From left: Rabbi Mendel Brikman, Chaim Marcus and Rabbi Shmuel Greenberg help Bill Shank, 90, celebrate his bar mitzvah.

Rabbi and 90-Year-Old Patient Share a Milestone

by Fay Kranz Greene – Chabad.org

Yankees fans were ecstatic. Lefty Gomez and Joe DiMaggio had just helped their team sweep the Cincinnati Reds to win the 1939 World Series. In Newark, N.J., 12 year-old Bill Shank was happily anticipating his forthcoming bar mitzvah. Studying with the cantor at B’nei Abraham Synagogue, he was almost ready for his big day.

But he didn’t get the chance to show off his newly acquired skills; he never made it to his own bar mitzvah. The celebration was canceled because he suddenly developed a severe case of pneumonia. The young boy languished in pain for months because the new “miracle” drug—penicillin—was not yet in widespread use. The bar mitzvah was forgotten in the wake of his illness.

Fast-forward to Shabbat, July 23, 2016. The place is the Burke Rehabilitation Hospital in White Plains, N.Y., a highly reputed facility entirely dedicated to rehabilitation medicine.

Mendel Brikman, 43, a Chabad rabbi and businessman, had recently been accepted to Burke. Diagnosed with cancer in 2011, he underwent surgery that successfully removed the tumor, but made it difficult for him to breathe. The husband and father of six has been in and out of hospitals for the past few years, battling his illness and overcoming the enormous challenges placed on him and his family.

Remarkably, Brikman remains the same outgoing, upbeat, personable fellow he always was. Quick with a joke and easy to talk to, he has become known for his ability to listen and dispense practical advice.

Last week he was enjoying the company of his friend Chaim Marcus, who had come to spend Shabbat with him. They were sitting in his room at Burke discussing whether he had the strength to participate in his scheduled rehab session. Although exhausted, Brikman decided to go ahead with the therapy.

In the rehab room, they found a few other patients already there, including an elderly gentleman who turned to them and said, “Shabbat Shalom.” It turned out that their Sabbath greeter was none other than Bill Shank, professor emeritus and the former music librarian at the CUNY Graduate Center, and that his Hebrew name was (you guessed it!) Mendel.

‘Every Mitzvah Has Cosmic Importance’

During their conversation, Shank told them about his canceled bar mitzvah, that he had never put on tefillin and was scheduled to leave Burke on Monday.

So what’s a good Chabadnik to do?

“We are all raised on the idea that every Jew is infinitely precious, and that every mitzvah has cosmic importance, especially tefillin,” said Marcus. “For a Chabadnik, the words ‘I’ve never put on tefillin’ trigger something akin to an adrenaline rush. Like my friend David Suissa says, ‘Chabadniks have one global model, and it’s called, ‘We want you to do a mitzvah because the world needs it.’ That is the essential lesson we learned from the Lubavitcher Rebbe[Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of righteous memory]: Helping a Jew do a mitzvah is the best way to say ‘I love you.’ ”

“Mr. Shank, it’s never too late. How about we make you a bar mitzvah tomorrow?”

“Let me think about it,” he replied. “I’ll discuss it with my daughter, and I’ll let you know.”

Later that night, the nonagenarian enthusiastically agreed and even invited his daughter, who was visiting from Norway, and a number of friends to join in the celebration. As is typical in the Chabad world, it turned out that Shank’s daughter knows Chabad-Lubavitch emissaries Rabbi Shaul and EstherWilhelm in Oslo.

By Sunday morning, the guest list had grown to include Brikman’s wife Toby, their youngest son Zalman and Shank’s roommate at the hospital, Ralph Ziskind. They also extended an invitation to Rabbi Shmuel Greenberg of Young Israel of White Plains and the chaplain at Burke.

It turns out that you don’t need a DJ, caterer, centerpieces or flowers to have a meaningful bar mitzvah.

“Everything is Divinely orchestrated, but it’s particularly gratifying when the Almighty gives us an opportunity like today,” said Brikman, “to be able to come together 77 years after your bar mitzvah and celebrate this occasion with you.”

Speaking about the mitzvah of tefillin, Brikman pointed out that tefillin is a testament to our love for the Almighty and His love for the Jewish people. “What is written in G‑d’s tefillin?” asked Brikman. “The Torah tells us that in G‑d’s tefillin, it speaks of the special love that G‑d has for the Jewish people.”

Brikman spoke movingly about what he has been through and shared a personal story about a former Israeli soldier that had moved away from Judaism because his friend was killed during the 1982 Lebanon war. After befriending Brikman and forming a close bond, the former soldier decided that although many years elapsed, he would begin putting on tefillin again.

The bar mitzvah “boy” shared his own story and emotionally wrapped tefillinfor the first time. “I want to say this is a very proud moment of my life at age 90. I’m very honored and very happy that I have my good friends and my daughter here with me, and I’m very proud to be able to say that I’ve now finally been bar mitzvahed.”

Several of the guests had never even seen a pair of tefillin, so Rabbi Greenberg gladly explained what they are, what is written in them and why Jews wear tefillin on the weaker arm, for which he used a baseball analogy.

There was some spirited singing as Shank unwrapped his presents, which included the Chabad classic books, Daily Wisdom and Towards a Meaningful Life;a CD of Chassidic recording artist Avraham Fried; and a kipah with the words “Bill” and “Mendel” embroidered in both Hebrew and English.

Shirley Miller, a longtime friend of the Shanks, was visibly moved, and told Mendel that “this has been one of the most meaningful and beautiful events I have ever participated in.”

The 90-year-old bar mitzvah “boy” with his new kipah.
The 90-year-old bar mitzvah “boy” with his new kipah.
Family and friends at the event.
Family and friends at the event.
The Burke Rehabilitation Hospital in White Plains, N.Y., a highly reputed facility entirely dedicated to rehabilitation medicine.
The Burke Rehabilitation Hospital in White Plains, N.Y., a highly reputed facility entirely dedicated to rehabilitation medicine.

One Comment

  • cnl

    Mendel is an amazing person. Wishing him a refuah sheleima and lots of nachas.