Jacki Sundheim, z’l, was the first victim identified following the mass shooting at a July 4th parade in Highland Park, a suburb of Chicago, on Monday.
The ZAKA organization reported that an elderly Jewish man was also among the dead. Several other Jewish people were wounded.
Highland Park has a high percentage of Jewish residents, including Israelis.
The North Shore Congregation Israel in nearby Glencoe announced that Sundheim, z’l, a lifelong member and events coordinator at the Reform synagogue, had been killed in the shooting.
“Jacki was a lifelong congregant of NSCI and a cherished member of NSCI’s staff team for decades,” the statement said. “Jacki’s work, kindness and warmth touched us all.”
Jacki was survived by her husband Bruce and daughter Leah.
Four Lubavitcher bochurim were at the scene of the attack but Baruch Hashem managed to flee to safety.
ארבעת הבחורים שניצלו בנס מפיגוע הירי המחריד בהיילנד פארק, לא הרחק מהזירה לאחר שיחת הטלפון המרגיעה להורים. מנחם מענדל זלמנוב בן 17, דובער יארמוב בן 17, מנחם מענדל בוקיעט בן 16, מאיר שלמה בערגשטיין בן 17. קרדיט @chabad_updates
ואם אתם כבר פה, תעקבו אחרי @levi_noishtat התותח pic.twitter.com/rdXdv75iDv
— יענקי פרבר | Yanki Farber (@yankihebrew) July 5, 2022
Many people escaping from the scene of the shooting took refuge in the Chabad house down the block.
בית חב"ד באילינוי הפך למקלט עבור רבים שנמלטו מאימת פיגוע התופת המזעזע שהתרחש לפני זמן קצר. ושוב, שלוחי הרבי הופכים למלאכי הצלה שתוך כדי הדרמה והאימה חושבים קודם כל על הזולת ועושים כל מאמץ להציל עוד ועוד, גם תחת אש. גיבורים! pic.twitter.com/Q0QOLvVRWX
— מנחם כהן (@menachem04) July 4, 2022
(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
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17 Responses
I don’t believe I can handle the death of jews in America anymore from reckless gentiles and muslims…..come home my people, come home
What do you mean Jacki Sundheim z”l!
You write z”l after a reform Jew?!!!! Where are your principals?!
For the love of G-d, and the sanctity of the Torah please stop calling Reform establishments such names that belong to true Torah based Judaism (“Synagogue”; “rabbi”)
A Reform “synagogue” is not a synagogue. It’s the temple of a religion other than Judaism. Please list it as a Reform temple and not as a synagogue. Thank you.
NCSI is a reform place of worship. Z”L is not appropriate here.
BDE Neshama should have Aliyah
It is incredulous that when a Jewish woman is killed, all some care about is whether to put the Z”L after her name or not, how dare you??!?? Who says that the achdus and ahavas yisorel that is necessary for Mashiach to come differentiates between labels given to different groups of Jews. As an orthodox Jew, I will side with a kind an warm reform Jew over an orthodox Jew whose only problem with Jew being killed is the Z”L after her name any day. I understand the Orthodox view of reform Judaism, but when a Jew is killed. it is not the right time to have that discussion.
BDE, may her holy neshama have an aliya.
Hashem, have rachmonus on Your children and send us complete peace and safety with Moshiach (רמב”ם הל’ מלכים פי”ב ה”א, הי”ב)!
P.S. how low have we fallen to view other Yidden as labeled shirts in Target? Every Jew is infinitely valuable to Hashem. When it comes to making a cheshbon in avodas Hashem we must only judge ourselves. How much more so in a tragic time like this when the neshama needs more zchuyos, not disparaging remarks chas v’shalom.
Eliyahu Hanovi and Yeshayohu Hanovi were punished for speaking disparagingly about great sinners – “אין הקב”ה רוצה במי שאומר דילטורייא על ישראל” (see שהש”ר פ”א, ו (א). רש”י ישעי’ ו, ו. ועוד).
How much more so simple people like ourselves should only discuss other Yidden in a positive light (אגרת השמד פ”ב).
just wondering when do use the term A”H and when u use the term Z”L
was just wondering what the Toras Avigdor-rav Avigdor Miller ztz”l would say about the right hashkafah on this issue. Anyone out there know?
sure just google torasavigdor.org its tape #490 by the Q and A. good luck!
