It’s been a time of turmoil and tribulation for so many. Wherever one turns, there’s confusion, uncertainty – and worry.

Among those impacted financially by the fallout of the Covid-19 pandemic are the precious yungeleit of Eretz Yisroel. Already living on a shoestring budget, in many cases their day-to-day expenses increased, as spouses were forced to remain home, while others incurred additional costs due to the lockdowns. 

Many people watched as events unfolded. One of those people decided to take action. 

“As another lockdown was announced in Israel,” remarked Chuni Herzka, “I imagined the pain of the Mir yungeleit and their families, many of whom were entering the Yom Tov season without basic necessities because their wives had been out of work for months.”

Chuny and his wife Chavie reached out to the hanhalah of Yeshivas Mir Yerushalayim, expressing their desire to assist the yeshiva’s yungeleit during this most trying period by giving every yungerman a 500-shekel tosefes chag stipend. 

“My wife and I realized that even though we could not spend Yom Tov in Eretz Yisroel, with this small gift to the yungeleit we could share in the simchas Yom Tov of these 5,000+ families, whose mesirus nefesh for Torah is awe-inspiring.”

Chuny was learning in yeshiva during the dark days of the ‘08 financial crisis, when yungeleit and rabbeim hadn’t been paid in months. 

“I watched them from up close, day after day, with amazement,” remembers Chuni. “They continued to learn, seemingly unaffected, with the same geshmak and bren, as if nothing in the world mattered other than the sugya they were poring over. Now, as I consider all that has gone on, what better way could there be to approach the Yom Hadin than by entering into such a partnership with these exalted bnei Torah?”

A 32-year-old leader in the healthcare industry, Chuni has stepped up as a leader in the field of hachzokas haTorah and tzedakah, demonstrating how deeply he feels the plight of the bnei Torah of the Mir.

For Chuny and Chavi Herzka, it’s all about taking achrayus. 

The yungeleit have never shirked their responsibility and commitment to their Gemaros, and the Herzkas have responded in kind, taking achrayus for the heroes of the bais medrash at Yeshivas Mir Yerushalayim.