Giving tzadekah, which can be translated to English as either “charity” or “philanthropy,” has always been at the very heart of the Jewish way of life. Back in Skala in the 1930s, you could find in every Jewish home, even humble apartments like the one I shared with my parents, what was called a pushke, a little metal box with a slot into which we would deposit coins to help those even poorer than we were and to support the yeshivas and synagogues...
Quotes from this chapter
Back in Skala in the 1930s, you could find in every Jewish home a little metal box with a slot into which we would deposit coins to help those even poorer than we were.
One of my most thrilling moments in philanthropy came on July 7, 2009, when we were honored guests of the Israel Air Force at a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Edelstein Auditorium at the IAF Center in Herziliya.
Whoever said that it is better to give than to receive knew what he was talking about. I can tell you it feels really great to give tzedakah, especially when you remember what it was like to have had nothing.
Back in the desperate days when I was wretched and cold and watching people die around me, I turned to God and asked him how he could allow it to go on. I confess I didn’t get an answer.
in 1958 or ‘59, we went to hear David Ben-Gurion when he came to speak at a synagogue in Brooklyn. I couldn’t afford a chair for the prestigious event so I sat on the stairs.
Our biggest operation comes during the High Holy Days, when the Edelstein Family Food Bank distributes thousands of food baskets to poor families and individuals with special needs around Israel.
When I mention Israel Bonds, I should say that at the beginning it was an Israel Bond—just one bond costing $100, and the truth is that we didn’t have the money even for that.
There is a direct line from my own resistance to the Nazis in the forests of Ukraine and the present-day mission of the Israel Defense Forces to protect the lives of Jews.
Book excerpts about the people, places and events mentioned in the book
One of many Israeli PMs with whom Michael met
A visionary who was tough to the core
Some catchy teaser text for this featured person.
One of Michael's mentors in philanthropy
Edelsteins gave a CAT scan room
Edelstein gift of multipurpose room
Edelstein Foundation contributed high-tech meeting room
Colel Chabad Is Israel's oldest charity
Belonging to a synagogue was not about his belief in God