Shiur and tehillim

Please G-d,  there will be a shiur and tehillim  FOR WOMEN this coming Thursday night, August 11 at 8:30pm. The shiur will be given by Rabbi Abraham J. Twersky at the home of Mindy Stein 507 Maitland Ave. Teaneck.

 Chaim has asked that the shiur and tefilos not only be for him but for all of klal yisrael who are in the need of a refuah as well as anyone in the need of any kind of yeshuos.

 May we all be Zocheh to bear witness that instead of this Tisha B'Av being a time of mourning we should join together with the coming of Moshiach!

Update from Chaim

Here is an update from Chaim on his current situation. We know the blog has not been updated in awhile but we hope to continue to post regularly.
 If anyone would like to be in touch with Chaim, feel free to call, text or email him or send an email to RefuahforChaim@gmail.com and it will be passed along.
 Thank you again to everyone for all their tefilos and good wishes.
May we soon merit to see the coming of Mashiach!



Hey everyone.


    I am sorry it has been so long since my last update. Baruch Hashem I am doing good. It has been a long couple of weeks but as usual with Hashems help we are making it through. As you may or may not know, after the transplant i was at my parents house for around 4 weeks. Unfortunately I had to come back to the hospital for an extended stay due to a case of graft vs host disease which is a result of the transplant. i have been in the hospital for the past three and a half weeks and am hoping to make it back home soon. This is something that Baruch Hashem the doctors say is very common and treatable, but it will take time to heal. After, i will with Hashems help continue to get stronger and rebuild my immune system. It has been hard but i know Hashem will continue to take care of me and i will be fine. I wanted to Thank You for all that have done for me,Tal, and the kids and just keep you a little updated on where we stand. As i have said since the begining, Please just keep davening for me and all those that need a refuah or yeshua of any kind. Hashem has blessed us with so much, and i pray he continues to bless us and all of klal yisroel with nothing but blessing. Thanks again and please continue to have me in mind. May Hashem dry up all the tears from the faces of the jewish people, and may we be blessed to see the day when those who sow with tears will reap in joy. I love you all.


Tracht Gut Vet Zein Gut


Chaim Yissachar.

V’Ahavta L’Rayacha Kamocha

                                                         Week 7
                   V’Ahavta L’Rayacha Kamocha (IN OUR ACTIONS)  
                    Love your Fellow Jew as you Love Yourself

                                          FOCUS OF THE WEEK:

                Smile or be friendly to someone you might not have ordinarily have  interacted with.

                                 

                                          Rabbi Steven Pruzansky

                     



     Rabbi Steven Pruzansky is the spiritual leader of Congregation Bnai Yeshurun, a synagogue consisting of nearly 600 families located in Teaneck, New Jersey, and one of the most vibrant centers of Orthodox Jewish life today. He has served since August 1994. Previously, Rabbi Pruzansky was for nine years the spiritual leader of Congregation Etz Chaim in Kew Gardens Hills, New York. While in New York, he served a two-year term as President of the Vaad Harabonim (Rabbinical Board) of Queens.Rabbi Pruzansky graduated from Columbia University in 1978 with a B.A. in history, and received a Juris Doctor degree from the Benjamin Cardozo School of Law in 1981. He practiced law for 13 years as a general practitioner and litigator in New York City until assuming his current pulpit. Rabbi Pruzansky studied in yeshivot in Israel and the United States, and was ordained at Yeshiva Bnei Torah of Far Rockaway, New York under the guidance of Rabbi Yisrael Chait, shlit”a. He resides in Teaneck with his wife Karen, a speech-language pathologist, and is the proud father of four married children and eight grandchildren.

See more about R' Pruzansky as well as read thought provoking articles by the rav, on his blog, RabbiPruzansky.com

Party time!

                                                 Let’s Say Amen!

    Chasdei Hashem, Chaim’s “numbers” have been improving since his bone marrow transplant. Please understand that while this is a good first step B"H,  it is still a long road ahead for him. At this time, Chaim really needs us to continue davening and doing acts of kindness on his behalf.  As he awaits a more definitive prognosis in the coming weeks, Chaim is excited about our newest campaign to generate more zechuyos on his behalf and he really appreciates all your efforts.         

