When the phone rang last year, Aryeh Luria, a 22-year-old married yeshiva student from Jerusalem, learned that he had won a luxury apartment in Jerusalem. He did not shout or jump for joy. He stopped everything and recited Mizmor L'Todah, Psalm 100, word for word.
Thousands of people had watched the raffle live. Luria said, "One phone call changed my entire life".
>> Get your 2-for-1 Dream Raffle tickets now
Asked whether he ever thought he would win, Luria answered, "Honestly, no. I never thought I'd win". This year, someone else will get that call.
Am Yisrael Chai's Dream Raffle is back for its ninth consecutive year. The grand prize is a brand new apartment worth $1.3 million in the Lev Ha'Ir development in Jerusalem's Givat Mordechai neighborhood, with a spacious balcony, parking and a storage room. A winner who prefers cash can take $700,000 instead. Chairman Shmuel Sackett calls it "our most beautiful design yet".
Along the way there are bonus raffles for $15,000 in cash. The next one is on Rosh Chodesh Kislev.
>> Get in before the $15,000 bonus raffle
New this year is the Super Ticket. Add just NIS 70 at checkout, and every ticket in your order becomes a Super Ticket, even if you buy 100. If you win the apartment with one, it comes with $25,000 worth of furniture and home appliances for the living room, dining room and bedrooms.
The raffle has been running since 2018, and it has given away eight Jerusalem apartments to eight different families, from Hawaii to Beitar Illit. Every winner agrees to publish their full name and photo and to appear in a video. Sackett said, "Imagine if we announced that the winner was 'S.G. from Chicago'. Nobody would believe us". The organization says tens of thousands of people in 78 countries take part.
The money goes to causes too: kollels serving Litvish, Chassidic, Dati Leumi and Sephardic communities, Torah scrolls for IDF bases, assistance for farmers, a bulletproof ambulance for Sderot, and Shabbat food packages for families in need. So every ticket is a chance at the apartment, and either way your money goes to those causes.
The grand raffle is scheduled, G-d willing, for the 2nd of Adar II, 5787, and will be broadcast live. The launch offer is on now, so every ticket you buy comes with a second one free. Maybe this year, your phone will be the one that rings
>> Enter the Dream Raffle while the 2-for-1 offer lasts
