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Anonymous Donor Contributes $80,000 to Gainesville Mikveh

By , GAINESVILLE, FL

He’s heard of those dream-come-true stories, but he never imagined he’d experience one himself.

Rabbi Berel Goldman, Chabad representative to Gainseville, Florida, closed on a 6,000 sq. foot property for a new Chabad center and mikveh facilities three weeks ago. “We were grateful to have bought the property,” says Rabbi Goldman. “But we had no money with which to begin building.”

This was going to be an upstream swim for him, he thought, as he began to consider various fundraising efforts. Rabbi Goldman is not afraid of hard work. But where to begin? “Where would that big break come from-just to get the ball rolling?” he asked.

He prayed hard.

One week later he received a phone call from an anonymous donor in New York City who asked if he needed to build a mikveh.

Within a week, Rabbi Goldman received a check for $80,000 towards the new mikveh.

“Here I am racking my brain trying to figure out how to generate funds,” he says, “when a fellow Jew in New York—someone I don’t know, but a G-dsend to be sure—is suddenly inspired to donate money towards a mikveh.”

Who said miracles don’t happen?

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