      Many stories have been told about amazing things that have occurred to people after they made a sincere effort to say amen to a bracha.  Think about the powerful connection we make with Hashem when we recite amen properly: we are listening to someone praise Hashem for His infinite kindness, we reflect upon the truth of this praise and we then actively affirm our belief in that truth!  All the more reason for us to say brachos out loud in the presence of others who will say amen, and to concentrate and answer amen when others recite brachos out loud.
An Amen Party is a beautiful way for people (children and adults alike) to get together to say brachos and amens in a festive environment filled with fun, friendship and spiritual growth. If you have never attended an Amen Party before, here is how it is generally done:
     
 Each person should have his or her own portion of grape juice for Borei Pri HaGafen and a food item from each of the following four brachos categories: Borei Minei Mezonos, Borei Pri HaEitz, Borei Pri HaAdamah and Shehakol.  Start with Mezonos.  One person is designated to recite the first Mezonos on his or her portion of a Mezonos food item.  Everyone responds amen out loud to this bracha.  Then go around the table, one person at a time reciting Mezonos on his or her portion, with everyone else responding with an amen out loud.  Then do the same for HaGafen, HaEitz, HaAdamah and (the kids’s favorite) Shehakol.  Again, the order is Mezonos, HaGafen, HaEitz, HaAdamah and Shehakol.
     
 Some halachik guidelines: Make sure that at the time a bracha is recited, everyone else around the table is prepared to say amen (i.e., listening, mouth empty from food and not speaking or making their own bracha).  Also make sure to hold the relevant food in your right hand while you recite a bracha on it.  The shehakol should not be a liquid since those are covered automatically by the HaGafen you recited earlier.  No interruption (including reciting amen) should be made after reciting a bracha until one has swallowed at least some of the food.  Remember to think about the meaning of the words that you and the others are saying.One more thing: At the outset of the party, please announce that in the merit of all the brachos and amens to be recited at the Amen Party, all cholim should have a speedy refuah shleima, including Chaim Yissachar ben Chaya Mushkit.

WHAT: Amen Party
WHEN: During Chag HaShavuos
WHO : All children and adults
WHERE: Wherever you are!!!
WHY: To bring more zechuyos for Chaim and all cholim

Last thing we ask (for now) ... Please post a comment under this post after Shavuos letting us know if you were able to have an amen party and how many people were involved. (It can be anonymous if you prefer). It gives Chaim and everyone else much encouragement. Thank you!

 Please watch the video below to get some more insight and inpiration about the power of Amen.

                                    R' Moshe Tzvi Weinberg

Week 5: Olam Chessed Yibaneh

                                                    Week Five
                                           Olam Chessed Yibaneh
                             A Torah world is built on kindness

FOCUS OF THE WEEK:

Over the next few weeks make the chessed of hachnasas orchim a priority as the Machlis family does each week (see bio below). Invite someone that you have never invited before or someone that needs an invitation to join you for a meal. Reflect on the fact that acts of kindness are the backbone of our holy Torah.

                                          Rav Mordechai Machlis
Along with his generous wife and fourteen loving children, Rabbi  Machlis has opened his Jerusalem home to anyone, every Shabbat, for those who need both spiritual as well as physical sustenance.  They have welcomed some 300,000 people into their home over the years, from every walk of life with open arms. Check out  Machlispresents.com to view weekly parsha videos made by Rav Machlis that spread the positive message of Judaism to thousands around the world. Read the article that was written about Rabbi and Rebbetzin Machlis and their tremendous hachnasas orchim at http://www.aish.com/sp/so/48900627.html

Week 4: Kavod Sh’eilas Shalom

                                     ***** Please note*****
 Please sign up on the right side of the home page  where it says "follow by email" to receive an email when the blog is updated. There are times, due to technical issues, that  it may take some time for the update to come through so therefore please check back often as well as we update speakers weekly and add important updates about Chaim throughout the week.
  Thank you .


                                                        Week four
                                        Kavod Sh’eilas Shalom
                                    Greeting Others  

       
                                              FOCUS OF THE WEEK: 
   Make a point of greeting someone outside of “your friendship circle”. It can be the mailman, the grocery store clerk, a neighbor, a bus driver. One of those times, spend about half a minute talking to them and really listen to their answer. Don’t just say: “hi how are you” as you’re already 10 steps away from them.

