Thank You Letter to Community

Within the days preceding the 15 of tamuz, Nechama Liba was hospitalized. A brief phone call to a neighborhood friend and a powerful speech by the Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshiva Shor Yoshuv started the wheels turning. By Motzei Shabbos, as her condition took a serious downturn, the wheels were already in motion. All it took was 1 phone call and tehillim groups formed immediately. Looking back twelve hours later, a miracle had transpired. Against all conventional medical thinking, bchasdei Hashem, she survived the night. Without realizing what was happening, a revolution of sorts was brewing.

The next six weeks were the most difficult of our lives. They were the culmination of six long years. It felt like 6 years squashed into six weeks. Day melted into night, one frightening episode after another… one miracle after the next. Daily tehillim groups and constant acts of chesed protected us from the daily life threatening episodes. As the "3 weeks" progressed so did the seriousness of the situation. Each time that a "major" episode occurred, all it took was one phone call to start off a chain of phone calls that formed into tehillim groups. Once the nightly tehillim group finished the sefer tehillim 6 times in one sitting. The acts of chesed were without boundaries. Time after time, Nechama survived the impossible.

Acts of chesed, shmiras halashon, making meals both at home and in the hospital, tomchei Shabbos and the hundreds of private kabalos hamitzvos. One person brought breakfasts every morning and pastries for the nurses. Another person brought lunch and supper. The siblings were always taken care of both day and night. Hundreds of people learnt in her zchus forfeiting personal comforts to do so. Can anyone forget the all night learning at Yeshiva Shor Yoshuv followed by the Yom Tzom?! The revolution was in full force. She survived not 1, not 2 but 3 major episodes of crisis. No single person with her medical condition ever survived that. Never. Can we be so blind as to not see what is directly in front of us?!

As it says in pirchei avos " lo alecha .....vlo ata ben choren..." We cannot predict nor orchestrate the outcomes, but we can do our part. As we look back upon this revolution of ahavas chinim... this unprecedented movement of love for each other, one can envision the rectification of the sinas chinim for which the 3 weeks is known for. Each act of chesed is another brick in the beis hamikdosh and brings us closer to the coming of moshiach.

Dealing with an illness is an all-consuming experience. Although we were forced to abandon every other part of our lives, the Far Rockaway and 5 Towns communities made sure that no aspect of our lives was neglected. No need whether it was physical, spiritual or emotional was left unfulfilled. It is impossible to imagine how we would have made it through this difficult period without the help and support of our friends and family. As long as we continue this revolution., . Nechama will never to be forgotten. Her legacy would always live on. The question we all need to ask ourselves is whether we want to be a part of it. We cannot deny the miracles that we have witnessed nor the power of the tefilos that caused them .Therefore, we must continue to daven for those who desperately need our tefilos. There are people in our communities who need us just like we needed you. The need will always be there. We need to search for it or choose to ignore it.

From our slowly mending hearts and healing wounds, we thank each and every one of you. Words are not enough but they are all we have to express our gratitude. May Hakadosh Boruch Hu repay you a thousand times over. Remember that each time that you do an act of chesed and think of Nechama it is a zechus for her neshama , for yours and all of clal yisroel.