My Dear Brethren: As we are soon entering upon a most solemn holiday, Yom Kippur, we are reminded once again that tragedies do not take a holiday. This past week our sister Grand Jurisdictions of Florida, Georgia and North Carolina were delivered a devastating natural disaster. This Region was hit by Hurricane Helene with multiple tornadoes, torrential rain and flooding of unprecedented strength and violence. The Masonic Service Association of North America (MSANA) has once again stepped into the forefront to raise emergency funds to help those most negatively impacted. As Freemasons we are taught from our very first lecture during the conferral of the Degree of Entered Apprentice that we are to provide for the widows, wives, and children of our Brethren. Today, I am asking you to embrace this core tenet and offer what you can to help our distressed brothers, their families and communities in the Southeast of America. Your Grand Lodge has contributed significantly to this noble relief effort coordinated through the Masonic Service Association’s Disaster Relief Fund. I am asking you to match your Grand Lodge by individually contributing to this altruistic endeavor and help to bring a ray of sunlight during the upcoming holidays to those adversely affected. You can donate directly to the MSANA (see the attached MSANA Appeal Letter) or you can make your donation directly to the Masonic Brotherhood Fund and earmark your payment for the Disaster Relief Fund. For your convenience send donations to the Masonic Brotherhood Fund online at nybrotherhoodfund.org/donate (Designate Disaster Relief) or by mail through the USPS addressed to The Masonic Brotherhood Fund, 71 West 23rd Street, New York, NY 10010. Your donation will in general aid the entire community in tandem with our fellow distressed Brethren in Florida, Georgia, and North Carolina. The death and destruction seen across these states and the region is unfathomable. We must stand up again as a fraternity and be counted amongst the concerned members of our society. I want you to always remember that “It’s Called Brotherhood!!” We do the right thing because it is the right thing to do! Please note that all donations to the Masonic Brotherhood Fund and the MSANA are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law. We shall keep our fellow Brothers in the Southeast in our prayers in the days and weeks ahead. Mojdah and I wish our Brothers of the Jewish Faith and all of you a most blessed Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Hopefully, we together can make the season a little brighter for those less fortunate. With kindest fraternal regards, M:.W:.Steven Adam Rubin Grand Master, Grand Lodge F & AM State of New York