Baltimore, MD - January 23, 2019 - Anyone who has needed to make a minyan knows that it is not always easy to find one—let alone on, perhaps, the coldest day of the year, when the temperature is just under 20 degrees, with a 33-mph wind chill factor that makes it feel more like 5 degrees. At 4 p.m. Monday, Jan. 21, these were the frigid conditions under which Chaverim solicited and coordinated the help of community members to make a minyan at the Baltimore Hebrew Congregation cemetery, enabling Kaddish to be recited at the burial. Had they not been there, the opportunity to say it would have been lost.
“It was bitter cold, but we made it work, thanks to our Chaverim WhatsApp group text alert system which we opened up to all males in the community over the age of bar mitzvah,” notes Chaverim President David Bagan. “Our numbers are growing, but we are always looking for more volunteers. This is something that you don’t need to be hands-on and know what you are doing, as you would if you were a member of Chaverim, for example, changing flat tires.”
A minyan is mandatory, according to Torah law, at a burial, and that includes a burial for a “meis mitzvah“--the unknown and unclaimed deceased--to ensure that they receive a kevuras Yisrael, a proper Jewish burial. In today’s case, there were simply not enough men to make a minyan. When this group text alert system was initiated in 2015, in memory of my husband, Stewie (Asher Zelig ben Tzvi) Pensak, z”l, 38 men signed up to be “on call” for such circumstances. Today, there are 145 men of all ages who are part of this WhatsApp group.
The WhatsApp text alert read: Chaverim Dispatch 2: We are looking for 5 men tomorrow for a burial. We need men both for a minyan and for digging. Approximately 4 pm at Baltimore Hebrew Congregation cemetery, Berrymans Lane, Reisterstown, MD 21136
”Depending upon the factors of time and weather, for any call we get, will always be a challenge,” notes Mr. Bagan, who mentioned that with the ground as frozen as it was, there was no guarantee that those present would be strong enough to shovel the dirt back into the kever. “With the government shut down and being Martin Luther King’s birthday, I thought it would be much easier to find a minyan, but it wasn’t really.”
Chaverim sometimes gets calls to go further out of the community for burials in such locales as Essex, DC, and Silver Spring. Today’s burial was a bit closer to Baltimore, which helped, also. In the end, those who helped make the minyan were comprised of Chaverim members, as well as a few WhatsApp group participants who were off for the legal holiday. Bochurim from Rabbi Shmuel Friedman’s yeshiva, one of which is a Chaverim member, were among the others.
A community member who had heard about the levaya and had the sensitivity and foresight to help alleviate the challenging weather conditions of those in attendance, supplied hand warmers and hot beverages at the cemetery.
By the way, this was not the only request that Chaverim had on Monday. Between 7:15 a.m. and 6 p.m., alone, the organization received and responded, non-stop, to approximately 17 calls regarding mechanical car problems.
“We made it work thanks to community members who came together,” emphasizes Mr. Bagan. “Since there were no males sitting shiva, it was even more of a mitzvah. That is what this WhatsApp group is really about. It’s not about jump starts, flat tires, or keys locked in the car, since not everyone is technically inclined, but being part of a community like Baltimore. Anyone can fit into this group –they just need to do a chesed shel emes.”
If you are interested in joining the Chaverim Shiva WhatApp group chat, the sign-up link is: https:/chat.whatsapp.com/E9co92WYDJxIJUJJt0duiW. If you would like to join Chaverim, please visit: chaverimbaltimore.org or call 443-928-5361.