                                               R' Judah Mischel
R' Judah is the founder of "Tzama Nafshi" - a non-profit start-up dedicated to fostering Jewish education and identity in Israel and the Diaspora. He is the Rav of Camp H.A.S.C., and was a Rebbi and Director of Programming at Yeshivat Reishit for the past nine years.
                                       

Blood Donation

 Big Mitzvah!! DONATE BLOOD FOR CHAIM!

Chaim will  continue to need blood and /or platelet transfusions over the course of the next several months. A blood bank was set up at the begining of his treatment  for donations that has been/will be specifically used for him.
Chaim's blood type is A+. Anyone with A+, A-, O+ or O- is a match for him . For platelet donations blood type does not need to match.

 Anyone that does not have a matching blood type for him, can still donate to the general ChaiLifeline blood bank for other Jewish patients, which is a huge kiddush Hashem.

If you are available to donate, please reply to Esti at ChaiLifeline
                                      ERosenbaum@Chailifeline.org or
                                                 text or call 646-530-3507

 Just tell her that you want to donate for Chaim (Marc) Feigenbaum and she will get back to you and let you know all the details.

Thank you to those who have donated already. Besides being a huge mitzvah and kiddush Hashem, it gives Chaim a lot of chizuk knowing that people care so much.
 (If you have donated already you can donate again if you would like to).

 Thank you and tizku l'mitzvot!

Week 3: V’Ahavta L’Rayacha Kamocha (part 2)

Thank you for all your tefilos for Chaim during his bone marrow transplant. Please continue to daven as the next several weeks are especially critical for his recovery.
                                                        


                                                         Week Three
                          V’ahavta L’rayacha Kamocha (IN OUR THOUGHTS)  
                           Love Your Fellow Jew as You Love Yourself 

                                                    Focus of the week:  

                   Feel internal simcha for someone else’s good fortune

                                                    R' Aaron Feigenbaum
 Rabbi Aaron Feigenbaum is the Rabbi of the Young Israel of Memphis and a Rebbe at the Margolin Hebrew Academy Feinstone Yeshiva of the South. He is Chaim's brother.

Please storm the heavens with your tefilos!!

UPDATE- Transplant TONIGHT!!!

  Chaim is scheduled to get his bone marrow transplant TONIGHT at 6:30. We ask that you say chapters 23, 32 and 121 of Tehillim at that time. It is possible that the transplant could be pushed off a few hours due to scheduling issues so please continue to have Chaim Yissachar ben Chaya Mushkit in your thoughts and tefillos the rest of the night .
 
PLEASE continue to daven these next few weeks as we daven that Chaim's body accepts the bone marrow as his own. These are critical times .

Thank you so much. Every tefillah and chapter of tehillim makes a difference.

Week 2: V’Ahavta L’Rayacha Kamocha

                                                         Week Two

                          V’Ahavta L’Rayacha Kamocha (IN OUR THOUGHTS)

                          Love your Fellow Jew as you Love Yourself

    

                                

                 FOCUS OF THE WEEK:

Step out of me-mode and spend twenty seconds thinking about what someone else might need: Is it attention, a listening ear, actual physical help, financial help, love, a compliment, validation, appreciation, etc.

                                                    R'Dovid Rosman

     Rabbi Dovid Rosman is the Director of the Intermediate Beis Medrash Program of Aish HaTorah and a rebbe in the Advanced Beis Medrash Program. He is also a freelance writer with articles published in the Hamodia and Mishpacha Magazines and the Yated Neeman newspaper.  Some of his classes can be found on OU Radio. He is also Chaim's wife's (Talia)first cousin.

Pre-Bone Marrow Tehillim

Introduction

                                                                                      
                                Welcome to the “Refuah for Chaim” blog.

Since Chaim Feigenbaum, Chaim Yissachar ben Chaya Mushkit, was diagnosed with leukemia, everyone has been davening feverishly and have been making every effort to bring him a refuah shelaima. The lists of tehillim were filled so quickly, women have baked challah, many have organized or attended shiurim, many meals have been cooked and so many people have offered support.  All of these remarkable efforts have shown how amazing Chaim’s “extended family” is.  And still people always ask: What can I do for Chaim? Chaim has had a successful remission and in order to hasten the process of recovery he has chosen to undergo a bone marrow transplant. As Chaim enters a new stage in his treatment , here is something we can all do together.
     
