Memorial Tribute to Reuven ben Bella with R' Ilan Meirov, R' Israel Itshakov & others

At the Beth Gavriel Center, on June 7th 2015, Chazaq hosted a meaningful and inspiring memorial for Reuven Israelov, a 23-year-old community member who tragically passed away on June 2nd. R’ Yaniv Meirov, Operations Manager of Chazaq, opened the program by noting how Reuven touched all of us with his smiles and hugs. He was a very active participant in Chazaq programs. He learned every morning and night with at the men’s learning programs with Rabbi Ilan Meirov, Chazaq founder. It was clear from the speeches delivered at this program by the various rabbanim that he was someone who truly lived a life of Torah values and the community will miss him. Avi Alishayev, a Chazaq teacher, stated, “He was a good friend of mine, I knew him for 15 years. My heart goes out to his family. It was always nice to have Reuven around.” Avi noted that Reuven was always going to shul. He was someone who walked in total faith. His faith carried him on. He learned Torah. He attended the neitz minyan (prayer service at dawn). He was always thinking of holy things. He did everything he could do to serve Hashem. Avi Alishayev’s voice filled with emotion when he recalled how Reuven always asked about his son with special needs and he always gave his son a blessing. He noted that he taught this kiruv class for 14 years and Reuven was always there. Next, Rabbi Moshe Matzadeh pointed out that Reuven used to go from shul to shul. He liked to get a taste of everything. Rabbi Matzadeh shared that when people ask why he doesn’t move to Monsey or Lakewood or Israel he always responded that he had family here. This family he is speaking about was Reuven. His voice broke. “I couldn’t leave Reuven.” Rabbi Matzadeh stated that this holy soul came to our community. We didn’t know his greatness. We didn’t know the caliber of the shoulders we stood on. He told a story of the Baal Shem Tov. The idea in the story is that we stand on each other’s’ shoulders. We need each other in a community. He taught, “We are a community. We are standing on each other’s shoulders.” We strengthen and uplift each other. He explained that the strength in our community comes from our unity. Reuven wasn’t fooled by a false world. He was only interested in everyone being truly happy. When something bad happened in Israel it hurt him. It made him happy to see other people happy. He loved to share good news. Next, Rabbi Shashua taught that it is never late. A person can always grow. We should take his memory and his naïveté and t’mimiyus (pure wholeness) with us. Following this, Rabbi Ilan Meirov noted that Reuven possessed true ahavas Torah, ahavas chinam (loving people unconditionally), and ahavas Yisrael. He always came to shiurim with tough questions. He always came prepared. He enjoyed the answers. “You felt energy in the room when he walked in. You could feel his warmth from a distance.” Rabbi Meirov strove to derive lessons that we can learn from Reuven’s life. The Rambam taught that when a community experiences tragedies we all have to do t’shuvah. We all have to realize and internalize the fact that life is a precious gift. We should not take it for granted. We don’t take anything for granted. There is no written contract. No one knows what will be. We just pray. We have to be grateful for what we have. We need to increase our attachment to Torah, which is the tree of life. Reuven had a joy for learning. We need to bring that joy and smiles to everyone including our families. Always give a smile and a good word to them. We have to value life and all the gifts Hashem gave us that are so beautiful. Finally, Rabbi Israel Itshakov who is the youth minyan Rabbi at the Beth Gavriel Center imparted that Reuven smiled with his heart. He had an unforgettable happy laugh. The Zohar teaches that tragedies come when we don’t show enough respect to the Beis HaK’neses. In shul, we must silence cell phones and not talk of mundane things. (By Susie Garber) Visit https://www.chazaq.org/ Together We Can Make A Difference, To donate online to CHAZAQ please visit https://www.fidelipay.com/chazaq