“Whenever we needed a minyan, we knew we could knock on his door”
Famed singer Motty Ilowitz holds a longtime passion for visiting Jewish cemeteries. In these silent fields, he finds inspiration, connection, and an oasis of unbridled truth.
This past Tishah B’Av afternoon, a time when many people have the minhag to visit a cemetery, Motty pulled into a large, empty beis hakevaros in South Fallsburg. Scanning his surroundings, he was startled when he noted a large hole. “My first thought was that this was vandalism, that someone had dug up a grave as a form of desecration,” he said. “Then I realized that this was a freshly dug grave, for a meis who would be buried that day.”
Suddenly, a car pulled up. The driver, a frum Yid, engaged Motty in conversation and it was soon evident that this man was in the wrong place. The kever he sought was not located in this cemetery.
And then a van pulled up and eight chassidim emerged. Their destination? Nowhere really. They just decided to stop because they saw two cars already there.
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