More than a decade has passed since 9/11, and Osama bin Laden has been dead for a year. But the horror he perpetrated is still taking lives. Hatzolah volunteer Moishe Lederer, who inhaled the toxic fumes at Ground Zero, recently passed away after a lifetime devoted to his favorite pursuit: helping others.
When the Hatzolah calls started coming in on 9/11 Moishe Lederer a longtime member of the Queens Hatzolah didn’t hesitate. As soon as the first tower collapsed he was on his way. Ten years later when he found himself suffering from mysterious flu-like symptoms he was diagnosed with a rare 9/11-related illness that claimed his life within the year.
Close to 100000 9/11 first responders paid the price for their selflessness with lung damage and other complications that resulted from breathing the toxic ash-filled air. For Moishe Lederer however selfless volunteering on 9/11 and the days following was no one-shot deal. In his 49 short years in this world he accomplished enough chesed for multiple lifetimes. But it wasn’t just that he helped other people. The discreet tactful way he went about it is an object lesson for all of us in how to be an oheiv Yisrael.
It’s only a short five weeks since his petirah that I meet Lederer’s wife Lisa and two of his children (daughter Leah Herbstman and son Chaim Yosef; the oldest daughter Nechama Elbaz lives with her husband in Lakewood and the youngest son Nossi was in yeshivah).
They’re a wholesome-looking group forthcoming but refined and with a ready sense of humor despite the heartrending nature of the subject. In fact they have so many happy inspiring memories that the conversation brings forth in turns both laughter and tears.
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