A high end grocer in a frum community is hosting a raffle over chanuka. The raffle is for private chef dinners, wines and the like. And of course, meat boards etc. I get it. Raising money for a good cause sometimes requires going over the top.
You enter the raffle by spending money in their store. No proceeds go to EY, to causes, etc. No trip to EY. Not even an offer of “donate to Zaka or Hatzalah” to earn an extra ticket. The store owner has every right to make a parnassah and run a promotion. But this is just so distasteful.
We have over a hundred brothers and sisters held captive in hell on earth. Jewish soldiers are literally being murdered daily. Zaka and Hatzala members are struggling with the shock of what they saw and need money for therapy.
Please, celebrate chanukah and promote your businesses. But do so with some taste. We are a special nation, an Am Hanivchar. Chanukah marks an amazing time, when a hishtadlus and emunah saw nissim. This is the time to focus on more than your daled amos, your business or your food. What does it say about a community when this is an acceptable way to behave?
We are better than this.