"Don't Give Me Kimcha D'Pischa", Who's Behind This Surprising Advertisement?

Amid the large advertisements these days calling for generous Jews to help needy families with Kimcha D'Pischa, a different type of advertisement stands out with an entirely different text: "Don't give me Kimcha D'Pischa".

The person behind these advertisements is Raphael Wahl, the director of the Chassidic branch of the global crowdfunding company 'Charidy' in New York. "I'm originally Israeli," Wahl explains, "and I was actually the first to introduce the concept of 'crowdfunding' to the Haredi sector in Israel with the first campaign I managed for the Belz Chassidim, commonly known as 'matching'. This led to unprecedented resonance, resulting in hundreds of millions of shekels in donations from what is supposedly the poorest sector. I was then asked by the company to move abroad to run the Chassidic branch, and that's how I relocated to New York."

Supporting Our Brothers

Wahl notes that since arriving in the U.S., he has been consistently surprised. "Everywhere I go, I discover that service providers are Jews – the driver in the van, the taxi driver, the bus driver, the garbage truck driver, the municipal sewage unblocker, they are all Haredi Jews alongside of course the large businesses owned by the Haredi community. The dual message I became aware of is, firstly, it's amazing to see that devout people who observe religious details get up every day at dawn to start the day with a page of Gemara, end it with a page of Gemara, and between those times are willing to engage in any job available and do it with pride. Even if the job is unpleasant or doesn't seem respectful. They are not familiar with these concepts; for them, not working is the greatest shame.

"The second and beautiful message here is that Jews in the U.S. are aware of the additional value of supporting their brothers, and indeed prefer to employ them, even if it costs more or is less convenient. This leads to an amazing phenomenon – Jews in the U.S. live at a significantly higher economic level than all the non-Jews living around them. If I walk down a street in Monsey, for instance, I can tell their homes by their appearance and know where Jews live and where others do, because the gap in quality of life is significant.

"By the way, when entering stores in the U.S., you can see that over 80% of the products are manufactured by Jewish-owned Haredi companies. This is something we don’t see in Israel, as it's just the opposite – the vast majority of products are imported from abroad, and the number of manufacturing companies in Israel is very small relative to the population."

Wahl decided to delve deeper into understanding how these things are managed. "The construction and renovation topic also troubled me," he adds. "I couldn't understand why in Israel when people renovate their homes, they mainly support outsiders and forget to care for their brothers. Before Passover, it stands out especially because people are willing to hire non-Jewish cleaners just to pay a bit less, or to hire non-Jewish contractors to save some costs. I mean no disrespect to them," he explains, "on the contrary, they also prefer to use their kin, which is the most elementary thing, so why don't we, who are commanded in the Torah 'Your brother shall live with you,' do the obvious thing?

"Take care of your brothers, think about them," he adds. "Sometimes your neighbor in the building works in exactly the field you need, or a friend from the synagogue can provide you with the service you’re seeking. How is it that we abandon those closest to us? As someone dealing with finances, it's really upsetting. A quick calculation shows what a gigantic amount of money we bring into the state, yet so much money goes out. Why?"

Unprecedented Campaign

As someone who writes a regular column in the Haredi weekly 'Mishpacha', Wahl raised the pressing questions, leading to something amazing. "After I published the first column on the subject, I received over 1,000 responses," he reveals. "The column also crossed into the general media and generated interest there too. Apparently, I touched on a very painful point for Israelis, one they somehow feared bringing up until now. It turned out that everyone was waiting for a solution, and honestly, I also hoped that by raising the issue, someone would bring about a change. I also published a series of follow-up columns to the first one, presenting ideas I learned from living in the U.S. that could be effective. But I never really thought the change would come through me, as I currently live abroad and can't practically promote the issue up close."

Then, among the many responses, there were those who urged him to start a campaign on the subject. "I wrote a text and sent it to a designer friend to get his opinion on it. To my surprise, he designed the ad for me for free...

"This isn't a campaign for collecting money or donations, quite the opposite," Wahl emphasizes, "the campaign is simply to raise awareness that we have so many quality professionals within our community, and even if they are a bit more expensive, it’s appropriate that we ensure they have sustenance before anything else. The message of the ad is 'Don't give me Kimcha D'Pischa, I want to give, not receive.'"

Wahl sent the advertisement to a few friends, and while he was still considering how to distribute it, he received calls from newsletters offering to publish it for free. Later, a print shop owner from Modi'in Illit announced he would print 4,000 street ads at no charge. "Everything moved so quickly; I just needed to find someone to put up the ads," Wahl adds. "And that too was resolved quickly – Nati Kreuzer, CEO of 'Netiv Pro Media', offered to donate the posting of the ads and commit to any number I would request."

Wahl sounds very excited as he sums up: "In just a few days, a campaign worth tens of thousands of shekels was launched without spending a single shekel, all by contributions from good people who want to encourage buying from our brothers and want us to help each other earn a living with dignity."

Since the campaign started, he hasn't stopped hearing its reverberations. "People constantly contact me saying they have put it into practice, and during this period when almost all of us need professional help, they really try hard to care for their brothers."

He also shares an amazing personal story about it: "Recently, I needed to buy a new car, and when I checked my options, I found I had two choices – to buy the car from a non-Jew living in the Lakewood area at a cheaper price, or from a Jew in Crown Heights at a higher price. This became a difficult dilemma, as someone writing columns about this topic, I knew how important it is to put in a little extra effort to buy from a Jew, but at the same time, I felt my case was different, and I had many excuses: 'The non-Jew’s model has leather seats, automatic ignition, silver trim, and so on,' but on the other hand, how could I preach to the world, and when it came to me, do the opposite?"

"Ultimately, I decided to buy from the Jew. I ordered an Uber and within an hour and twenty minutes, I met him in Crown Heights, a Chabad Hasid in his 60s. After we closed the deal on the car, it turned out as an Israeli I lacked certain documents needed to register the car in my name, and getting those documents would take a few days. Then something happened that can only occur between Jews. The car owner asked: 'How will you get home?' I replied: 'By Uber, as I don't have a car.'

'Isn't that a waste of money?' he wondered, 'Take this car in the meantime,' handing me the keys to a substitute vehicle. I needed nothing more to draw conclusions," he concludes emotionally, "and may we always have the fortune to do business with our brothers, to support them and not others, and remember the verse 'Your brother shall live with you.'"