasp within our
community within the needs that we would
otherwise don't know we would need until
that phone needs to ring in Europe today
and you've always been very much a part
of it and we want to contribute we want
to financially be supporters
uh it's like we talked about right when
I was a little bit what's wrong with
you? You got to get the word out. You
got to market this. You got to let
people know. You could be doing it, but
if they take up the breath that are not
aware, it's not fair. So, we're here
tonight and uh
Joe, nobody does it better than you, Mr.
Joe Manso Jr. So, let's roll the video
and uh then I think we're going to hear
from the man himself who will give us
some real deep insight about why he has
volunteered his time and his life to do
him, his wife and his partner to do this
and we're thankful from the bottom of
our hearts.
Jess [applause]
is an amazing organization [music]
personally. I had surgery back in April
and I came home and the first night was
unbearable. I could not sleep at all. I
made one phone call within
>> That was me.
>> Wow. First of all, Miriam, thank you. We
have a lot in common. When people ask me
to do things, I always said yes. When we
asked you if we could open up your home,
we didn't even finish the sentence and
you said yes. so graciously the way you
[applause] did it.
I now have the combination to your
house, the keys to your car, and I know
when you're leaving. But really, this is
exactly what she did. She says, "My
house is your house." She said in a
different language, "My house is your
house." But that's what it was. And and
thank you all for coming tonight. It's
really really appreciated. Um Harry, you
guided us. You really guided us in the
time that we need the guidance. And very
very appreciated. And like I said to you
on Friday, um you just said, "Put your
head down, keep doing the work, get the
word out, and it will catch fire. It
will come together." And we're here
tonight because we met with you and we
follow your guidance and uh you put us
in touch with Joe, you put us in touch
with a lot of great people and we really
appreciate it. Um
about six months ago, I'm going to start
from the beginning and I'll get into
that.
how this organization was founded. Some
of it you saw, but I'm just going to run
through I'm just going to run through
the timelines a little bit and explain
what happened. Um I had to be one of the
coordinators for Flapper Shaman and
during co um there wasn't too much crime
going on and we were just 60 guys
looking to help and we didn't know how
to help and what to do and we came up
with this idea this concept to help out
with oxygen delivering oxygen to
people's homes. If there's anything good
that came out of CO, it's this
organization, we as we went to these
homes and we started to realize that
there's so many things that these people
need. And if we can keep them at home,
if we can keep them out of the hospital,
the nightmare stories that people had in
the hospitals, if we can do that, then
you know this is this is our mission.
And once co bar ended, um we said we're
not done. We have to learn something
from this. And we realize that
this this community does not this
community provides everything everything
that it needs. We have we have every
single organization. But if somebody
needs medical equipment in this
organization
>> I'm even more humbled now. Um any piece
of medical equipment that is needed in
this in this community you can't get it.
You want a hospital bed, you have to
call Lakewood and you have to call this.
It there was so many different places to
get different equipment that we figured
we're going to have this all in one
location. Now we're busy people. I mean
when it comes to fess I always say just
say yes and you'll it'll happen. Just
say yes. Just say yes. The desay that
we've had. So we said yes. It took us
about a year and a half after the yes to
actually get going. We started off just
a few volunteers. We bought some
equipment.
We got a few donations and we rented the
basement uh of a building. Very
inconvenient. We were taking hospital
beds and scratching the elevator and the
owner wasn't happy with us and like we
apologized. We quickly realized that
okay, we started we're not we're not
stopping that. Every every organization
has obstacles.
We ended up um getting growing and
growing. We moved upstairs in that
building to the second floor to the
first floor which was nice big area. We
got 80 volunteers, 80 people in this
community uh that just said, "Hey, we
want to help. We want to be part of
this." Um, we also have in the
organization, we have 38 nurse
practitioners, PAs, and doctors as a
team that discusses it. How's that
possible? How if you went out right now
to try to get that, you would never get
it. But during CO, these people were
home. uh doctor's offices were closed,
hospitals were on on on a short staff.
These people were home looking for help.
So we used them during co to go to
homes. So we created a relationship with
these people and because of that we were
able to continue and have them part of
us. We outgrew this area that we had on
the first floor very quickly. Um and
then we had the basement and the first
floor. The building itself was zoned for
a daycare and the owner who was really
nice to us gave us a decent deal um told
us that it's time to move. He said I
really but I found a daycare that's
going to take it for four times the rent
that we were paying. Um and at that
point I could have said
well when we're out we're out. You know
it was right was a couple of months
before Passover and I said no he was
good to us. We're going to be good to
him. We're going to do the right thing.
