This week, the Board of Trustees at the The Jewish Center of Teaneck sent out a letter to the congregants letting them know that it has allocated $36,000 of the shul’s funds for immediate use for life-saving equipment in Israel. It was done as part of the Bloomberg Matching Gift Program through Magen David Adom.

Rabbi Daniel Fridman, rabbi of the Jewish Center of Teaneck wrote in the letter, “I have never been prouder to serve as Rav of this kehillah that I am today,” and called this decision, along with thousands of dollars that had already been given to MDA, Friends of the IDF, United Hatzolah and direct assistance for specific IDF units, “the most most profound demonstration of the principle of Kol Yisrael Areivim Zeh BaZeh.”

He said that it reminded him of the stories they heard about Jewish people in this country giving generously in 1948 so that Israel could survive its battle for existence. “We all sense that now is our moment in history to help ensure that the greatest miracle Hashem has wrought for the Jewish people over the last 2,000 years is not taken from us by murderers, and their supporters, who desecrated all that is sacred in this world [last] Shabbat.”

Daniel Wetrin, president of the Board of Trustees, explained that early on, they were all aware of the many places to donate and have already donated—and will continue to do so—far beyond the $36,000, to various tzedakahs. But he called this donation the most “substantial one to date” and said there were a few reasons why they chose this particular one.

“Firstly, Michael Bloomberg and his philanthropic trusts were very generously offering to double any donation made to AFMDA [American Friends of Magen David Adom] and we felt our money could be most impactful spent this way. Through conversations with Laurie Bandremer, who is AFMDA’s director of major gifts, we were also aware of an urgent request from MDA for five state-of-the-art Corpuls 3 defibrillators. We knew that our donation would go to work immediately on the ground in Israel, saving lives every day. The $36,000 doubled to $72,000, and we were able to secure the purchase of four defibrillators.”

Wetrin added: “We are very fortunate to have such a supportive and generous community that wants to help Israel in any way we can. We are acutely aware of the pressure on the medical field in Israel right now and our board of trustees collectively felt that this donation was a necessary one.”

After this announcement was made, JCT received so many messages of gratitude both from members of the community but also, he said, “from friends in Israel who have reached out ‘literally while sheltering’ to thank us.”

“Our congregation feels very proud that we were able to make such a generous donation, and I’m personally very moved to see the level of generosity and selflessness. We will continue to donate as much as we can to other necessary causes, and no doubt in time, there will be more critical needs that we hope to support.”

To learn more about the Jewish Center of Teaneck visit https://www.jcot.org/

To donate to the American Friends of Magen David Adom through the Bloomberg Matching Gift Program visit: https://secure.afmda.org/site/Donation2?df_id=2340&mfc_pref=T&2340.donation=form1&s_src=OperationSwordofIron&FURL=UR