It all began on Thursday, December 1, 2022 at 8:50 AM when the cheder bus full of children that I was driving slid down a hill. Of course I slammed on the brakes, but that did not prevent the bus from careening into a house and smashing two cars parked outside along the way. I was extremely fortunate that there were no fatalities.

After three days the handful of children who were hospitalized were all released. and resumed their regular lives. The last one returned to cheder a few days after that. For me, though, the troubles were just beginning. Like the bus, my income was heading downhill.

Due to a fracture in my leg I could not return to work as a bus driver. Nor was I fit for many other jobs, for that matter. Not only that, both my commercial and regular driver’s licenses were suspended shortly after the incident. That ruled out any driving and left me with few options for work.

Meanwhile, my expenses were climbing. I made a bar mitzvah right after the accident, but now I had no income from my job and my medical expenses were piling up. I faced criminal charges and fines and was forced to hire a lawyer. There was the added expense of car services, Pesach looming around the corner and the regular monthly tuition fees for my children. In short, things did not look rosy.

In the meantime with Hashem’s help I closed on a small home for which I had entered into contract at a good price right before the accident. I could not afford to lose the deposit I had already laid out. Of course that brought with it a whole host of additional expenses. The house needed work to refresh it and make it suitable for a Yiddishe family. All sorts of things did not go as planned and the mound of debts just kept growing.



B”H by now my leg is more or less healed. There is a ray of hope regarding my court case after some kindhearted Yidden offered me some good advice and generous loans. Now I just need the final bit to pay back the workers and be able to move into my new home.

I beg of you: Please help me just this once. My family and I are desperate to stand on our own two feet once again. Please help me avoid heading deeper into debt so that I can return to supporting my family honorably. The Rambam paskens that the greatest form of tzedakah is to provide an income so the individual can support himself. For a number of reasons I cannot reach out to you in person, but I ask you to please accept my plea personally, and may Hashem repay you many times over for your generosity.