We moved everything out into five
different locations. It was a nightmare,
but we do what's right. He was good to
us. He had an opportunity to make make
some, you know, to have the right
tenants there. We took a storage locker,
a big storage locker on Avenue I. We
took someone's office on Forster Avenue
in East 8. We took a garage on Quentyn
Avenue. We took we took several
different location. We took back we took
back the basement of that location. And
it was a nightmare. It was a nightmare.
We said, "Hashem guided us till now.
We're gonna we're gonna make it.
We ended up finding this location on
Avenue I, which I don't know how. This
place was vacant for 20 years. So many
people saw this place and walked past
it. It was actually perfect for us.
Absolutely perfect. We did some crazy
renovation over there because the place
was not touched in 50 years. Um, but we
were stuck. We had a hund couple
hundred,000 nuts. And who are we going
to? What are we doing?
Rabbi Natan introduced us to two
wonderful people who Hashem sent them,
Michael Towel and Elliot Azer and he
brought them by. He brought them by and
they took a look around and they were
just in awe and they helped us get
through a very tough time. It was a
financial burden that we had and they
called some friends and like Harry, I
update them constantly with what's going
on with the organization. We're at a
point right now where we our budget is
close to $600,000 a year. We have some
old vehicles that we want to replace
because when we started we didn't have
money. We have a we have a a handicapped
vehicle. If I tell you the handicapped
vehicle does it's insane. We've had
calls at 2:00 in the morning from a
woman who was her flight was delayed.
She ended up in New York airport. She
wanted an Uber to get home. She had
ordered the Uber for 9:30 or 10:00. She
was stuck in the airport in New York
airport. By a quarter to 4, she was home
in her house. They called, we sent the
van, we did it. We we don't say no. We
just don't say no. My wife said, you
know, sometimes you have to say no. I
said no.
So, but you know, it's it's just the
organization, Yehuda, and myself, and
everybody that got involved and everyone
that's here, it's a tremendous
um we just we do need the financial
help. There's nothing to talk about. And
that's what it's about tonight. It's
about all you showing, you know, just
being here and and we hope to we're
going to continue no matter what because
it's the we have and we see it every
single day. I mean, sometimes we buy a
piece of equipment or we get a piece of
equipment donated and we're like, are we
ever going to use this? And I can tell
you that within 24 hours, someone calls
and needs it. We had someone who donated
to us a a a $40,000 chair for for
But look, someone was paralyzed and a
young girl called and she said, "I've
called a billion organizations. Do you
have this list?" I said, "Yes, we
[clears throat] do." And she says, "My
father is broke. He's in bed for 10 days
already. It's not going to be fixed for
a few weeks. Can I come pick it up?" You
have to come pick it up. We're going to
bring it to you.
>> Beautiful.
>> Couple hours later, it was
stories. Stories like this had been told
us about a crazy piece of equipment that
they needed to bring a baby back from
strolls. I don't know how we had it. I
don't know how but we had a piece of
equipment. Brand new famil
[applause]
organization was to fill a void. We
don't want to do something that's being
done already. If it's not being done, we
will do it. And I I just thank everybody
here for coming. Um I I do want to say
the rabbi just showed up over here. It's
a huge huge cover for the to come. The
rabbi come um
was I'll just say quick story here not
to be a rabbi but you know there was a
rabbi who had two congregants who were
having an argument. So the first one
comes to the rabbi's house and rabbi
listens to his story and the rabbi says
wow I hear you. You know you're you're
right. rabbit flies in the kitchen.
She's listening to everything and and
then he leaves and the next guy comes he
was arguing with says his story and the
rabbit goes you know you're right. I
hear that. The wife, please. The wife
comes in and she goes, "I understand.
How could they both be right?" You're
right.
>> What a rabbi has to do these days is
this. It's the [clears throat]
commitment that a rabbi has to the
community. What people think are big
problems, what what people actually have
big problems from the smallest to the
biggest. A rabbi does not sleep. And
aside from all the Torah that they teach
and they learn and lectures and
everything, they deal with every single
person community's issues and we know
there's plenty and it's just a honor to
have such a rabbi here and I think at
this point I just like to ask
you out there.
Thanks for that warm introduction. I
think you're talking about my
colleagues. I don't work that hard and
sleep every night, but my colleagues
definitely work hard. They teach a lot
of Torah and they're much better than
me. But I'm glad to be part of that
group. You remind me of a story of a uh
mother came into the room and told her
son, you got to get up to sh
I don't like sh. He said, "Whether you
like it or not, you have to go." So,
everybody picks on me on sh and they
make fun of me. He says, "It doesn't
matter." He said, "I have to go to shu,
but I hate shu. Give me one reason why I
have to go to sh cuz you're the rabbi."
[laughter]
That's my story.
Not as glamorous as the way you make it.
