The Gemara says that by being engaged in Torah and gemilus chasadim, we are saved from the Chevlei Mashiach

Living Higher

The call that came in last weekend to Chaveirim of Brooklyn was anything but usual. But then again, Chaveirim’s volunteers are there to help out with flat tires, empty gas tanks, cars in ditches, and any issue another Yid may be facing, usual or not. The caller in this case frantically confided in the Chaveirim dispatcher that she had been visiting Hunter’s Point South Park, a popular urban park in Long Island City featuring a waterfront promenade, rolling green space, and a kid-friendly playground. After she left, she noticed that both her engagement ring and wedding band were missing from her finger. Could they help? The area covers approximately thirty acres and it was nearly dark by the time the call came in, but Chaveirim swung into action. Over 30 members from Boro Park, Williamsburg, Flatbush, the Catskills, and Queens descended on the park, equipped with metal detectors, flashlights, and light towers, and the search began. After searching for nearly five hours straight, a detector started beeping. An excited Chaveirim member began combing the grass with his hands until he finally felt something hard — the two rings! The call was duly put in to headquarters, which contacted the owner and arranged for her to pick up her lost items. Soon enough, the grateful woman arrived to retrieve her valuables.

The Gemara says that by being engaged in Torah and gemilus chasadim, we are saved from the Chevlei Mashiach. In the merit of such tremendous chesed, may Hashem redeem His precious diamonds from amidst the cold, dark, and lonely galus.

Happening in… Port Carling, Ontario

This past week’s Kichels depicted various fictitious scenes of adults returning to camp. The Gemara uses the term “niba v’lo yada ma niba — he prophesied and did not know what he prophesied”; apparently, the Kichel writers have accomplished precisely that. Just days after running the strip, a group of grown adults (mortgages and all), got together at Camp Agudah Toronto for a night of hockey and nostalgia. The visiting team — named Team Lawnmowers per Camp Agudah tradition — was comprised of Camp Agudah alumni, and they faced off against the Camp Agudah staff all-star team. Tensions ran high as the game was tied at 57 seconds left to the game, but the camp staff scored with just 8.7 seconds left to win 10-9. There were no hard feelings, though. As residents of a city that hasn’t won a Stanley Cup since 1967, Toronto hockey fans know how to take a loss in stride. And, when they join together as a true agudah achas — young and old, past and present — they all are champions.

Sky High

Hatzolah Air, the aerial extension of Hatzolah, was founded in 2018 and took its inaugural flight in September 2019. In less than five years, it has become a lifeline for Jewish communities worldwide, providing rapid medical evacuation and transport services. But its mission is sometimes to provide spiritual sustenance as much as physical. During a very early Shabbos morning mission in Mexico, as the Hatzolah Air team awaited clearance to depart, a seriously ill patient turned to Dr. Avishai Neuman, Hatzolah Air’s Medical Director, and asked, “Where is your sefer Torah for our minyan?” The question struck a chord, and, true to their modus operandi, they sprang into action. Arrangements for the creation of a miniature sefer Torah — less than ten inches in height — began to formulate. This past Sunday, the plans reached completion and a joyous hachnassas sefer Torah was held; the Toras chayim, our source of life, being ushered into an aircraft that has saved so much life. A highlight of the event was when Reb Herschel Weber, founder of Hatzolah, arrived to write a letter in the sefer Torah.

May the day soon come when the only service the 18-seat transcontinental jet is needed for is to spread Torah throughout the entire world!

(Originally featured in Mishpacha, Issue 1025)