Thousands Of Donations, Thousands Of Tefilos, Thousands Of Support Grants - Vaad harabanim : Vaad harabanim Thousands Of Donations, Thousands Of Tefilos, Thousands Of Support Grants - Vaad harabanim

Thousands Of Donations, Thousands Of Tefilos, Thousands Of Support Grants

13/17/5776 20.09.2016

The place is kind of dilapidated. The floors are grey and worn, the walls could use a couple coats of paint, and the furniture… forget about it.
It is the office of R’ Moshe Ordelich, who, ensconced in this seemingly primitive background, is sitting in front of a fast, up-to-date computer that is connected by protected network to the main data base, and is equipped with the latest software, plus some specially coded programs that the average executive will never need.
That’s because the average executive doesn’t have to manage the operations of Vaad Harabbanim.
Right now, R’ Moshe is very busy with the Rosh Hashanah fundraising drive.

Q: Vaad Harabbanim runs a number of campaigns during the course of the year. Is there anything special about this one?tishrei_5777_vaad_harabanim_03
A: Well, yes, the scope of the donations, for instance.
The contributions come in from all over. We see an absolutely amazing level of public participation, especially when it comes to the Rosh Hashanah campaign. The sheer volume of the contributions makes the impression that virtually every Jewishly-aware individual in the world is participating, to the extent of his financial ability. It is moving to see it.
So if you ask whether the Rosh Hashanah campaign is special, the answer is yes. It is a really major undertaking, with a very high level of donor participation.

Q: Okay, so you keep track of contributions that come in, and where the money goes. But who keeps track of the names and prayer requests (kvittelach) that are given in, let’s say, by telephone?
A: Nobody keeps track of it.

Q: What do you mean by that?
A: What I mean is, we have a computer program designed for this specific purpose, so nobody needs to keep track of it manually. The name/s, the prayer request, the sum of the donation, and the details of the donor are all entered into the relevant data fields, for easy access and rapid delivery to the workers in the field.

Q: What is the “field”?
A: Well, if the donor requested prayers at the Kosel, we have our sheluchim at the Kosel. If he requested the Mekomos Hakedoshim, we have a group of sheluchim who do that. If he requested the Gedolei Hador, we have special authorized messengers who have VIP access to the Gedolim even at times when the public doesn’t.
Thanks to the computer program that was coded for us, in one click we can just print all the relevant details to PDF, and email the tefilah list to whoever needs to receive it. That way, things move fast. We don’t rely on donkeys for delivery.

Q: So how late can a person send in his prayer request?
A: Almost right up to the wire. But don’t count on that. Send in the names early, because if everyone calls at the last minute, and wants to speak to a live representative, and tell them: and Moishe Menachem Mendel ben Chaya Rivka Beilah, and …, and …, what happens is the staff can’t handle all the calls at the last minute. The caller will get put on hold, or get a busy signal. There’s nothing we can do about that.

Q: Okay, so you can handle late-arriving prayer requests. What about the late-arriving donations, though? How do they get distributed in time?
A: It is just a matter of statistics. That’s not such a problem.

Q: Could you explain what this has to do with statistics?
A: Sure. We take a tally of how much money came in so far, and, based on our experience of recent years, project statistically how much more will come in until the chag. Then we go and take a gemach loan for that amount, and grant the money to the specific funds that provide support to the recipients. That’s how it works. Sounds complicated, but really it’s not.

Q: I have just a few more questions.
A: But I ran out of time.

Q: Okay, just one quickie. How did Vaad Harabbanim come to be the central tzedaka organization? Is it because you have top fundraisers?
A: We don’t have fundraisers on our staff. Everybody knows about us already. The Gedolim pounded it into people’s heads that the best thing they could possibly do is give their tzedaka money to Vaad Harabbanim, and they do. We just send out brochures every once in a while, and hang up some posters, to remind people. That’s why we don’t need to waste money on fundraising.
And please come back after the chagim. Sorry, but we are real busy right now…

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