Chesed of Flatbush Event - Rabbi Eli Mansour Speech

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 get 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. Whether you like it or not, you have to go. Everybody picks on me on sh and they make fun of me. 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. That's my story. Not as glamorous as the way you make it. Anyway, um I did meet actually uh with a flap. I think we met with Harry in my office in Lawrence 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 and it was a good meeting I was impressed were you the guys that took your food >> 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 to tell it was you saw that video sounds a very good It was worth it just to open this organization to take the gadul of our community from Quentin Road to East 9 to his house a couple of blocks away. That's I guess the special car that's uh 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 uh from the Sabah family. was my connection 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 gimal. This is a you should all know anyway. Uh it's in on page 21. So the gim comes along and says that in surah surah is in Babylonian city and there was theat I'll make it easy for you. there was a pandemic and people were dying and it was very contagious and Gar says and uh in the neighborhood where Rav lived was like the big rabbi 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 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 stay 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 when they needed to bury the dead people. So it's a very unsophisticated kama. I don't know if there did not have your budget that he's talking about. I don't think they had a parliament for this guy. He had basically in his garage 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 learning to all day long to protect the city says no it came to him in a dream and they said you know who it was a lady and what did she do? She would have an oven and basically in the olden days they would use communal ovens and not everybody can afford the fuel or the wood in order to heat up their food. So she would put aside free oven whoever needs to warm up their halal or their whatever 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 Gala, I was so amazed. I said, "Look how much Hashem loves people that lend 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 S. It was unbelievable. I told her I'm an unfinished person and every day I go to the Quran I learn new stuff. So I don't want you to tell me oh you never said that before we marry and 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 I teach you new stuff and she always hold now what you learn today. Anyone I came home I told her this. 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 said out the rabbi will lend out you. No opportunity properly. 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 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 kipot, and I'm going to open up a gamma to lend out the dress that a very very simple and budget is here. 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 Abram is my best friend who's the biggest woman in the community. So, I partnered up with him and said, "Morris, you got to let me know anytime you have a bris and they need the uh the gown, I'm the guy." Sure enough, every day somebody coming to the house turning 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 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. If you need this equipment that means you're in trouble. You shouldn't need these equipments. But I believe that by having such an organization somehow it's bringing us a protection. That means if if the GBA would have been ridden today, the gad would have said third story in Brooklyn. Uh >> Cornell Avenue. >> Exactly. All around the neighborhoods they were getting broken into and robbed into it was but Brooklyn couple of zip codes 23 229 whatever the zip codes are 230. Nothing was happening to them and said not because the yeshiva and not because it's not because the rabbis is calling 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 Hessa Plappush for what you did for me. By the way, I never borrowed I hope I don't have to borrow anything from you by the way. Nonetheless, you're doing a great for the greater community and it's based on so this is not hyperbole or some exaggerated opinion. I brought the source with you and I'll leave this over here. 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 if you can imagine and therefore we need more sh going to come