I remember that feeling of drowning after I had my second baby in Israel, 14 months after my first. I didn’t want anyone else to experience that helpless feeling
Most of my articles lean towards the goofy, scientific, and informative side. Serious? Not my default setting. But for the Three Weeks, a shtickel pivoting was in order.
When I called Shifra Mehl of Eim Leah, I expected to speak to a somber woman whose Tehillim zuggen I would be interrupting. Well, I don’t know if I did indeed interrupt said Psalms, but I do know that this was one of the most enjoyable and inspiring Soundbites I have ever prepared.
Eim Leah is named after Leah Eisdorfer, nee Bergman, a”h, who was killed in a tragic car accident seven years ago. Leah lived in Lakewood and was the quintessential friend and mother. Besides being multitalented (she was a singer and a dancer, among other things), she was that neighbor you always saw playing with her kids, helping out a friend, and doing anything she could to make the world a better place.
As soon as my friend Michal Oelbaum heard the terrible news, she called a meeting of Leah’s six closest friends. We knew we had to do something to commemorate Leah. We met the day after the family got up from shivah. A friend of mine, Yehudis Lieberman, and I went for a walk before the meeting to brainstorm, and we knew right away that we wanted to help kimpeturin. I remember that feeling of drowning after I had my second baby in Israel, 14 months after my first. I didn’t want anyone else to experience that helpless feeling. At the meeting, we discussed it, and everyone agreed it would be the best commemoration for Leah.
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