Editor’s note: Arona and Moshe Berow, owners of Fair Lawn Roadhouse, sought to express their hakarat hatov to the entire community for the way its members came together in the hours before Shabbat to help them salvage whatever they could after the devastating fire which burned through their establishment as well as Zadie’s Bake Shop, Mashu Mashu Sushi Bar and others. This is reprinted with their permission.
As we sit on Motzei Shabbat trying to take stock of all that happened on Friday and what we have looming before us now, it seems most important that we take a moment to express our amazement at the outpouring of love and support we have received from this incredible community. Arona and I both received in excess of 200 messages of support and comfort from friends and neighbors, including people we only know in passing. It’s not a surprise to us that people here care, that they reached out to support and comfort us, or that they came out to help—it’s how universally the members of this community did so.
Late in the day on Friday I was told (incorrectly, as it turns out) that once the building was boarded shut, I would not get access to it again, and that it would be torn down in a matter of days. Given that impossible deadline, with Shabbat looming less than two hours away, what choice did I have but to do whatever I could in the short time left? I sent a message to two chats—120 members total—asking anyone who could spare the time to come help. In truth, I didn’t expect anyone to come: It was nearly candle lighting time for early Shabbat, and everyone has their own last minute insanity on Erev Shabbat. Several people showed up; I set about trying to give direction on what was most important, and got back to work myself. Sometime later, maybe around 7 p.m., I walked outside carrying something to discover that nearly 60 of my friends and neighbors had shown up and were busy getting things done!
In all, we managed to remove what might seriously have a replacement value in excess of $100k—whether it can all be salvaged and reused is still TBD. In purely financial terms, that means that each of you who came to help me when you could very reasonably have stayed at home brought with you a value of $15k. My mind can barely comprehend this. In human terms, I don’t even know where to begin. I’m not a big hugger myself (Arona is the CHO, Chief Hugging Officer, in our family), but I’ve rarely felt as much love and connection as I did from those embraces I got late Erev Shabbat from dozens of people I am privileged to call friends.
Acharon Acharon Chaviv—last but certainly not least—we feel the need to express our hakarat hatov to all the rabbanim of this community. Arona and I heard directly from nearly every rav in Fair Lawn, regardless of our personal connections or active membership in their shuls. The genuine compassion and concern for our family, for our success and for our needs is evident all the more in how quickly the community came together with no prompting to help when it was needed. Your models of leadership, showing what it means for Torah to infuse our lives and guide our actions shone through in an astounding manner. We feel truly blessed to have chosen this special community to live and grow and raise our children.
I also have the immense privilege of sharing the tremendous Kiddush Hashem our community made when this group also took the time to help Jessica, the owner of Flynn’s Barbershop, despite the late hour and urgency of Shabbat coming up fast. They helped her shlep very heavy barber chairs and other things she salvaged from her shop to the street and into vehicles without hesitation. You all showed the wider Fair Lawn community exactly what makes being a part of Am Yisrael so special, something the world needs more of now more than ever.
Having a front seat to watch Fair Lawn come together as a community, with absolutely no divisions based on shul, hashkafa, school or any other relatively minor differences, has given us more chizuk than the sum of all messages combined. Even if we received no assistance beyond this past Friday, dayeinu for us to see the chesed this community is capable of with no regard for self. Especially in this period of bein hamitzarim, when we focus on the shortcoming of our communities throughout the generations which led to destruction and galut, seeing the community act in the very manner we couldn’t when faced with destruction time and again gives us chizuk to focus on building the future, and not the destructions of the past.
We hope Hashem will give us the tools and the strength to rebuild. May it be in the merit of this achdut and chesed that we do so in Yerushalayim with the arrival of Mashiach to redeem this incredible and deserving community. Short of that, if it is His will that the time is not quite right, we will proudly and joyfully do so right here in Fair Lawn, the next best option.
Our hearts are truly filled with love and admiration for all of you.
