Fair Lawn—Seventy people attended a communal learning breakfast at Congregation Shomrei Torah to commemorate the shloshim of the three kidnapped teenagers, Eyal Yifrach, Gilad Shaar, and Naftali Fraenkel. The event featured speakers John Cosgrove, the mayor of Fair Lawn, and Rabbi Andrew Markowitz, the shul’s assistant rabbi. Rabbi Benjamin Yudin also attended via Skype. The event capped off a month of fundraising run by the shul, where over $5,000 were raised to help the families of the boys.
The program was a part of Torah Tuesday, a regular learning initiative run by Shomrei Torah. “Once a week, we would meet on Tuesday, and if you have a nice breakfast, people come to learn,” said Mendy Aron, the event coordinator. The program started out small, but evolved into a three-day-a-week program with two shiurim with breakfast served, with occasional special guests or other educational programs. The events are open to the public and welcome people from Fair Lawn, Paramus, and other nearby communities.
When the story of the three murdered boys came out, Aron said he wondered, “What can we do? They’re there, we’re here.” He and the shul came up with the idea to raise money for the families of the boys, and started a campaign that received donations from 62 families, mostly families from Shomrei. The campaign raised $5,395 as of the morning of the breakfast, and Aron was certain that more donations would be coming in that day. While Aron didn’t have a direct personal connection to the boys, there was an emotional connection. “I wanted to do something…I actually had my father’s yartzheit at that time [when the boys were captured]… it’s not so easy, even though it’s been such a long time. And that’s to deal with a father; to deal with a child [must be unthinkable]….”
The program began with a short speech from Aron, who tied the event to the current situation in Israel, talking about the Hamas tunnels found in Gaza. “The advantage in the war we have is… a close ally, Hakadosh Baruch Hu, and very good ammunition, in terms of tefillah….”
After a recitation of psalms, Aron introduced Mr. Cosgrove, who has a strong relationship with the shul. “The people of Fair Lawn stand with you. We know that Israel will survive,” Cosgrove said. About the three boys, Cosgrove—who also spoke at Shomrei Torah’s memorial for them in early July—was sure that their lives and deaths served a purpose. “Their sacrifice, their lives, spearheaded that when we point back here in history, someday, we can say that this is where Hamas was stopped.”
Rabbi Benjamin Yudin, the senior rabbi of Shomrei Torah, was remotely attending the breakfast via Skype while on vacation in Israel. He discussed the unity of the Jewish people and how unfortunate, tragic events have brought the people closer as a nation. “On one hand, when you think about it,” said Yudin, “the Beit HaMikdash was what brought mourning, but it’s that which unifies the people.” He also discussed the current fear the Israeli community is living under, underscored by the fact that the distance between his current location— Beit Shemesh—and Gaza is like “the distance between Fair Lawn and Queens.” Yet, the Israelis are bravely still trying to continue their everyday lives.
The main speaker was Rabbi Andrew Markowitz, who gave a shiur entitled “We’re All Connected: Our Mutual and Ethical Responsibility to One Another.” He began with an anecdote of an Israeli boy who enrolled in a class for a people with learning issues, but the boy didn’t really need the extra help. When the teacher confronted the student and his family about it, she discovered that the boy was going because he didn’t want his friend who attended the class, who actually needed the help, to feel left out. “This boy’s name,” Rabbi Markowitz said, “Was Gilad Shaar.”
Markwitz discussed how the concept of every Jew being responsible for one another—the concept of areyvut—actually has a halachic basis in the Torah, the Gemara, and in rabbinic sources. “It’s not specific a mitzvah according to many,” he explained, “but it’s an overarching principle.”
Midway through his speech, however, Rabbi Markowitz was interrupted by a surprising—and welcome—phone call. Aron had been trying to get in touch with the parents of the boys, and they finally had Gilad’s father, Ofir Shaar, on speakerphone to speak to the group. Shaar spoke about how much he appreciated the unity everyone was showing, and how the people at the breakfast were friends to the people of Israel.
“I have a personal connection like everyone has a personal connection [to the boys],” Rabbi Markowitz told JLBC. “They became part of my family, in many ways.”
By Oren Oppenheim
