See Something, Say Something
Last week I attended a funeral of a very special woman, a close family friend, and someone who had a profound impact on me and on my life. After two hours of eulogies at the funeral, I continued on to the West Side to the cemetery to escort her all the way to her final resting place.
As students in the Telshe Rabbinical School in Wickliffe, Ohio, my siblings and I enjoyed many delicious Shabbos meals at her home. When I was all of 18 years old, she approached me and said that there was a young Jewish, Russian family living in Willoughby, Ohio and that they had a 12-year old son who needed someone to teach him and prepare him for his Bar Mitzvah. She refused to accept my lack of experience or my inability to pick up the boy or travel to his home (I did not have a car). Instead, she insisted that I was the perfect candidate for the job and that I would have no problem borrowing a car from someone in order to fulfill this important mitzvah. So, that was that. I would borrow a car each week and young Genna and I studied together for over a year. This left me with a very special feeling for the joys of Jewish outreach and education, and contributed greatly to my choice of my life's mission, to remain in this field.
She had a way with words, this lady. She never took no for an answer, and she profoundly impacted the lives of thousands of young men and women throughout her lifetime.
In 1951, she was a young, 18-year old Hebrew School teacher in Chicago. David Ben-Gurion came to visit to raise funds for the newly created State of Israel. She brought her class to the parade, and as the Israeli Prime Minister passed them by in his open motorcade, she reached into her pocket, pulled out a kippah (she always came prepared) and tossed it to the the bareheaded Ben Gurion. He caught it and put it on his head!
If she noticed something wrong, she spoke up. If she didn't like something that you were doing, she would point it out. Not at all indiscriminately, but with love and deep sense of concern for your welfare. So, you listened to her gentle rebuke.The Torah teaches us that effective rebuke can only be done from a place of love and concern, and she personified these noble character traits. She lived by the motto of "see something, say something" before it became a slogan.
Her name was Rebbitzin Sora Ita Katz. Born in Chicago, she made Cleveland her home for over 60 years, and together with her special husband they performed thousands upon thousands of acts of kindness from their simple home in Wickliffe, Ohio. From students in the yeshivah, to the Jewish patients in the hospitals, to the Russian Jewish community, she cared, so she acted.
After her funeral, I decided to track down and reach out to Genna, the young, Jewish, Russian boy, my very first Bar Mitzvah student. I found him through social media. He is now married and lives down in Texas. I messaged him. Twice. He hasn't replied. I should probably give up, but I keep thinking, "What would Mrs. Katz say?" and I'll keep on trying.
She taught us to never give up. She will be sorely missed. May we all be inspired by her tremendous legacy.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Koval
