On Wednesday, December 12, TABC’s entire sophomore and junior grades went on day-long chesed trips. The juniors were able to help build houses still affected by Hurricane Sandy, or visit residents at Daughters of Miriam and then sort clothes for Yad Leah. The boys who went to build homes in Keansburg, with Rabbi Scott Friedman, Yehuda Heller, Chanan Strassman and Dr. Mike Atlas were involved in painting, removing debris and setting up stones around the base of the houses. The people running the site commented to Heller that, although they have groups come regularly to help, the TABC boys were different. Often times the volunteers will hang around, or not be as productive as they could be. The TABC boys really worked. They got a lot done, and did it well—and enthusiastically. It was a true kiddush Hashem. The concert which TABC students put on at Daughters of Miriam left the residents spellbound. The TABC boys, led by Rabbi Dovid Einhorn and Rabbi Ezra Stone, even danced and sang duets for the crowd. They then headed to Jerusalem Pizza in Passaic for some lunchtime re-fueling and then over to Yad Leah to help sort, fold and pack clothing for the needy in Israel.

The sophomores went to Daughters of Miriam as well, and went room to room with Rabbi Jake Berman, who was armed with his guitar, singing and spreading good vibes to the residents. After pizza at Prima Pizza in Passaic, the boys did a real chesed shel emet. They ran a funeral for an indigent Jew from start to finish. They dug, carried the aron, said Kaddish and gave the proper kavod hamet to a fellow Jew. As the director of the Hebrew Free Burial Society commented, “He had to have some merit that his levaya was attended by yeshiva boys and that they filled the entire kever and enabled Kaddish to be said.” It was a truly inspiring and uplifting day for all involved.