Friendship Circle Walk Today, June 2 – Walk For Lori – Am Yisrael Chai

BS”D

Forever etched in my mind are the events that took place in Chabad of Poway that fateful day a little more than one month ago.  It was such a  tragic story that shocked the nation and the world. May Lori Gilbert Kaye’s memory continue to be a source of strength for all of us. And may the courage of Rabbi Goldstein give us all the inner strength to know that Hashem runs the world.

Rabbi Goldstein mentioned that a walk will be taking place June 2, which is today, as I am writing this from Israel.  To those of you who would like to contribute, you can do so if you go into the Friendship Circle Internet Site. According to the figures posted on the site, they are still  short of reaching their goal.

I discovered a very interesting  article by Shterna Althaus in the publication Jew In  The City which was written on May 1. Rabbi Goldstein is her uncle, and she was writing about the wedding of Rabbi Goldstein’s daughter Baila, which took place in Crown Heights two weeks before Pesach. Rabbi Goldstein’s wife Devorie was there of course and so was Lori Kaye.  Shterna said that little did they all know that would be the last time they would see Lori. Lori knew her immediate family for 30 years; therefore she was considered one of her family.

Shterna noted that she met her husband in Poway, and that her uncle was their matchmaker. And then at the end of her article she says the following-

As a direct result of the way Uncle Yisroel has chosen to respond to this atrocity, people around the world from all walks of life, have been offering support. They’re able to see the goodness in his heart and want to become partners in this new world of LOVE. We pray that the positive change that has already taken place will continue to impact globally. In the words of my uncle: “From now on I will be more brazen, I am going to be even more proud of walking down the street wearing my yarmulke and tzitzit, acknowledging G-d’s presence. I’m going to be using my voice until I’m hoarse to urge my fellow Jews to live Jewish. I do not know why G-d spared my life; all I can do is make my borrowed time matter.”

We are strong. We are united. They can’t break us.

Am Yisroel Chai.

But in the middle of the article she says something very interesting which is as follows-

Eleven years ago, Chabad Emissaries Rabbi Gavriel and Rivka Holtzberg, who ran the Chabad house in Mumbai, India were murdered with four of their guests. They were targeted by a terrorist group because they were Jewish. Over Pesach, another Chabad couple in Kenya was terrorized. Chabad is on the front lines in every continent to bring goodness and kindness to the world, as the Rebbe begged the world to accept his important message of doing acts of kindness in preparing the world for a time of peace and tranquility. It is time for the world to wake up and join the campaign.

I am sure we are all in agreement that we should join this campaign, but how are we going to do it, who is going to organize it and how many more people have to suffer until this campaign begins?

I was in Crown Heights and learned in Hadar Hatorah. I can remember one day we went on a march to put tefillin on students in Brooklyn College. We went through some of the toughest looking neighborhoods Brooklyn has to offer and I was proud to be a Jew. It was worth the walk as I met some very nice students who were very appreciative that I along with my fellow students took the time to show them how to put on Tefillin.

The Rebbe always said we were in the Army of Hashem, and I can remember to this day the Rosh Yeshiva of Hadar Hatorah, Rabbi Goldberg, who I understand is still there after all these years, (and I was there in 1978), saying the following-

We must always remember that we should treat the Yeshiva as a furnace that allows you to gain tremendous amount of warmth and love for who you are and what you stand for. Because once you leave, the fire starts to cool off and it’s up to you to keep that fire burning by studying and learning so that you continue to be a proud Jew. One who follows the ways of the Torah, does Mitzvahs and makes Hashem and the Rebbe proud of you.

I am not going to write a lengthy Blog, as I feel it only right that if you are able to donate to the walk in memory of Lori, you will do so via the Friendship Circle site today.

But I want to leave you with this thought – in Crown Heights, where 770 stands and where I also met my wife, a shocking sign suddenly appeared. It has been carried on many news sites and it is so shocking that an editorial was published by the YeshivaWorldNews Editorial Board. This was in response to a note reading “HITLER IS COMING” which was placed on a wall at the Jewish Children’s Museum on Eastern Parkway on Thursday.

We are told there is a reason for everything and I will have more to say about this in my next Blog.