a balloontwister’s aliya saga

After a special shabbos… we now have a funeral to go to. Friday night we ate by the Lazars, originally from Queens, NY. Invited along with us was this yeshiva boy. Yaacov Simonowitz from Queens who is here learning in Ohr Jerusalem for the year. Yaacov is a medical clown. He goes to hospitals and other places and makes balloons and does skits for the kids. It took about 10 minutes to find out that this big fella is Barry’s Son. Barry of Ram caterers and of Camp Dora Golding. (Mikey’s Nephew). Wow, what a small world. The meal was spent talking about balloon twisting… at least we were the rest of the table was trying to slit their wrists. yaacov lazar was working his way through the Glenfiddich. THe women were talking about something. The kids were eating candy and having their mouth, faces, teeth turn colors due to the HUGE lollypops with the sick colors… Tamar was her usual self. Overturning someones sand art project. Colored sand was all over one of the rooms. It was so refreshing to hear that these young kids are into chessed like this. I didn’t know anyone who did this when I was a yeshiva boy. According to yaacov (yaccov Kaola.. his clown name) kedma is an organization that trains kids to do this. SO students that come for the year can learn this to cheer up kids on their off days. My Niece aliza did a program like this in America last year and it is almost shocking to learn that kids are giving up their free time for months for the sole purpose of cloning for children in the hospital. Despite the jokes and wisecracks from some people, its a huge thing. .. thank g-d people do not see the importance of it, due to their healthy children. Whenever I go to a hospital or orphange I am SO appreciative to Hashem that I come here with my kids ONLY to entertain other kids and I get to leave after an hour or so. There is nothing greater than helping a fellow jew in need. (getting up on a soapbox… hey, its my blog…) On shabbos, someone make a few jokes about me.. being a clown… doing balloons… and despite what other people think about a grown man with an MBA on stilts, I really don’t care. Because for every snide remark a get a . “I wish we had you… a year ago my child was sick in a hospital”… etc. I also know the feeling and the look on the eyes of the parent when I come with my balloon chug to the hospital. Words can’t describe what its like. SO, a few jokes at my expense is NOT going to deter me from helping people out and KOL Hakoved to the yeshiva boys and girls who are taking on this huge project to help klal yisroel.

On a sadder note. we have a funeral tonight. You may have read about it in the newspapers, I just did. Aaron Montal, father of my neighbor, issac was killed friday collecting tzedakah in Flatbush. Can you imagine an 88 year old collecting money for poor people? Its hard to believe…. We lost a giant. NO questions about it. A holocaust survivor. A father and grandfather and someone who went door to door to raise money for poor people. The burial is at har hamenuchos.

A generation goes, a generation comes.( Koheles)

S0, while we lost a ba’al chessed this week, at least we are seeing a new generation of people that care about other Jews. Please take a look at http://www.kedma.org/ it will leave you with a good taste in your mouth to learn how young kids are taking a leading role in helping yiddin that are less fortunate.

Have a good day and bsuros tovos!