"Yesterday, I along with a group of student leaders and two staff members went to Jersey City to pay a shiva call to the family of Mindy Ferencz z"l, one of the victims of last week's tragic attack at the JC Kosher Market.
As the eight of us arrived at the shiva home, it was evident that we were not part of their Hasidic community. The father of Moshe Ferencz, who was sitting shiva for his wife, asked one of us how we were connected to the family and one of us responded, "Klal Yisrael" which brought a smile to Mr. Ferencsz's face. The younger Mr. Ferencz who had been speaking in Yiddish, switched to English and spoke directly and movingly to our group. He said, "There are many nuschaot for tefilla, but no matter what your nusach is, we all say Shema exactly the same."
Even though we as Modern Orthodox Jews live different lifestyles than the victims of this attack, we are all part of Klal Yisrael and share in this sense of grief and sorrow. We hope that our presence brought some comfort to the Ferencsz family and we know that the experience was inspiring for us."
Excerpted from an Email to Parents from Students
SAR High School, Riverdale, New York
