“Siman tov u’mazal tov,” the men sing, their faces beaming. They hold each other’s shoulders and circle the room.Today, these men celebrate the newest member of klal yisroel: Yisroel Aryeh Leib ben Natalia. Today, at the age of thirty-one, this man has entered the covenant of Abraham.
Yisroel Aryeh Leib was welcomed to Chabad of Poland with open arms this week after escaping his bombed home in Kyiv. “Hodu laHashem, ki l’olam chasdo,” he says. He is filled with joy to finally feel like he is in a partnership with Hashem.
Shmulik Stambler was one of the men celebrating the bris. Shmulik is a refugee from Kamianske, Dnipro, a big city in Ukraine. He is also the nephew of Rabbi Mayer Stambler and Rabbi Sholom Ber Stambler, the Chabad Shluchim in Warsaw. “Thank G-d we have the ability to help others with this holy work,” Shmulik says.
Since escaping Ukraine, Shmulik has been helping with Chabad of Poland’s huge operation to house and feed hundreds of Jewish refugees who are arriving at the border of Poland on a daily basis at the Hilton hotel which Chabad rented for refugees. There, delicious kosher meals are prepared for them and the other refugees.
Before the Russian invasion, the Stamblers’ expenses and resources were that of a typical Chabad House but as Poland is on the border of Ukraine and is now flooded with refugees, they have turned themselves into an emergency hub for their war-torn brothers and sisters.
Chabad of Poland gives food, housing, and medical care to hundreds of Jewish refugees. Now, they have accrued expenses for one month which they did not have for one full year prior to the invasion.
The Stamblers now turn to their brothers and sisters to please open their hearts so they can continue their life-saving work.
Chabad rented rooms at the DoubleTree by Hilton in Warsaw for the entire month of April because it is almost impossible to find a free room considering the influx of Ukrainian refugees into the neighboring Poland.
Chabad rented enough beds for one hundred people. They have also found some spare apartments and rooms all around the city to host a total of 200 refugees each day and night, plus a separate kosher kitchen and a large dining hall with hundreds of seats. Chabad will provide kits of traditional Seder food and matzah and wine to more than 2,000 refugees. The cost of the hotel and catering is $250,000 for the entire month of April.
Chabad of Poland does not have the resources for an operation of this magnitude, so they must rely on their Jewish brothers and sisters for support.
In addition to the above mentioned cost of $250,000 for April, we have other costs of operations outside the hotel as detailed in the updated table below:
DAILY EMERGENCY OPERATIONS BUDGET
We urgently need to raise $1M to cover the next 2 months’ worth of emergency operations.
It is a matter of life and death for those who have already lost their country, their homes, and their loved ones.
Please give generously.
Chabad of Warsaw, Poland
For more options and further assistance, email [email protected]
Rabbi Shalom Dov Ber Stambler
Rabbi Mayer Stambler
[email protected]
WhatsApp: +972-544-577422
Mobile: +48-693-108559
Office: +48-22-6375073
Slominskiego 19 lok 508
00-195 Warsaw Poland
