WHO CAN YOU CALL FOR HESED AT THE LAST MINUTE?

ANSWER: THE MITZVAH MAN

We received a call at 4 P.M. on a Friday afternoon from a panicked woman. It was just 45 minutes before Shabbat would begin.
She said, “I know it’s last minute, but my mom lives in Lower Manhattan and I live in Brooklyn, and she has no food for Shabbat.”

She went on to say that her mother usually had meals delivered to her apartment on Fridays. Yet, it was already 4:00 and no food had arrived. This woman was very concerned that her mother wouldn’t have any challah, grape juice, or delicious Shabbat food.

The Mitzvah Man was on the case! A message was sent out to Manhattan volunteers saying, “There’s a woman living in downtown Manhattan who doesn’t have food for Shabbat. I know it’s last minute, and Shabbat is soon.”

Immediately calls started coming in from volunteers. One said they’re sending food over in an Uber. Another volunteer said that she lives in Midtown, so she’s going to take a car service there to drop off a meal, but by the time she would get there it would be so close to Shabbat that she would just walk home. Such a tremendous hesed! A third volunteer said she would send a car service with some food. Not only that, she planned to take her family to visit the woman the following day on Shabbat afternoon—simply to keep her company.

Within 45 minutes, this mother had full Shabbat meals and special company.

Who else could you call last minute in Manhattan?

Every day the Mitzvah Man and his team receive calls requesting all kinds of help. On another occasion, he received a call from a woman who was on her way to the airport to pick up her 16 year old son with special needs. She had an hour to get there, when she got a flat tire. She frantically called the Mitzvah Man, not knowing who else to call. She explained that her son would be nervous when he got off the plane and wouldn’t know where to go or who to go to. To make matters more worrisome, she wasn’t able to reach him on his phone.

“Do you have someone who could pick him up?” she asked. The Mitzvah Man was on the case! Immediately, word was sent out, and a young man offered to pick the son up. The volunteer met him at the airport and helped him call his mother. His mother explained everything to him, and told him to trust the Mitzvah Man volunteer. The son was able to calmly go with the volunteer, who brought him home to a very grateful mother.