Look for the helpers: After Jersey City, a plea for more light amidst the darkness
By Simcha Scholar
Dec 13, 2019 | 10:30 AM
The body of Moshe Deutsch is carried down the street after his funeral outside the Satmar Shul on Rodney Street in Crown Heights, Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2019. (Jeff Bachner/for New York Daily News)
This week, a young man named Moshe Deutsch was tragically gunned down in a Jersey City kosher market. In April, a woman named Lori Gilbert-Kaye was murdered in yet another shooting at her Poway, Calif., synagogue while attending holiday prayer services. Two horrific acts of violence, eight months apart, with one common root: hatred of the other, or more specifically, hatred of Jews.
Indeed, anti-Semitism is on the rise across the United States. According to data from the New York Police Department, reported anti-Semitic incidents have increased dramatically in the past year. While there is a need for greater security measures, legislative action, and a stronger emphasis on education and strategic partnerships between religious and ethnic communities, I would like to propose a different approach to counter such baseless hostility, one that we can learn from the very victims of these senseless attacks.
Moshe Deutsch, 24, killed in yesterday's shooting in Jersey City, New Jersey. (Obtained by New York Daily News)
Though coasts apart, Deutsch and Gilbert-Kaye were united by their passion for volunteering and giving back. Both gave selflessly of themselves and dedicated their lives to helping others. Moshe was one of the thousands of young, energetic volunteers who provide critical support to sick children through Chai Lifeline, an international health support network that I am privileged to lead. Lori, herself an active volunteer for numerous worthy causes, was also a great supporter of our mission. Her commitment to helping seriously ill children was reflected in her final Facebook post, sharing a fundraising link to benefit the children of Chai Lifeline.
Moshe and Lori exemplified the concept of Tzedaka, often defined as charity or righteousness, a hallmark of the Jewish tradition. Moshe would regularly devote his spare time to helping needy families, distributing food, and various other acts of kindness. Lori, too, would always seek out opportunities for Tzedaka, either through her philanthropy or volunteering, and in a final act of righteousness, gave her life protecting her rabbi from the gunman.
During these turbulent and dark times, I look to Moshe and Lori as shining examples of how we can turn the prevailing tide of evil and cynicism that threatens to tear us apart.
The late Fred Rogers famously said, "Look for the helpers" in times of crisis. Within hours of the shootings in New Jersey and California, dozens of volunteers — altruistic people just like Moshe and Lori themselves — could be found offering relief and support among the devastation. The first responders, the social workers, and even the good Samaritans who chip in in whatever way they can — those are the helpers who fill me with hope. Those are the "helpers" I am fortunate to watch in action on a daily basis: The ones that visit sick children in hospitals. The ones that serve as Big Brothers and Sisters. The ones that prepare nourishing meals for those in need. The ones that devote their lives to improving the lives of others. They are the ones that we and our children should all emulate.
Those helpers, just like Moshe and Lori, remind us that we only get one life and it's way too short to be filled with hate.
Let us follow Moshe and Lori's lead and give more of ourselves to helping others. Volunteer with your local synagogue, church, mosque, or non-for-profit. Give back to your community. Feed the hungry. Help the less fortunate.
In the words of Martin Luther King, Jr., "Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that." In this season of lights and giving, let us all commit to adding a bit more light to the world.
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Scholar, a rabbi, is the chief executive officer of Chai Lifeline, a New York City-based children's health support organization.
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