When I was a very young child on Loyola Southway in Lower Park Heights, every night, my father held me in his arms and slowly danced around our living room singing “La La Lee.” One day, he went to visit his parents in Atlantic City, where they owned a boarding house. That night, I wouldn’t go to sleep. “I want ‘La La Lee,’” I cried over and over again. The next morning, my mother packed our bags, and we boarded a bus to join my father. Eventually, I outgrew “La La Lee,” grew up, married, and moved to Atlanta, Georgia. But I still feel the warmth of my father’s arms as he danced and sang to me.
Both my beloved parents died in Cheshvan, four years apart: my mother in 1986 and my father in 1990. Since my mother was nifteres first, I observed her yahrtzeit by hosting a group of women in my home to speak of her virtues. Sometimes, I sponsored a class in her memory as part of Bena, the women’s division of the Atlanta Scholars Kollel (ASK). But what to do for my father?
Almost 17 years ago, I discovered that the yahrtzeit of Rachel Imeinu, 11 Cheshvan, is also my father’s yahrtzeit. About the same time, I heard about a project to raise tzedaka in the merit of our Mother Rachel. The project began when a committee of women were concerned about the Intifada in Eretz Yisrael. They consulted Harav Shmuel Kamenetsky, and asked, “What’s the most important thing we can do?” The gadol said to make sure that the poor in Eretz Yisrael have food.
With inspiration from Miriam Adani, of the Kever Rachel Fund, who organizes programs in Israel on Rachel Imeinu’s yahrtzeit, and with a bracha and guidance from Harav Kaminesky, the project took off. After 16 years, most of their funds are matched, and the committee members are close to their dream of raising almost a million dollars for aniyim (the poor) in Israel. On Harav Kamenetsky’s suggestion, they distribute the funds around Chanukah, the coldest part of the year. Whether a woman gives the suggested $10 donation at the door – or $100, $1,000, or even $18,000, as was received one year in Baltimore – these donations are feeding the needy through food vouchers. It is also uniting women on the yahrtzeit of Rachel Imeinu.
Although I try to participate in chesed projects, I’m not a leader in this area – especially in raising money. But how could I pass up the chance to honor the memory of my father, who shares the same yahrtzeit as our matriach? So that first year, I offered to chair the annual World Wide Event in Atlanta. I called the shul to reserve space and a projector to show the video (and someone to run it!). Then I ran off flyers and prayed that everything would go well. Baruch Hashem, it did.
For me, the hardest part was collecting, counting, and mailing the donations. That got easier several years later, when someone who had led the event in Tennessee moved to Atlanta. She was chairing projects in her children’s school, but she offered to count the money and mail it – baruch Hashem, a great help!
In January 2017, after living in Atlanta for 46 years, I remarried and moved back to Baltimore. As Cheshvan approached, I saw an ad for the Rachel Imeinu yahrtzeit event and called Keren Traub, a member of the initiating committee, who was in charge here. “Can I help?” I asked.
“Of course,” she answered. “You can help collect money at the door.” So for two years, I gladly did. Now I have the opportunity to write this article encouraging women and girls to attend the 17th Annual Worldwide Event for the Yahrtzeit of Rachel Imeinu and Fundraiser for Aniyei Eretz Yisrael, on Motzei Shabbos, November 9, 8:30 p.m. at Ner Tamid, 6214 Pimlico Road, a new location.
The video’s topic is “Your Inner Spark: Finding Your True Self.” HaRav Kamenetsky gives introductory remarks followed by well-known speakers. The video features Rebbitzen Tehila Jaeger (in memory of her daughter Ruchama, a”h, bas Harav Naftali HaLevy Jaeger). In the beginning of the project, the rebbetzin was reluctant to appear on a video, but Harav Kamenetsky gave her a bracha also. Now she’s the primary speaker and visionary for this effort. In this year’s new video, Rebbitzen Jaeger speaks, along with Rabbi Paysach Krohn, Rabbi Ephraim Shapiro, and Rabbi Moshe Weinberger.
Women in hundreds of locations across America and internationally will be united on or around the yahrtzeit. “While watching the video, it’s very inspiring to think that other women are doing the same around the world,” said Keren Traub.
In the merit of Rachel Imeinu, please join us for the inspiration and the cause, and help me honor the memory of my father, Yosef ben Zev Wolf HaLevi, z”l, who is privileged to share the same yahrtzeit as Mama Rachel.
To help sponsor the evening or request a video for schools, shuls, or other venues, please call 443-224-8128 or email KEYtefilla@gmail.com.
