At AHA, Students Do a Mitzvah for a Friend

Zachary Shporer, 18, from Charlotte, NC, was diagnosed with leukemia on March 1. Two weeks later, all one hundred and fifty students and faculty of the American Hebrew Academy in Greensboro, where Zachary is a student, did a mitzvah in his honor.

Organized by his teacher Rabbi Yosef Plotkin, students and faculty participated in a “Mitzvah Day” during which the boys donned Tefilin and the girls recited Psalms on Zachary’s behalf. T-shirts sporting the words “I did a Mitzvah for Zachary” were distributed to all students at the event.

“The idea was to bring all the students together on the Mitzvah Day and do a mitzvah in Zachary’s merit,” said Rabbi Plotkin, Chabad representative in Greensboro, NC. “One of the results of the Mitzvah Day was a daily minyan for Marriv (evening prayers), followed by Psalms for a Zachary.”

Many students also pledged to take on an extra mitzvahs for Zachary, which they recorded on a Facebook page. One student resolved to wear a kippa from now on, said Zachary’s mom Lisa Shporer.

“The kids have embraced Zachary’s dream: to get more kids to do more mitzvahs,” she said. “Zachary is the president of the student government at the school. It is truly amazing that through his sickness the community and the students have come together to realize Zachary’s goal.”

Chabad Rabbis Yossi Groner in Zachary’s hometown of Charlotte, Zalman Bluming in Chapel Hill, NC — where Zachary has been hospitalized — and Rabbi Yochanan Rivkin in Tulane, LA have also been very supportive throughout, Shporer said. Rabbi Bluming has been providing the family with kosher meals at UNC Hospitals in Chapel Hill, where Zachary has been hospitalized.

The family has requested prayers, Psalms and good deeds for Zachary’s speedy recovery. Prayers should be recited with Zachary’s Hebrew name in mind: Zacharya Avraham Baruch Ben Chana Raiza.