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This was from R’ Shay Schechter who is
the Assistant Rabbi at the White Shul
I honesty do not know where to start.
Driving to the airport on Wednesday
afternoon, I was filled with sadness and
incredibly broken spirits. I have
never been so sad to be visiting Eretz
Yisrael in my life.
I was feeling uncomfortable on so many
different levels; will my presence
be of any significance or meaning to
these most beloved families? Will they
just look at me as yet another
representative, from just another
passing through their grieving
home? Will I even have a chance to
explain where I come from, that I have
come to mourn with them, and convey
some of our collective thoughts and
feelings of their brothers and sisters in
America?
our heart to the Shaer, Frenkel and
Yifrach families respectively; so the
answer had to be to go, and to make the
very best of this most unfortunate
trip.
Getting stuck on the JFK runway for close
to two hours, I said to myself;
this special trip is starting off drastically
differently than I had
expected. I was meant to land at 12 PM in
Tel Aviv, go directly from the
airport to meet up with Rabbi Weinreb
from the OU, and visit the families;
and this plane delay would now throw off
the entire Israel arrangement.
But boy was I mistaken. This was a trip
that will be etched in my mind for
all posterity. It was the most inspiring and
uplifting trip I could have
ever made, and I simply have to share my
feelings with the tzibbur, who
felt the grave importance of sending a
shul representative.
In the middle of our flight, the stewardess
began to speak with me, and we
got into a very pleasant conversation.
She then inquired when I was
planning to return back to the States, and
I said I would only be staying
until until after Shabbos, and I would then
be returning home. She said
And I proceeded to tell her
that I was sent by our shul to visit the
three respective families, to
deliver our beautiful letters, and to let
them know that the affection of
their beloved brothers and sisters in
America, knows no bounds.
She immediately began to cry
uncontrollably, and said, this kehillah of
yours is something unique and something
incredibly special. For you to get
on the flight is no big deal; but this
speaks volumes about your kehillah,
that this is what they feel is important.
This is where their hearts are,
and this is what is occupying their minds
So the stewardess proceeds to make an
announcement in tears, to a plane
filled almost to capacity with Birthright
plane, a shliach Mitzvah! Come meet a
Rabbi who was sent by his Kehillah to
perform the great mitzvah of nichum
aveilim, for those whom they feel are
their own brothers and sisters! Our plane
is safe because we have a
This led to a whole pandemonium, and
after I finally got to sit down again,
the young man next to me informs me
that he is 26 years old, from Seattle
Washington; he works in a national zoo,
and is going to Israel for his
first time. He then proceeds to tell me
that he was so inspired by our
kehillah, and that he would like to borrow
my Tallis to do a mitzvah that
he has not done since his Bar mitzvah
celebration (at age 16) in memory of
the three precious neshamos.
I gladly gave him my tallis and then
proceeded to ask him if he knew how to
went on to take out a small piece
of paper from his pocket, and recited the
one and only Hebrew Bracha that he was
familiar with, so he decided to
recite it as well on the Tallis.
He then asked to borrow my Tefillin as
well, which was followed by a long
conversation with the other members of
the plane, who were all taking
pictures of this highly unusual scene.
for these three precious souls,
even after I return home. So what would
I was in complete shock, and
overwhelmed with emotion, so the
Satmar
Chassid in the next row turns to this
tattood and pierced young man and
will try and wear these Tefillin
each and every day, I promise I will have
a pair sent by FedEx to your home
in Seattle Washington by the time you
They then
exchanged phone numbers and
information, and the deal was done.
Now I ask you, is Klal Yisrael anything
short of amazing and absolutely
incredible? Look what our Kehillah alone
has already accomplished! I almost
felt like taking the next flight home, and
calling this trip the greatest
success I could have ever imagined!
Wow! This is amazing! Thanks 42 for posting!
SiDi™
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