יתומי משפחת בלוי

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In One Moment, Their World Fell Apart

 

How does one part from his beloved Abba – a man who accomplished so much in his life, yet wasn’t zocheh to dance at even one of his children’s weddings?

How does a child get past the pain of losing the pillar of his family – forever?

What do you say to a young child whose only image of his father is that of someone sick and weak, and who, ever since he can remember, was davening for the day that his Abba would get better?

As the cries of the widow and 8 orphans of Rav Yechezkel Bloye zt”l pierced the skies at his levaya, these were the questions searing everyone’s hearts.

 

Two and a half years ago, the Bloyes were a regular RBS A family.  That is, if you can call a man who lived Torah with his every breath ‘regular.’ Rav Yechezkel was more than just a Torah learner; Torah was his joy, his pleasure in life. It was his life itself.  With the constant and full-hearted support of his wife, a respected teacher, Rav Yechezkel devoted his every waking moment to learning and growing in Torah.

And their children felt it. Though they weren’t rich in material possessions, their home was filled with warmth and light.  They grew up with the joy, emunah and security that loving parents who are living a Torah-focused life give to their children. 

But Rav Yechezkel’s light spread well beyond his own home. He worked to increase the amount of Torah learning in his kehillah, by widening the scope of the Avos U’Banim programme, expanding the Otzar HaSefarim in the Chanichei HaYeshivos shul, and more. He served as a dedicated Rosh Kollel to a group of quality Avreichim, who, under his leadership, learned Torah day and night.

His middos were legendary; even while learning with his chavrusa, it was common to hear Rav Yechezkel ‘ask permission’ to look at a certain commentary or to suggest an idea. 

It was a beautiful life, filled with ruchniyus blessings and so much joy.

And then, one day, Rav Yechezkel was given a terrible diagnosis – and, just like that, everything changed.

Everything changed, but nothing did.

Because even while lying sick in the hospital, even through all of the suffering he would undergo over the next two and a half years, Rav Yechezkel still focused on one and only one thing: Torah. Even in the last painful weeks of his life, he was still sending Mareh Mekomos to the avreichim in his Kollel, and guiding them in how they should be learning the sugya.

And his beautiful middos and innate simchas hachayim never left him.  Visitors would be struck by the smile on his face, his joy as he greeted them.  His greatness was especially evident when he had to undergo an amputation of his legs.  The emotional trauma of going from an active, independent man to a cripple cannot even be imagined, Yet Rav Yechezkel managed to draw on his powerful emunah to strengthen not just himself but everyone around him.  Those who came to be mechazek him inevitably found that they were the ones who received the chizzuk instead.

Through it all, his wife stood by his side.  She cared for him throughout the years of his illness – from treating every fever and minor symptom to rushing with him to the emergency room and staying with him during his long hospital stays.

It’s not hard to imagine how such prolonged illness impacts a family. What it does to young children whose only image of their father is of someone weak and ill; how it affects teenage children who need to stand in for their absent parents and run their household on their own.  The lasting trauma when children of a once-whole and loving family are now reduced to spending Shabbos and Yom Tov alone, week after week.

The Bloye family paid a very heavy price for Rav Yechezkel’s illness – emotionally, financially and physically.

 

The Last Moments of Separation

And then, after two and a half years of battle, they paid the ultimate price.

Rav Yechezkel was still at home on the last Shabbos of his life.  With the aid of his oxygen machine, he tried to squeeze out a few more breaths to say goodbye to his children.  But his expression, as he looked at each and every one of them, said it all.

And then he was gone.

Rav Yechezkel’s family, gathered around his bed, were suddenly left alone.  No husband, no father to support them; for the rest of their lives, they would be on their own.

The cries of the widow and orphans at the funeral were heartrending, as was the emotional goodbye that Rav Shlomo Zalman Perlstein gave the niftar: “All your life, all you wanted to do was learn Torah. Now, you’re going up to the Beis Din shel Maalah, and you’ll finally be able to learn Torah in peace.”

The levaya is over now; the children are sitting shiva.  But even after that’s over, the wounds will remain; the two and a half years living through their father’s illness have left them with deep scars, and they’re in desperate need of rehabilitative help, in so many different areas.

In addition, the two oldest children are already in the stage of shidduchim, which brings with it its own unique needs for financial and emotional support to assist them in building their own homes.

 

They Belong to Us   

The Bloye family is part of our community; their children are members of the RBS A family.  We cannot leave them to fend for themselves, to deal with the fallout of the past two and half years on their own.

Our financial support will help them get past the crises that they’ve experienced in their young lives, and move on to a healthy and whole future. To restore the joy that they once had.

With your monthly donation, you will ensure that the children get the emotional and physical help they need, and that the two oldest will be able to marry and set up their own Torah homes – in the way that their father zt”l would have wanted.

They need your help now.  While they’re still reeling from their terrible loss, facing a dark and uncertain future, now is the time that they need to hear the message: You’re not alone.  We’re here to support you.

Their father is gone; we can never replace him in their lives, but at least we can give them the hope that their future will once more be filled with love and light.

 

PLEASE

 

These children are our neighbors!  They’re turning to us in desperation, because they have nowhere else to turn.   Please show them that they have someone they can count on.

They’ve lost so much over the past two and a half years. Let’s donate now, and help them start to rebuild their broken home and family.

Their father left them and all of us his legacy of Torah, simchas hachaim and working on behalf of the community.  Now it’s up to us to give back to him, by supporting his wife and young children.

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