There is no Z”L when talking about the death of an events-coordinator at a Reform Synagogue. A Chilul Hashem was what she was. Reform Jews are worse than members of Hamas in the eyes of the Torah – and especially leaders of Reform “Temples.”
Correction: ה”א וה”ה
To Menachem Shmei: True she was a Jew . Poor soul a misled Jew. But I will NOT promote reform in a positive light. Shame on anyone who does!
@justasec: No one spoke about promoting REFORM in a positive light. Don’t worry, after the death of the reform movement (may it happen speedily in our days), I will NOT refer to it as “the reform movement zichrono livracha” rather “yemach shemo v’zichro.”
Over here we are talking about promoting a JEW, a child of Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov, Sarah, Rivka, Rochel and Leah. An only child of Hashem Himself.
The fact that a soul was misled is only more of a reason for us to have rachmonus for him/her and pray for aliyas haneshama. If your brother or sister got mixed into the wrong crowd and got in trouble with the law (ch”v), would you not push for their pardon?
P.S. If you don’t agree, maybe check up the Torah sources. I did not want to quote the Rambam in אגרת השמד about calling Jews sinners, because his words are too sharp for the public.
Rav Avigdor Miller on There Are Jews and Then There Are Jews
Posted on December 12, 2017by Toras Avigdor
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Q:
Are we supposed to think of the Conservative and Reform Jews as non-Jews or as Jews who are not frum?
A:
The question is, what do you mean by that? Certainly they’re not frum Jews. But they certainly are Jews. As soon as a Conservative Jew or Reform Jew does teshuva, he’s a Jew; he doesn’t have to go through any ceremony of conversion. So therefore, they certainly are Jews.
But there are Jews, and then there are Jews. In one sense, they’re Jews. And that’s because technically they were born from Jewish mothers. So in a technical sense they are Jews. But in the sense of sharing in the privileges of being part of the Jewish nation, no, they certainly have no share in those privileges.
The love that we have to feel towards our fellow Jews does not extend to Reform Jews. Now, some people don’t like to hear that, but I’m talking the truth. It’s hard to love your fellow Jew. It takes work. Some people bandy the word love around, they “love everybody” they say. The truth is that they don’t even love their own brothers and sisters. That’s the plain truth, and now they’re willing to love everybody?! The answer is that it’s a phony. It’s all a bluff. It’s so hard to love a fellow Jew. It’s very difficult. And now you want to go an extend it to everybody? Don’t be ridiculous!
In order to love somebody like you love yourself, he has to be like yourself. And if he doesn’t have your ideals, then you can’t love him like yourself. Certainly you should try to help them. Certainly. You have to help goyim too, sometimes. And a fellow Jew who is not observant, if you can lead him back to Judaism, that’s a very big mitzvah. So why not help him? But to say that you have to love him like you love yourself? No, that’s out of the question.
TAPE # 490
@ayingle: I am in no way on the caliber to argue with a gadol such as Rav Avigdor Miller, but I will mention that there are other opinions from our Torah giants.
The Mezritcher Maggid said that ahavas yisroel means to love a complete rasha (רשע גמור) just as much as a complete tzaddik (צדיק גמור). (סה”ש מהוריי”צ ה’ת”ש ע’ 116)
The Alter Rebbe (Baal Hatanya) writes that the only exception to ahavas yisroel is for someone who was previously equal to you in Torah and mitzvos, and then drifted away, ignoring your rebuke.
However, regarding someone who was always far from Torah and mitzvos, ahavas yisroel applies in its fullest, and they must be loved like a true brother, even if you cannot get them to change their ways. (תניא פל”ב)
This is besides for the idea of תינוק שנשבה – an uneducated Jew is considered an אונס (see רמב”ם הלכות ממרים פ”ג ה”ג). Would you lack ahavas yisroel for someone who is too sick to put on tefillin? I would love him, and pray for him.
[Obviously, every Jew is obligated to hate the reform movement as it is pure kefirah. Our love for every Jew only increases our hate for this terrible movement which is misleading so many of our dear brothers and sisters. Hate the killer, love the victim.]