[laughter]
Anyway,
um I did meet actually uh with
Flatbush. I think we met with Harry in
my office in Lawrence Avenue synagogue
in the summer. Maybe on a fast day even
we met
one of those days and uh I just remember
I was hungry during the meeting
[laughter]
and it was a good meeting. I
[clears throat] was impressed. Were you
the guys that
>> wow I said that's enough. And I think
somebody said on the video that was
worth it just to open up this
organization just it was you. So I saw
that video. That was a very good line.
It was worth it just to open this
organization to take the Gad of our
community from Quentin Road in East 9 to
his house a couple of blocks away. And
that's I guess the special car that's uh
that you're talking about. Anyway, I'm a
big fan, but I didn't come really for I
must be honest with you. I did a video
for them. I did all the Everybody knows
my opinion. I only came for one reason
for Miriam who's a close friend of mine
from the Saba family. because my
connection [applause]
to that and uh I have a uh personal vow
that I will never tell her no for any
request that she has. So that's
something that uh and she doesn't say no
either. So it's it's mutual and
therefore I just came to show respect to
the hostess who is very very dear to my
heart and to our to our family. Our
families are like uh we're not relatives
but we're more than relatives. So I came
here tonight in honor of the hostess.
Anyway,
one word that I must tell you as the
rabbi about the importance of and I'm
going to quote you a
you should all know anyway. Uh it's in
on page 21.
So the comes along and says that in
surah surah is in Babylonian city and
there was the David [clears throat] I'll
make it easy for you. there was a
pandemic and people were dying and it
was very contagious and the Gar says and
uh in the neighborhood where live is
like the big grand so for some reason
the pandemic did not hit that
neighborhood now all the surrounding
neighborhoods death toll was very high
in neighborhood it was zero and
everybody figured of course neighborhood
so it's the great rabbi that obviously
is uh warding off the pandemic
The says actually not not to say that
not he didn't need there was somebody
else in the neighborhood was a regular
guy and somehow he was able to save off
the plague and the says
they thought it was but says it wasn't.
Anyway, they came in a dream
and they came and they said that
because there was a guy
there was a certain fellow that opened
up what we call
and what did he lend? It wasn't so
sophisticated with all the different
items that you guys do. He had two
items. He had a a shovel and a hole and
he used to lend it out to the when they
needed to bury the dead. So it's a very
unsophisticated
I don't know if it did not have your
budget that he talk about a parliament
for this guy. He had basically in his
garage a shovel two two items and
whenever the would need to bury somebody
and if their equipment wasn't available
they would go to this guy. What do you
see from over here? Because this man was
involved in alleviating people who died.
So measure for measure, God said,
"Nobody in this city where this man
lives is going to die."
>> And you didn't need Rav's merit who was
learning Torah all day long. And I would
have guessed this Torah protected the
city. No, it's was one guy was lending
the community to its now that story does
not make an effect. The G goes to the
next story
is another city
to be precise.
So there was fires and those things when
the fires would hit there were row
houses and there was no fire and
everything would burn down. God forbid.
And in the neighborhood of we go again
sorry in his neighborhood there was no
fire. So everybody said he's already to
all day long to protect the city says
no. They came to him in a dream and they
said you know who it was
was [snorts] a lady and what did she do
the
she would have an oven and basically in
the olden days that we use communal
ovens and not everybody can afford the
fuel [clears throat] or the wood in
order to heat up their food. So she
would put a sign up free oven whoever
needs to warm up their halal or their
whatever it may be and she would let out
the oven and the coming to say that
since she alleviated people that needed
fire. So as a result of she alleviated
people that needed fire the fire did not
reach that city. I want to tell you
personal story. When I read this I was
so amazed. [clears throat] I said look
how much Hashem loves people that let
out stuff. It protects cities from fire.
It protects cities from pandemic and
that's doing nothing. Lending out an
oven. It's a small item relative to what
what these guys are doing. I want to
tell you how I took this so literally. I
went home and I always tell my wife what
I learned in you know in when I got
married to the reb was unbelievable. I
told her I'm an unfinished person and
every day I go to the Quran I learned
new stuff. So I don't want you to tell
me oh you never said that before we
married you. I don't know nothing. I
learn every day new stuff and therefore
we're we're a work in progress. every
day I come home and teach you new stuff
and she always was hold now what you
learned today and when I came home I
told her it's
so she said we have to do something
because we need protection and we need
we need I said okay what what can we do
what do you want to lend out so she sent
out the rabbi we'll lend out you no
community property people just bar they
don't return me that's the problem
anyway she said I have a good idea
She said, "You know, when you go to a
bris, so the baby boys, they wear this
uh special dress and the kipa that they
have. Where do you get these items from?
