10:45PM EST: Tragedy struck the Los Angeles Frum community on Erev Tisha B’Av, with the cold-blooded murder of R’ Mordechai Bayer, HYD, of Valley Village, CA.
R’ Mordechai, who was in his 60’s, was a well-known community Askan in Los Angeles.
According to initial reports, the incident is being labeled as a dispute between a landlord (Mordechai Bayer) and his tenant (reported to be an Asian man), at a Hollywood T-shirt store on the 54000 block of Sunset Boulevard. Although details are still sketchy, it appears that Mr. Bayer was collecting rent from his tenant at approximately 12:40PM, when a dispute broke out. It ended with his killer shooting him, and then taking his own life.
The local Chevra Kadisha & Hatzolah are working with authorities to have the Niftar released to ensure a timely Levaya.
UPDATE: The Levaya is scheduled for 3:00PM (Tisha B’Av) at Eden Memorial Park, 11500 Sepulveda Boulevard; Mission Hills CA
Boruch Dayan Emmes…
(Yehuda Drudegstein / YWN-153 / YWN-105)
Join the official YWN WhatsApp status
18 Responses
Boruch Dayan Huemmes !
Yiden Its really time to do teshuvah
nebech
oyy!!! we really need moshiach!!!!!
i loved this man, in the 12 years i knew him, i cannot remember a single bad thing abt him… a true mentsch.
Baruch Dayan Haemet. A very great man. A very hardworking talmid chacham and a working man. Greeted everyone with savar panim yafot. Its a tremendous loss to the LA community and whoever knew him. Our prayers should be for his family and to do teshuva in his merit.
we can’t let tragic things keep happening
let’s work on ourselves, and reach out to others
and let’s all turn to Hashem, may we be redeemed soon
Boruch Dayan Emes. R’ Mordechai Bayer was a holy Tzadek. His death is truly a great loss for not only his family, but for the Community and Klal Yisroel. My heart goes to his family and may Hashem bring them comfort.
Oh vei, such a feineh yid. The gemara says misas zadikim is a kaporoh for klal yisroel. So let’s be mispalel that we see masiach today.
The niftar’s name is R’ MORDECHAI (Marc) BAYAR (not Bayer), and he was barely 50 (not in his 60s). Please update the information on this site.
As for the niftar, my wife and I have/had known him and his equally wonderful wife for over 30 years, first encountering each other when all four of us were still single (probably at a shiur or a Shabbaton). Though my wife and I moved to the NYC area over 20 years ago, we have remained good friends with the Bayars; though we weren’t in touch often enough, we knew that the Bayars were always there for us when we needed them, and vice versa. Virtually every trip to L.A. that my wife or I or our kids took over the years included a Shabbos meal at the Bayars. I will never, ever forget his rendition of “Sukkah v’Lulav” (especially after some ערק – Arak), and his entire family’s hospitality. He had a special place for simchas Yom Tov, and his mindset was contagious.
R’ Bayar (z”l) was truly an outstanding Yid in every way, and a mentch in every sense of the word. His Sephardic ancestry made him so proud, and his love for Eretz Yisroel knew no bounds. He earned his smicha quietly, yet remained a poshete yid and special friend to me (though his learning towered above mine). He was a man with much charisma, ahavas Yisroel, ahavas Torah, and, of course, ahavas Ha-Shem.
Needless to say, we are reeling from this sad and totally unexpected news; I couldn’t imagine a more horrible thing to find out on Tisha B’Av, of all times. R’ Mordechai was truly one in a million, and we fully expected to remain friends with him for at least another 40 or 50 years. What a tremendous loss to us personally and to all of klal Yisroel.
BORUCH DAYAN HaEMES. Condolences to the Bayar family, extended family, friends, and all of klal Yisroel.
W E N E E D M O S H I A C H N O W.
-Mig
What a horror. May Hashem be menachem his family with the coming of Mashiach bimheirah beyameinu, amein.
Why is it necessary to mention that the murderer was Asian?
Baruch Dayan HaEmes. I attended the Levaya and it was truly a tribute to the Niftar – there were many hundreds (if not more) in attendance on a hot Tisha B’Av afternoon. I think that alone attests to his Gadlus.
May he be a Meilitz Yosher for all of Klal Yisroel.
Bila Hamoves Lonetzach uMacha Hashem Elokim Dimah MeAl Kol Ponim.
#11 — For the same reason it was necessary to mention that the victim was Jewish. Asian gang violence is pervasive in Los Angeles, and especially in the neighborhood where the murder took place.
Why not?
The niftar’s age is being reported all over as having been in his 60’s, while we knew he was only 50. The L.A. Daily News finally got it right, from the coroner’s report:
http://www.dailynews.com/news/ci_15558234
BDE
#11 Why is it necessary? Because that is part of the story.
Baruch Dayan Haemes. I just heard about this a few minutes ago.
This was a very close family friend of mine/ relative. I spent a lot of time at the bais avel and was disturbed at how many people do not know how to be menachem avel. When a sudden tragidy as this happens (or any death, chas v’shalom), and you go to be menachem avel, it is best to sit with the aveilim and not say anything except “hamakom yinachem…”, unless you are asked to speak. It was very draining for the family to repeat the story of what happened, over and over again because the visitors wanted to know details. It is best to do what is in the best interest for the aveilim.
This isn’t a judgment, just friendly advice.
We should only hear smachot!
R’ Bayar would want us to pick ourselves up from mourning and do another mitzva. That is how he lived his life.