With Chaim’s encouragement, we would like to tap into the beautiful power of giving that our community has already shown and create even more opportunities of giving as a source of merit for Chaim’s refuah. The goal of this blog is to encourage everyone who loves Chaim, either because you personally know and love him or simply because he is a fellow member of the Jewish people, to unite as a community and grow together in a way that will create merits for the complete refuah of Chaim and other cholim.
      So how powerful is an act of giving?  Can chesed, or giving, really infuse Chaim and each of us with true life?  The Torah says “U’vacharta baChaim”- Choose Chaim - life. One could translate the word Chaim, literally life, in this context to mean that we should choose well or good. But the Nesivos Shalom explains as follows: Chesed is the foundation of life itself. After all, the world was built through the chesed of Hashem and the life of each individual is given through His chesed.  In “U’vacharta bachaim,” Hashem is commanding us to imitate Him and to choose chesed in our dealings with others.  Choosing chesed is choosing to give life. So let’s join together and choose life for Chaim by choosing to infuse our lives and the lives of those around us with acts of chesed!
There have been campaigns in the past promoting “random acts of kindness.”  Ideas such as putting a quarter in someone else’s meter as it’s about to expire or treating the guy behind you to a free lunch. These are beautiful acts.
     However, we would encourage everyone to do something much greater! Let’s commit to perform “Determined Acts of Kindness.”  A Determined Act of Kindness is a commitment to give to someone else even though it is challenging, and maybe even feels a bit unnatural.  Random acts of kindness sounds great. It’s when you’re feeling happy, it’s sunny outside and everything is going smoothly and you think to yourself, “Wow, let me do something nice today!” But a Determined Act of Kindness is much greater: It means smiling at someone even when it’s a cold, rainy day, you overslept, you can’t find your cell phone, you’re late for work and your kids are late for school! While a smile may seem like a small act of giving, the impact on the other person may be great, and the impact on you, the giver, is tremendous.
Why? Because it’s hard. When we are determined enough to give to another person even when it is difficult for us, our “kindness muscles” grow and we become stronger and more full of life. And with each Determined Act of Kindness that we do, we are creating tremendous merits for Chaim.
       With Hashem’s help, we hope to post a new short idea about chesed periodically, in writing or as an audio or video recording. We hope that by learning something about chesed, the merit of our Torah learning will be a merit for Chaim. But the most special part is that  the dvar torah will end with a “focus.” The focus’s purpose is to motivate us to do something that is just slightly beyond our current level of comfort. This focus is a practical idea that we will take with us and do that week (and hopefully beyond). It will be something small and seemingly insignificant, but it may make a huge difference in someone else’s life.
       The focus may be an act of giving or maybe even a thought of goodwill toward another when we might have otherwise felt jealous of him or her. Yes, that’s right, even thoughts of love or empathy toward others are an essential element of the mitzvah to love others.  Now, the first few focuses may seem a bit forced or unnatural.  But stick with it!  Because we’re growing, even if the growth is not perceptible at that moment.  Over time, we will be able to look back and see how much we ourselves have grown from the collection of focuses we have accomplished in Chaim’s merit.
      Sometimes we see a certain person and think, “Oh wow! She’s such an amazing person, she has foster  kids, invites homeless people to her Shabbos table and even bakes her own challah.” Or, “He’s such a doer; he’s president of the shul, he’s on hatzalah, and gives tons to tzedakah. I can never do that. I’m not so amazing.” But no!!! It is amazing that they do all that. But Hashem knows that a smile at one’s spouse, parent or child on a stressful day might be even a greater act of chesed and might make you the true giver.
       This week’s focus (yes, we’re already growing!) is to commit to become a member of the “Refuah for Chaim” family and to commit to learn about, and do, Determined Acts of Kindness for the merit of Chaim Yissachar ben Chaya Mushkit and other cholim.

                                                     Week One

Introduction to "Determined Acts of Kindness"

FOCUS OF THE WEEK :

Make a real commitment to join the learning and practice of Determined Acts of Kindness for Chaim.

R' Moshe Tzvi Weinberg

R' Weinberg is a rebbe at Torah Academy of Bergen County where he teaches gemarah, chumash,

 mishnah and chassidus. Additionally he gives a variety of inspirational shiurim throughout the week in the broader Teaneck community.   Most importantly, he is Chaim's brother in law.