RABBINICAL BOARD
Rabbi Yehuda Azancot
Rabbi Shmuel Choueka
Rabbi David Ozeri
Rabbi Meyer Yedid
BOARD MEMBERS
Harry Adjmi
Mark Adjmi
Elliot Aizer
David Assis
Morris A. Dweck
Jeffery Franco
Joey A. Franco
Albert Gammal
Jack I. Hidary
Nathan Hoffman
Zuki Jarada
Michael Jemal
Abraham J. Kassin
Gabe Khezrie
Alan C. Maleh
Joseph Mansour
Mark D. Massry
Moshe Nachum
Steven S Safdieh
Sammy Saka
N. Sam Sasson
Freddy Sayegh
Leon Shama
Zudy Shehebar
Abe E. Sutton
Michael S. Wahba
Isaac Yedid
Ezra A. Zaafarani
INITIATIVE
Dear fellow community member,
As our community grows, there are numerous opportunities for us to join in celebration!
We would like to introduce you to a simple new concept in collecting funds for such occasions via the Semahot initiative.
While a simha - a milah, a bar-mitzvah, or a wedding - is a tremendously joyous occasion for the family, for many it is also a source of great stress. The cost of raising a family in our community continues to rise, and the added and often unexpected financial pressures that semahot and their associated costs bring, can push overtaxed budgets far past their breaking points. With these costs weighing on the minds of parents, the elation felt at momentous occasions is often marred with financial anxiety.
If given the opportunity, we would all want to help our friends celebrate their happy times with complete peace of mind. Unfortunately, the sums needed just seem too great a financial burden for any one individual to bear.
The Semahot initiative was created to give all community members the opportunity to assist their friends who are struggling with these huge costs and to help alleviate some of the financial pressures associated with making a simha and its associated costs.
HOW IT WORKS
APPLY
A family applies for assistance and undergoes thorough research by the Semahot initiative board to ensure that the money is needed and the planned Simha is financially responsible. Multiple methods will be used to research the validity of a need before giving it "verified" status.
WE CHARGE YOUR CARD
After the need is verified, all participating community members will be charged via their credit card which is stored on file.
Participants will not be charged more than:
$2.60 for a new born baby
$5 for a bar-mitzvah
$26 for a wedding
Initial response to the initiative has been very enthusiastic. We have already obtained commitments from many who wish to participate. We believe that we will have thousands of people signed up in a short period of time. If we use a modest number of one thousand participants, the above charges will add up to:
$2,600 for a new born baby
$5,000 for a bar-mitzvah
$26,000 for a wedding
All this will happen at the click of a button, where the credit cards will instantly be charged the designated amount.
NO MORE THAN $100 A MONTH
Participating members will never be charged more than $100 in any given month.
BENEFITS
Here are some of the benefits of this initiative:
Save families
Save families from taking on unrepayable debt.
Save time
Minimize the time-consuming task of collecting money.
Privacy
Avoid the embarrassment that many have to suffer in these situations as they beg their family and friends for assistance. This initiative will protect their privacy and give them the chance to make their simha with the utmost dignity.
Sharing the burden
By sharing the burden together at a minimal and affordable amount, we will all have the chance to participate in this great mitzvah which is often the privilege of only a limited number of individuals.
Volunteer Opportunities
Please send us a message and we will be in touch
