I saw this notice on an email list I am a member of and felt it important enough to publicize:
In loving memory of Bradley Jacobs, z"l, the Jacobs & Lewin families proudly announce the Bradley Jacobs z’’l Machpelah Free Access Project in Hebron. Anyone in a wheelchair or who has difficulty with steps can now get into & out of the Machpelah using a special chair that climbs the steps! If you or someone you know need such a chair for access to the Machpelah, notify the Hebron Fund office in NY 718-677-6886. In Israel call 972-2-9965333. No cost.
I am very moved by this.
ReplyDeleteBack in 1987, at the very beginning of the 1st intifada, I was staying the the Eshkolit Hotel in Kiryat Arba over Shabbat. It was a cold wet day. Staying in the hotel was a man in a wheelchair who suffered from Mutiple schlerosis, and he wanted to go to the Me'ara on Shabbat morning. It was indeed a full scale operation to lift him down in his chair to Hebron, and then up the steps to the me'ara. The intifada stopped, as both soldiers and Arabs just froze looking at us, the brave people who were doing this mitzvah in the pouring cold rain, and also the bravery of this man in his wheelchair. When we entered the Meara, Rabbi Levinger saw him, was very surprised, and stopped his davening to come to greet us. i shall never forget this experience. Now it will be much easier. However the man who since became a good friend of mine has since passed away, and will never enter the Meara again.
this is a wonderful and fitting dedication for Brad. I knew him better in his last few years, and had to regularly help him up and down certain stairs when we were together. Brad always made us feel like we were being helped by helping him. His dedication to EY was unreal and he regularly lectured us when we started teasing him about something regarding EY.
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