The most priceless of treasures memorializing three priceless neshamos

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arlier this year, the Jewish world was plunged into heartbreak when a reckless driver killed Natasha Saada a”h, a young mother, and her two daughters, Diana (7) and Debra (5) a”h, while they were taking a Shabbos afternoon walk along Ocean Parkway in Brooklyn, New York. Sydney Saada, the bereaved husband and father, was and is a beloved friend to so many in the community, who were shaken by his horrific loss.

Three years ago, Sydney met twin brothers who were on the verge of opening up their own summer camp, but were struggling to find financial backing. Sydney had no previous connection or obligation to the brothers, Yaakov and Chaim Metzger, but had heard from a friend that they needed assistance. He met with them, and for over three hours one evening in a Flatbush shul, the threesome spoke and strategized about how the brothers could realize their dream of offering mesivta bochurim a robust summer experience. That conversation helped shape what would eventually become Camp Teumim Mesivta, located in Glen Spey, New York.

This year, the Metzgers invited their friend, a man who had been there for them in their own time of need, for a yom zikaron to be held in memory of his wife and two daughters. The camp’s 700 bochurim signed up to learn an astounding 6,409 blatt and completed the Shishah Sidrei Mishnah three times over ten days as a zechus for the three pure neshamos. The plan was that the learning would culminate in a siyum haShas and Mishnayos, followed by a musical evening featuring some of Sydney’s closest friends in the music world.

On the designated evening, the beis medrash filled to capacity as the bochurim plowed through the remaining blatt they had pledged. The siyum was held and speeches were delivered, and then, to the complete surprise of everyone but a few of the organizers, the makeshift wall behind the dais was moved aside, revealing a table with an almost completed sefer Torah. The custom crown and mantle beside it were embroidered with the holy names of Natasha, Diana, and Debra.

Aside from the siyum, the Metzgers had arranged for an actual sefer Torah to be dedicated. Sydney was invited up on stage to complete the sefer Torah, after which a hachnassas sefer Torah was held with staff, campers, and friends joining Sydney as he carried a sefer Torah that symbolized Torah and chesed, the most priceless of treasures memorializing three priceless neshamos.

Family from Afar

Rabbi Yosef Wartelsky, the very dynamic director of Camp Maaminim, has seen the power of inspiration as it cascades through his campgrounds many times. But nothing could have prepared him for the inspiration that rippled through the crowds this summer, not on his campgrounds, but the one directly adjacent to his.

Camp Chipinaw is located a stone’s throw from Maaminim, and this year, Rabbi Wartelsky engaged the staff at Camp Chipinaw to help arrange a color war breakout. While talking, they informed him that the camp was predominantly Jewish, to the point where they even hold Friday night services (held late Friday afternoon). Without stopping to think, Rabbi Wartelsky asked, “Can I speak?”

They were happy to accommodate the request, and that Friday, Rabbi Wartelsky arrived at Camp Chipinaw and rose to speak. He shared multiple powerful vignettes with the spellbound campers and then relayed a personal anecdote.

“A few months ago, I was in Israel,” he said. “This was when the terrible news broke that Shiri Bibas and her two children, Kfir and Ariel, had been murdered. Yarden, their father and husband, was sitting shivah in a hotel lounge in Ramat Gan, and only family and friends were allowed entry. But my wife and I felt we had to go. We entered the hotel and observed, from some hundred feet away, the crowd of people huddled around Yarden. Suddenly, a man approached. ‘Atah mishpachah oh mashehu — Are you family or something?’ he asked.

“I froze. I didn’t know what to say. On the one hand, I couldn’t lie and say we’re family. But on the other hand, how could I say we’re not family?

“And so I said, ‘Ani lo mishpachah aval ani margish k’mishpachah — I am not family but I feel like family.’

“The man nodded, walked away, and returned shortly with Yarden. We hugged and cried and spoke for a while. It felt like I had just met a brother I had never seen before.”

Rabbi Wartelsky then faced the campers. “If Jews five thousand miles away are family, then most certainly they are if they are just down the block from each other!”

And with that, Rabbi Wartelsky wished a warm good Shabbos to the hundreds of campers and counselors.

As any close family member might.

Happening in... Volozhin

Rabbi Avi Poupko of Kfar Adumim directs the elite pre-army academy Mechinat Ein Prat, where young Israelis from diverse backgrounds are introduced to sophisticated, traditional Jewish text study.  The climax of the year at Ein Prat is the "Volozhin Week," where the students (both frum and non-frum), inspired by Yeshivas Volozhin, learn for five days straight, night and day.

Avi, born and raised in Montreal, was a talmid at Yeshiva Shaar HaTorah Grodno in Queens, NY and the Mir Yeshiva in Yerushalayim, and then served as the Hillel rabbi at Harvard University.

Rabbi Poupko has traveled extensively in Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union. He regularly serves as the scholar and educator on many group trips, together with his wife Shifra, a Holocaust researcher, to the sites of previous Jewish historical significance and the Holocaust.

A few years ago, he participated in an initiative to encourage the renovation of the historic building of the Volozhin Yeshivah, and to establish a modest museum there that would tell the story of the “Mother of All Yeshivos” and its many illustrious students. The building had stood abandoned for decades.

With Hashem’s help, their efforts were met with much success.

A few months ago, after years of work and renovations, the establishment of the museum in the historic building of the Volozhin Yeshivah was initiated. Last week, Rabbi Poupko had the privilege of visiting it for the first time, and the mayor, along with the museum directors, held a modest ceremony in his honor. The experience was especially moving as Rabbi Poupko’s great grandfather, Rav Eliezer Poupko z”l, received semichah in Volozhin from Rav Rafael Shapiro.

No Break from Torah

Under summer’s wide sky and warm sun, Klal Yisrael takes its Torah outside. From renowned rabbanim to pshutei am kodesh, the outdoors becomes our beis medrash. Porches, parks, and pathways fill with voices learning, turning nature itself into a backdrop for growth.

(Originally featured in Mishpacha, Issue 1075)