Where do [clears throat] you find these
items from?" It's funny thing. So, she
said, "The people struggle to find." I'm
going to buy six or seven of these
items, different kinds of kot, and I'm
going to open up a gamma to lend out the
dress that very very simple and budget
is zero. I paid for the six outfits and
she pays for the cleaning and
everything. And guess what? There's not
a day that passes. My friend Morris Aver
is my best friend who's the biggest boy
in the community. So I partnered up with
him and said, "Morris, you got to let me
know anytime you have a brisk and they
need the uh the gown. I'm the guy." Sure
enough, every day somebody coming to the
house every day. Now, I know that that's
doing something. I can't tell you what
it's protecting us from. Maybe it's
protecting children and babies, God
forbid, from sickness, but I know it's
doing something because I trust. Now,
I'm not the biggest rabbi in the
community. There's big rabbis learning
all day long. But guess what? You don't
need those big rabbis because our little
gabah giving out one little baby dress
is doing a lot that the greatest rabbis
are not needed to do. So times that by a
million what these [clears throat] guys
are doing, they're doing it
exponentially. So besides the that we
see they're affecting directly to the
customer, however, they're protecting
us. You see, God forbid any none of you
should need these equipment, Sophia. If
you need this equipment, it means you're
in trouble. We shouldn't need these
equipments. But I believe that by having
such an organization
somehow it's bringing us a protection. I
mean if if the G would have been written
today the G would have said third story
in Brooklyn uh
>> Cornell Avenue.
>> Exactly. All around the neighborhoods
they were getting broken into and robbed
into it. But Brooklyn couple of zip
codes 3229 whatever the zip codes are
230. Nothing was happening to her and
said not because the yeshiva and not
because it's not because the rabbis is
calling it even though I love to take
credit for the I believe it's protecting
everybody but the would say it wasn't
these guys bush that are lending out
crutches and these guys that are lending
out I don't know what ventilators and
all the other type of miserable
equipment that they have but the point
is that that gamma doesn't only directly
help the people but it actually helps
the entire community. So I want to thank
Hessapush for what you did for me by I
never borrowed I would have to borrow
anything from you by the way [applause]
but nonetheless you're doing a great for
the greater community and it's based on
the so this is not hyperbole or some
exaggerated opinion I brought the source
over here but I think you'll be able to
convince a lot of people because now
it's insurance now it's insurance for us
and we need a lot of protection because
this this zip code and zip codes are
becoming more dangerous and more
inhospitable. by the day. You can
imagine and therefore we need more
the going to come from
like to call up [clears throat]
Michael and Elliot. Elliot,
please come up. You played a big role in
Europe. Rabbi,
I can't help but do this.
I'm also your partner with Morris
Abraham. He's great as well because
Morris and I are partners in business.
And any mornings before 12, 12:30, I
never ask where Morris Abraham is
because he's doing the greatest duty
that anybody has ever done in this
community
doing.
And on that note,
you'd be intrigued by this.
Statistically, [clears throat] I've been
watching the last 2, three years. You
know, we're superstitious. We don't
count. We don't know. But I know that
this community is growing leaps and
bounds. And we should all be so proud to
know that the Spartic Jewish community
here in Brooklyn in deal in Manhattan.
We include Manhattan. now with the great
rabbis that are in the southwest
synagogue by far and everybody else
that's working for our community. We're
about 85,000 people. I venture to say
that our army of Jews and we are all
becoming more and more devout religious
Jews thanks to people like you Rabbi and
that's the truth someh with us and uh I
venture to say that my we will probably
be protecting as I started off before I
came in 100,000 people in the Syrian
Jewish community by 2030 in every aspect
in every way that we need to and there's
nothing that we won't do. So um for a
change I'm going to sit there and give
my donation
said it's been a few months coming. So
please, Elliot Azar, we're very proud of
you and Michael and what you've done
when you were called up
not tonight, but when you called up by
Yehuda and SV to come in and help them
and shore up a shortfall where there was
a financial burden and weakness and
that's what we do and that's why I'll
always stand up here whenever I'm called
up. M's front door doesn't have a lock
on it for that reason. We are those
people in this community. It's all of
us, by the way. You just got to meet a
few, but it's it's embedded in every
single one of us. And they will rise to
be leaders of this community because of
what I touched on before. You can't
become this great of a people if you
don't have leaders that rise up day in
and day out and look after each other.
And as I opened up and said, most
importantly, the doubt trials, the
people that need us the most, those that
I always say are stuck on the side of
the road. Like I was taught when I was
stuck on the side of the road, it
doesn't necessarily mean the side of the
road, you always help that person to get
to the destination. And you will be the
one that's rewarded much more than they
are. Take over.
>> [applause]
>> Okay. So, I didn't know I was being
pulled up. I still don't know what I'm
doing. But you're doing a fundraiser
now. [laughter]
>> That's what we came here for.
>> So, it's a good thing to take the phone
off.