Getting married? Congratulations!
Everything is with G-d’s help (B”SD)
An ancient Jewish custom was that when a Jew celebrated a joyful occasion, such as the wedding of a son or daughter, he would also invite the poor to the festive Mitzvah meal.
This custom was revived about twenty years ago by Keren HaTzadik in memory of Rabbi Aryeh Levin ZT”L. While the management of Keren HaTzadik was accompanying Maran Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu ZT”L to the synagogue, people would approach him for advice. One time, a man told the Rabbi that his daughter was getting married. He shared that as a child, his grandparents told him that their parents had said before their wedding: “Know that at the wedding, people dressed in rags will come – why? So that you will marry and remember, all your life, that you must give Ma’aser Kesafim (tithing) – ten percent of your income.” Since weddings back then were small (about 100 guests), there were two tables for 5 poor people each. To this day, they remember their obligation to give tithing every month.
Maran Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu ZT”L asked the man, “What do you want to do with this story?”
The man replied, “I want to renew the custom of the ‘Meal of the Days’ and do the same at my daughter’s wedding.” The Rabbi asked him, “Are you prepared for people who take food from bins to be at your wedding?” The Rabbi then added: “The members of the ‘Keren HaTzadik’ organization are following us; give them the donation, and they will distribute food to poor families on the day of the wedding.”
He ruled that it is proper for every celebrant, as part of the wedding preparations, to contact a charity organization that provides food to the poor and donate an amount equivalent to or as close as possible to 10% of the number of portions ordered for the wedding feast. Today, since weddings are large and the value of a 10% tithe can be very high, it was ruled that everyone should give according to their ability.
Today, this custom has taken root such that anyone celebrating a Brit Milah, Pidyon HaBen, Bar/Bat Mitzvah, or wedding contacts Keren HaTzadik and donates for the “Meal for the Poor” that takes place on that very day.
Over time, as the number of wedding guests grew immensely—from a meal at the bride’s home with only close family and a few local poor people—the feast became massive, and the number of poor people grew so much that celebrants stopped inviting them, and this beautiful custom ceased.
The instruction of Maran Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu ZT”L led to the renewal of the “Meal for the Poor” custom.
The Gaon Rabbi She’ar Yashuv Cohen ZT”L: Surplus food from a wedding is considered part of the Meal for the Poor.
A story that will move you:
A man from Ramot, Jerusalem, told us that a few years ago he read Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu’s story about the renewal of the custom and wanted to donate as well.
About two weeks before his daughter’s wedding, on the day he intended to donate to “Keren HaTzadik,” the groom asked the parents to buy several electrical appliances. The cost was exactly the same amount the father planned to donate for the Meal for the Poor. There was a great dilemma. The groom asked, “Why do we need to give so much just to teach us to give tithing?”
Nevertheless, the father decided to give the money to the Meal for the Poor. “I want you to know,” the father told us, “that every time I speak with them now, they mention how happy they are that I gave the full amount. Every month, they are careful to give tithing from their income, thanks to Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu’s renewal of the Meal for the Poor custom.”
A donation to the “Meal for the Poor” saved a family from a fatal car accident. 
A man from Safed called to say his daughter was getting married in Petah Tikva. He asked for prayers that he would return home safely because he knew he would be driving back very late.
He gave a large donation to the Meal for the Poor. On his way back to Safed, his eldest son, who was driving, fell asleep at the wheel. The car fell into a ravine in the Galilee mountains and rolled dozens of meters down the slope. He wrote an email from Ziv Hospital in Safed the next morning, after the doctor told him that the entire family had emerged without any significant damage except for scratches.
The sides of the car, which was completely crushed against the rocks, had to be sawn off to rescue them. They were driving a Mitsubishi L300—a large vehicle—which flipped and was mangled. It was an open miracle, and he is certain it was in the merit of the donation he gave to Keren HaTzadik and the prayers for the bride, groom, and family.
By donating a “Meal for the Poor” on your day of joy, you will merit the best advocates and blessings, headed by the Tzaddik Rabbi Aryeh Levin ZT”L, and the recommending Rabbis: Maran Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu ZT”L, Rabbi Aryeh Stern, Rabbi Shlomo Moshe Amar, and Rabbi Simcha HaKohen Kook Shlit”a. Most importantly, it will be the poor themselves who bless you and your household from the bottom of their hearts for all the good influences and true, complete joy.