{"id":6713,"date":"2023-03-15T11:30:49","date_gmt":"2023-03-15T15:30:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ezermizion.org\/blog\/?p=6713"},"modified":"2023-03-15T11:30:49","modified_gmt":"2023-03-15T15:30:49","slug":"interview-with-rav-chollak-part-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ezermizion.org\/blog\/interview-with-rav-chollak-part-3\/","title":{"rendered":"Interview with Rav Chollak part 3"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

After so many years in the field, it is hard to surprise Rav Chollak. Still, he says that the volunteers\u2019 readiness to help and their dedication during the Corona period managed to move him at a new level. It was the test that he sees as the symbol of the strength of the organization and its volunteer network. \u201cEven at the height of the Corona, when panic pervaded the streets, the branch directors and the volunteers were not broken. On the contrary, they expanded activity, helped thousands of families, and displayed creativity in the ways they found to help, in spite of the restrictions and the necessary caution.\u201d Rav Chollak explains how difficult this challenge was. \u201cYou need to remember that there are thirty thousand new cancer patients every year,\u201d he presents the chilling data. \u201cThese patients were not going anywhere and still needed the extensive work we always do for their benefit. In addition to them, there were other populations, plus the Corona patients, who needed special and complex help. Beyond this was the existential anxiety of those defined as being \u201cat medical risk.\u201d And our volunteers overcame all this in a remarkable way!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

How do you continue without losing sensitivity, in spite of the intensity of the pain? Rav Chollak\u2019s secret is to remember the place of the patient, to feel what he is feeling: \u201cI\u2019m telling you, someone who is sick is unimaginably miserable. You healthy people, who can hold a sefer <\/em>(Religious book) in your hands and who are baruch Hashem <\/em>(thank G-d) well and functioning, cannot understand what life looks like for someone who senses the Angel of Death hovering over his head. No one should know of it, but there are people who undergo very difficult times in their brief lives here on this earth. The only way to understand what they are going through to some small degree is by trying to see them, to feel what they are feeling, to see the world through their eyes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen the patient is someone who lives alone, this is a tragedy. When the patient is someone who lives within a family cell, this is an even greater tragedy,\u201d says Rav Chollak, his voice cracking. \u201cI daven<\/em> (pray) that no one should know what a terrible thing it is to live in the shadow of daily fear. It drives the family insane, destabilizes one\u2019s mental health, creates tension and stress, and turns life into Gehinnom (hell) on earth.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0\u201cIt\u2019s a matter of middah k\u2019neged middah<\/em>,\u2019 Rav Chollak says. \u201cWhen one Jew helps another Jew, it removes from him Heavenly Accusers. Hashem (G-d) helps anyone who helps his fellow. I\u2019ll never forget the shmuess<\/em> (lecture) I heard, as a bachur<\/em> (young man) ,from Rav Chaim Shmuelevitz zt\u201dl<\/em> on Erev Yom Kippur in Yeshivas Tiferet Tzion. Rav Chaim started crying and said: \u2018You want advice for Yom Kippur? Be good to each other, do chessed <\/em>with each other, daven <\/em>for each other \u2014 that\u2019s the only way to come in to Yom Hadin (Day of Judgement) .\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPeople have to understand that the way we thank Hakadosh Baruch Hu for our being healthy and for not having a sick child c\u201dv<\/em>, is by helping others. The moment we help, we show that this is not the exclusive tzarah <\/em>(hardship) of this sick or suffering Jew; it is Klal Yisrael\u2019s (the Jewish nation’s) problem,\u201d Rabbi Chollak says fervently. \u201cThe goal is to think of the next person. If you cannot do it personally, help with money. Do something. I saw that the Arizal writes that the whole reason man was created in this world was in order to help another. Suddenly, after 120 (upon death) , people will discover that they have tons of zechuyot<\/em> (merits) , because they were a part of Ezer Mizion.<\/p>\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"pinterest\"<\/a>\"linkedin\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After so many years in the field, it is hard to surprise Rav Chollak. Still, he says that the volunteers\u2019 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[974],"class_list":["post-6713","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cancer-support-division","tag-cancer-support"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ezermizion.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6713","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ezermizion.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ezermizion.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ezermizion.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ezermizion.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6713"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ezermizion.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6713\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6715,"href":"https:\/\/ezermizion.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6713\/revisions\/6715"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ezermizion.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6713"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ezermizion.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6713"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ezermizion.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6713"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}