Friday afternoon one of holiest women in the Jewish world passed away. Every shabbat for the past 3 decades, Rebbetzen Henny Machlis and her husband have opened their home to everyone - and I mean EVERYONE - who needed a shabbos meal. On a different level to just 'hosting'. Their small apartment would heave with over 100 people every Friday night. And again for lunch. And again for third meal on Shabbat afternoon. It was always a mix of widows, students, singles, people whose meals just fell through, homeless people, mentally ill people, yeshiva bochurim and seminary girls, families who couldn't afford to cook, tourists, rabbis and everyone in between. Everyone would be greeted with a warm smile and hug and thanked for coming. Everyone felt special and wanted. It gave dignity to the poor who would not want to spend shabbos without food or in a soup kitchen and it provided many people with their first shabbos experience - there, everyone was equal. There was always 'plenty of space' - even when there were chairs outside because inside every inch was packed. when my husband and I visited 2 years ago they had a homeless person who slept in their car at night. Why? Because who could miss out on the opportunity to give! Their home is the epitome of love for klal yisrael, in the purest sense. There are truly very few people like this in our generation in that giving was every fibre of their being. At her levaya, her son said that an old homeless lady visited her when she was having cancer treatment in Sloan Kettering. And what did Henny do? She saw the lady was tired and gave her her bed! A relative saw her walking around the hospital, wrapped in a blanket, looking for a new place to lie down.

Every week at 8pm there would be crowds of people waiting outside their door for it to open. And they knew that as many people relied on them for meals, whatever happened, they *had* to keep it going every week. People needed them. But financially they weren't supported by an organization - it was just them, this holy family, the Avraham and Sara of our generation, with an open heart and open arms to give.

But giving on this level is extremely expensive and stressful to maintain - and I know this because my husband is lucky enough to know the Rabbi well, and therefore also know the financial reality of their giving. Very often Rebbetzen Machlis would not start cooking (the 30 chickens!) until midnight on Thursday night because they were only just able to get the money to go to the store. At times it was even as late as Friday afternoon.

Now having just lost his amazing wife, the heart of the home, I know he will still carry on giving. And if we could all help him, just a little bit, to not have the same level of stress because of finances on top of everything else, it would make such a difference. The machlises do so much for the Jewish people - and they really need our help. It's rare to have the opportunity to directly give to such tzaddikim - but here it is. please help this holy family at this tragic time!