The chanukas habayis of Yeshiva Bais Moshe of Scranton's new 50,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art facility

Living Higher

P

inny Brecher of Monsey was driving his family back home from a wedding in Lakewood when their Suburban hydroplaned and skidded off the Garden State Parkway, careening through the guardrails and flipping over at least once. When the car finally shuddered to a halt, it was lying on its side. Pinny tried to open the door, but it wouldn’t budge. Suddenly, he noticed a chassidish young man standing outside the car, looking in through the window. He too could not pry the door open.

“Suddenly, my son turned to me,” says Pinny. “He said ‘Abba, here!’ ”

Tzvi Meir was holding a window punch, a small device that breaks vehicle glass for escape or rescue.

“About two years ago, a Chaveirim member gave me one, for no particular reason,” Pinny shares. “He had bought a few and decided to hand them out. I kept it in my car all this time, never really paying attention to it.”

But in those terrifying moments, Pinny knew exactly why he was one of the chosen recipients.

“Given my position, I couldn’t effectively strike the window,” Pinny says.

But miraculously, the impact of the crash had dislodged the door enough to create a gap between the door and its frame.

“I reached out through the gap and handed the punch to the chassidishe man. He then struck the window, which shattered immediately.”

From there, the Brechers were able to exit the vehicle, and their siblings and parents dropped everything to offer whatever support they might need.

Later, Pinny came to learn the identity of his savior — it was Shmaya Fischer, a popular wedding singer. Pinny made sure to pay a visit to the Fisher home to express his hakaras hatov.

New Building, Same Foundation

Yeshiva Bais Moshe of Scranton, Pennsylvania, founded in 1965 by Rav Yaakov Schnaidman and Rav Chaim Bressler, both talmidim of Rav Aharon Kotler, has rightfully earned its place as one of America’s premier legacy yeshivos. The founding roshei yeshivah, together with Rav Chaim Schnaidman and Rav Nachman Pritzker, who have since joined the hanhalah, were mechanech legions of talmidim. Yet since the yeshivah’s 1976 acquisition of the historic Mercy Heights Hospital property (the hospital where the 46th president of the United States was born), the facilities have barely undergone renovations.

In a major milestone event last week, alumni, current talmidim, and gedolei Torah converged in Scranton to join the hanhalah in celebrating the chanukas habayis of a new 50,000-square-foot state of the art facility, marking a major milestone for the yeshivah.

Several hundred alumni returned for a memorable Shabbos to celebrate the occasion. For many talmidim, a highlight came on Shabbos morning, when longtime supporter and alumnus Mr. Shimon Lefkowitz announced that the balabatim would be joining together to purchase the third aliyah for the founding co-rosh yeshivah, Rav Chaim Bressler, with a goal of raising $61,000 in honor of the yeshivah’s 61st year. The response exceeded expectations, bringing in an impressive $80,000 on the spot.

Later, for the sixth aliyah, alumnus Mr. Ari Dobkin made a generous bid on condition that the bochurim commit to learning additional dapim of Gemara in the zechus refuah sheleimah for the other founding rosh yeshivah, Rav Yaakov Schnaidman, who was unable to attend due to health concerns. On the spot, over 60 bochurim pledged over 13,700 dapim to be learned over the coming year in the zechus of Rav Yaakov ben Chana, may he merit a refuah sheleimah b’karov.

—Gavriel Horan contributed to this report

(Originally featured in Mishpacha, Issue 1104)