17 Hours on the Road to Save a Toronto Jew From Cremation

By COLlive reporter

Imagine the power of several organizations joining forces to work for the greater good. Multiple worlds collided to preserve the kedusha of one neshama, after a man passed away in Toronto last week.

Mr. S., a resident of Toronto passed away this past Friday and was scheduled for cremation. Hearing about the plan, his 2 nephews who are frum were determined to stop the cremation from happening.

Rabbi Yerucham Kopelman of the Neshama Foundation was contacted and he spoke to the widow on the phone. She agreed to stop the cremation and have him buried on the condition that he be buried near his parents in a cemetery in Queens, New York.

To make that happen, a chapel in Brooklyn, Misaskim of Lakewood and the Misaskim Headquarters in Brooklyn got involved.

With Canada keeping strict quarantine requirements for those crossing the border, the Misaskim team in Toronto said they would not be able to escort Mr. S. to New York themselves.

Within hours, two volunteers offered to drive from Brooklyn to the Canadian border and collect and coffin to be brought to Queens. Unsure where they can facilitate the transfer, Chabad of Niagara Falls agreed to be the location.

The two volunteers spent 17 hours on the road and were successful in bringing Mr. S. to New York where he received a Jewish burial. Members of Misaskim Queens gathered a minyan and ensured Mr. S. received a kevuras yisroel.

“It was a poignant ending to the saga of how over two dozen people did all they could to preserve the kedusha of one neshama,” Misaskim said.