Sometimes it takes just one man with an idea that can change the world and the lives of everyone around us, people we don’t know and may never meet. Steve Savitsky is that kind of person, always thinking ahead and not only asking, “Why?” but “What if?”
Mr. Savitsky is by nature a modest person who expressed his satisfaction with the gifts G-d has granted him which have enabled him to use his creativity and innovation to better the worlds of so many people. For Mr. Savitsky, the idea was a combination of financially assisting those in need combined with the ability and reach of social media. Allow me to explain.
He relates that he first observed the effectiveness of the power of social media to move people toward a cause while in Beit Shemesh a few months ago. One of the many communities there created a WhatsApp list to reach out to ordinary people to entreat them to assist those in need financially with whatever amount they were comfortable giving, even a few dollars.
As Steve Savitsky explains, the process does not work along the same lines as the major Jewish philanthropic organizations, or the way our local shuls or yeshivas might function. He explains that the concept runs according to the philosophy of “Aniyei Ircha Kodmim,” which means that when it comes to selecting a charity you would like to donate to, those in your immediate surroundings take precedence.
And that’s where the Mitzvah Opportunity comes in, this Aniyei Ircha approach to charitable giving that takes a bottom-up approach rather than a top-down one. The way Steve Savitsky describes his mission, it’s rather simple and can include anyone in the community and beyond who wants to meaningfully assist their neighbors in their time of need.
The 5 Towns-Far Rockaway version of this campaign only started in the last few months. The “Mitzvah Opportunity,” as it is known, asks people to donate whatever amount they can to a weekly campaign. So, how are the people on the receiving end of these grassroots efforts faring?
According to Mr. Savitsky, any random member of our community can suddenly lose a job or experience a business reversal. It can be people who are inundated by a sudden illness or medical condition in the family that results in an unexpected expenditure or loss of income.
Or it can be a situation where there is a shalom bayis issue which may or may not be exacerbated by a loss of income. It can be in situations where people fall behind on a mortgage or a car payment, which compounds whatever other issues they are dealing with.
At present, Mr. Savitsky has accrued a WhatsApp group of 500 people and the more who join the better able they are to provide assistance to those in need. So far, the typical campaign averages contributions from approximately 100 participants in the WhatsApp group and the amount raised per family or individual ranges from $10,000 to $12,000.
While that amount might not change the overall financial trajectory for any given family, it does provide some short-term relief. In addition, and perhaps just as importantly, the donation communicates to the individual or family that their community cares about them.
My conversation with Mr. Savitsky shifted to what is going on in the world and in particular, in our mostly insulated communities, that warrants the creation of this type of grassroots weekly campaign to assist and lend a helping hand to those in our midst.
As we discussed the matter, it became abundantly clear that this is a project that defines “Aniyei Ircha” at its most basic level. The concept that people who are struggling in our midst might take precedence over larger and greater tzedakah commitments has been something our communities have been grappling with for decades. For example, is the yeshiva in Israel that your children attended considered a local charity or is supporting them secondary to the needs of local institutions and individual or family situations?
This “Mitzvah Opportunity” in a sense transcends the needs of the bigger organizations and causes that we referred to in a different context about three weeks ago.
Obviously, Mr. Savitsky is not sharing the identities of any of the cases he has been presented with, but he does go into some detail regarding the hardships that some people fall into that have been brought to his attention over the last few weeks.
“I’m talking about a 35-year-old woman with four children whose husband left her and she’s hoping with the help of the rabbanim that he will eventually give her a get. She works in the community and is already receiving Tomchei Shabbos and other types of standard community assistance,” Mr. Savitsky explains.
In this case, she approached a co-worker in her place of employment to say that she heard about the Mitzvah Opportunity program. The person she was speaking with said that she thought she wanted to know how to contact them so that she could contribute. But no, her friend got it all wrong. When the person inquiring realized she was not being understood, she made it clear that she and her family are in need of financial assistance.
The beautiful thing about this Mitzvah Opportunity WhatsApp group is that it encourages those who want to be involved to donate any amount. Mr. Savitsky says he was recently stopped in Cedarhurst by a high school student who told him that he donated $25 to one of their recent campaigns. And that’s part of the intrigue and allure of these campaigns: you can never give too much or too little to help out someone in need. You respond to the various campaigns depending on what your situation is at the present.
As I mentioned, right now there are 500 people on the Mitzvah Opportunity WhatsApp list with the short-term goal over the next few weeks of bringing it up to 1,000 members. Mr. Savitsky reiterates that the need in the community is tremendous. So far, over a relatively brief period, he has managed to raise and distribute more than $100,000. He adds that the average relief campaign has around 125 people participating, raising between $10K to $12K. And he notes that once the campaign goes up on WhatsApp, it takes an average of 90 minutes to reach the goal set.
This is an amazing use of social media to participate in a communal mitzvah campaign that impacts families and reverberates to an extent that is difficult to imagine. It is a unique use of WhatsApp and indeed, as it says up top, a great Mitzvah Opportunity.
