Click here to help Am Yisrael Chai and join the raffle

Arutz Sheva spoke to Am Yisrael Chai Foundation Founder and Director Shmuel Sackett about the Foundations endeavors and latest raffle of a million-dollar apartment overlooking the Temple Mount.

"The foundation started actually in 2001, and it was to help Jewish farmers plant fruit trees all across Israel. I just want to tell you and your listeners that until today, which is basically 19 years, we've planted close to 500,000 new fruit trees across Israel. And why fruit trees? Because fruit trees provide a parnassa, a livelihood, sustenance for the farmers who work them. There's grape trees which they turn into wine, there's olive oil, and and we've planted almost every kind of fruit tree imaginable.

"When I say we, the Foundation gives it to the farm; we don't share in any of the profits whatsoever. It's for them completely and it really has been a tremendous blessing to them and their families and a lot of the settlements; we've literally planted all across Israel."

Sackett continued: "There was another aspect of farmers, and that is farmers have been suffering for years now from what they call here in Israel agricultural terror, where balloons, fire balloons are coming over the Gaza border and literally burning tens of thousands of acres or dunam of land, and nobody was helping them.

"So the Foundation has given that a literally hundreds of thousands of dollars help these farmers replant, regrow, get their fields going. We also help the Israel Dog Unit which is the number one canine unit in all of Israel that helps with search and rescue, and that helps with anti-terror. In the last few years they have literally found I think something like 30 or 40 Jews here who went missing and the police gave up. These guys are an unbelievable group of people that work 24/7.

"Now the foundation is focused on helping Israeli small businesses that have been hit hard by coronavirus. You should know it's not just keeping a business open that's important, it's all the families behind the business. Many businesses factories have workers, a factory goes out, it could be 20 families that now won't have a livelihood. So we, so far, have given out just in the last month, right now it's about $25,000 that we've given out to keep these small businesses going and growing, and with G-d's help we're going to do a lot more."

He tells about the raffle: "This is the third year we're doing something, you know, crazy; plain and simple. But there's a lot of raffles out there, and I don't want to take away from any other organization that has wonderful prizes - but nothing like this: A $1,000,000 prize, literally a $1,000,000 apartment in a luxury building in the heart of Jerusalem with an incredible view of the Temple Mount, which means the 3rd and final Bet Hamikdash, you will see from the window of your apartment.

"This is the third year we're doing this and yet the one who wins it, I give him the keys and it's his forever. In this beautiful building there's a gym, it's an absolutely gorgeous place, parking spot, and I will be very very happy to put up the mezuzah with somebody, on just one condition: Whoever wins has to treat me in the apartment to coffee and a piece of cheesecake; that's the deal."

Click here to help Am Yisrael Chai and join the raffle