*A Cry of the Heart - from the great Rabbi's of the neighborhood, shlit"a, regarding a matter of actual life-threatening need*

*B"H - Month of Tishrei 5787*

To our dear brothers and friends, neighbors and friends:

With a painful heart and anguish of soul we witness the difficult situation of a dear and important widow, may she live long, within our neighborhood - the widow of our dear friend and neighbor, a pure and upright man, a clean and righteous soul, G-d fearing and pious, Rabbi Binyamin Ze'ev Blasbalg z"l.

The walls of their home cried for dozens of years with pain and bitterness because they never merited to have lasting offspring, and on top of that, for a long time they have been visited by a state of poverty and destitution bordering on *actual danger to life*.

And the final blow became heavier, when a few days ago R' Binyamin Ze'ev left the living, and his purified soul ascended to the World that is entirely good, after he contended with illness and pain in a very difficult way - this after years of suffering and affliction which he accepted in silence and never complained or lamented his bitter state.

And behold, although the deceased z"l and his widow, may she live long, are modest people and never revealed in public their terrible situation, the dear neighbors noticed that both of them are broken and crushed in body and soul, and began to gently inquire about their situation and status, and then the bitter reality was revealed - that they suffer from many troubles and hardships that befell them and it is impossible to detail them because they are so many - to the point of [lacking] simple bread, literally.

Dear activists, men of kindness, entered into the thick of it to help them in every way possible and are engaged in these days in establishing a solid and respectable *'Widow's Fund'*, for the benefit of the miserable widow, both to cover the expenses of renting the apartment, and to cover the regular daily expenses, because she has no ability on her own to save herself and only in our hands is it to light up a little her dark home.

Dear brothers, bestowers of kindness, it does not happen every day that so many troubles and illnesses, G-d forbid, come together in one place.

Come and consider: At the same time that our homes are full of blessed children, and we merit to raise dear children for Hashem and His Torah, and to make celebrations with joy and gladness, there is found right in our midst a broken-hearted widow, accustomed to suffering and affliction, who together with her husband z"l never had satisfaction or livelihood, health or joy, rest or peace - may our Father in Heaven have pity and mercy on her!

And we hereby reveal our opinion, the opinion of Torah, that *an obligation is upon all of us* to support this holy cause with generous sums, to gladden and rejoice the widow, may she live long, and to ease her dejected situation, because in addition to the obligation of a positive commandment from the Torah which is written many times to assist a widow in every way possible, to feed her and provide her enough for her needs in order to quiet the cry of her painful heart, this is a matter of the residents of our own neighborhood, and this charity is at the top of the list of *'the poor of your city'* in the most exemplary way, as the Rema writes (Yoreh Deah 251:3) that *one's neighbors take precedence over the people of his city*.

We are sure that the call of the dedicated activists will be received by you with understanding and compassion, let us try with all our ability not to let her collapse, G-d forbid, neither physically nor spiritually, but on the contrary, to gladden and rejoice her heart, for she has already suffered more than enough, G-d forbid, and now she is left completely alone - where are we coming from her pain and distress.

In order to honor her and not to add a wound to her injury, we are very careful not to publicize and advertise this painful case in the markets and streets, and we need the help and participation of every single individual of our brethren, the Children of Israel, whose ears this cry reaches, and thereby we can provide at least some remedy and cure for the bodily and spiritual suffering that the widow is going through in this difficult period.

And we will conclude with the blessing of the Torah: Behold one of the three things that remove the evil decree is 'charity', therefore in these days of mercy and favor, the involvement and assistance for this lofty mitzvah is certainly capable of raising our pleas and prayers before the King who listens to cries, and all those who support and assist will merit to be blessed with a good final sealing and a good and sweet year, with abundant blessing and success without end, livelihood in abundance and honor, full handfuls of satisfaction from all their children and robust health for long and good years, and may we soon merit the salvation of Israel, Amen.