From the BCSG President’s Desk: An Important Mitzvah

Last week, we heard the devastating news that Captain Omer Neutra z”l was killed by Hamas on Oct. 7. Previously, Israeli intelligence believed he had been abducted alive by the terrorist organization and was still being held captive. In truth, Omer Neutra was murdered before his body was taken into Gaza, where it is still being held today.

Immediately following the release of this information, Rabbi Azi Fine, one of the Beren Campus rabbis together with his wife, Ellie, approached me with the idea of sending students to the shiva. Omer Neutra was an American-Israeli and his family lives on Long Island. Because of this, the first half of shiva was to take place in the U.S. and then move to Israel. At YU, we have the privilege of being within an hour-or-so drive from the shiva’s location. It was a given then that we would do our best to send a student delegation to greet the mourners. 

Working with OSL and with encouragement from Rabbi Fine, we successfully secured last-minute transportation to the shiva. Two buses would meet Beren students at 245 Lexington on Wednesday, Dec. 4. Quickly, we publicized signup for the shiva call and, to the credit of our students, a large cohort registered. Even despite a warning of intense traffic, the bus filled up (the bus ride in total took around three hours, whereas the shiva call was around 35 minutes).

Initially, the signup was only open to Beren students. This was due to the last minute nature and organization of the event. Additionally, the visit was planned for the afternoon in which most Wilf students have class. Yet, a couple of Wilf students expressed interest in coming. We realized the Wilf students should have the opportunity to join, but we weren’t sure it would work out logistically. After all, it was the night before the buses were scheduled to come to the Beren campus. Thanks to OSL’s hard work, a bus was able to be moved to the Wilf campus and a number of students joined from that campus. We even had a Wilf student who took the initiative to lead that bus and help with coordination. 

Why does all this information matter? Why am I enumerating upon seemingly extraneous details?

The shiva itself was a heart wrenching, significant experience. Omer’s parents spoke to the YU cohort and expressed their appreciation that we came to join in their mourning. The IDF commander in charge of Omer Neutra’s case in the Missing Person’s unit emotionally shared with us his special connection to this family and the impossible task he had of informing them that their worst nightmare is real. We can only hope that our shiva call provided some comfort to Omer’s family.

Yet, without the assistance and contribution of so many key figures, the YU student body would not have been able to send a delegation to the shiva. We would not have had the opportunity to wish Omer’s family our heartfelt tefillot and express our achdut with them as they experience this nightmare. The unique ability of a university to advocate for and implement Jewish values lies with Yeshiva University, enabling our community to organize meaningful events like this shiva call.

Thank you to Rabbi Fine, Dr. Jonathan Schwab, Stephanie Sugarman, all of OSL and the students who attended the shiva call. The mitzvah of comforting a mourner is great, how much more so when so much effort was put into the journey to get there.

Photo Caption: Captain Omer Neutra hostage poster

Photo Credit: https://www.kidnappedfromisrael.com/