Good Deeds for Daniel Perelman

by Yoni Brown – Lubavitch.com

Eighteen-year-old Daniel Perelman had just finished his first year at Northwestern University, studying physics and preparing to pursue a career as an orthopedic surgeon. He was a proud Jew and, together with his family, a member of Chabad of Waukesha. Daniel was also a student pilot, and last Thursday, while on a solo flight, his Cessna 152 light aircraft suffered an engine failure. The airplane crashed, and Daniel passed away in the hospital two days later.

The tragedy devastated the tight-knit community and Daniel’s friends and classmates, who knew him as a person full of energy and curiosity and a gentle soul. “Daniel was kind and giving,” said Rabbi Levi Brook, who directs Chabad of Waukesha together with his wife Fraidy. “He greeted everyone with a smile.” 

After consulting with his parents, Chabad set up a website where people can pledge to perform a mitzvah in Daniel’s honor. Within just a day, seven hundred people have already done so. “The tragedy is overwhelming, but in the Jewish tradition we don’t face tragedy passively,” said Rabbi Brook. “A mitzvah provides a way to do something positive for him, and memorialize his life by adopting a positive trait or behavior.”

Daniel leaves behind his loving parents, sister, grandparents, aunts, and uncles. 

Visit deedsfordaniel.com to commit to a mitzvah in Daniel Perelman’s honor.