[COMMUNICATED CONTENT] The petirah of the beloved baal chesed R’ Alter Kaufman, snatched in the prime of his life, left the entire community of Beit Shemesh in a state of shock. R’ Alter was a treasured member of his community and beyond, a member of hatzolah and a warm and loving father to his children.  He was well-known for his acts of kindness to anyone and everyone regardless of the time of day or night. In his forty short years on this work, R’ Alter firmly established a true kesser shem tov for himself. (click here for more information)

The tragedy is heartrending.

At 11pm on Tuesday night, a few weeks ago R’ Alter received a call. The caller asked “R’ Alter, I know the hour  is late. Can you still come tonight to the school building to assist? We have something that has to be fixed in order for us to be able to open up the school tomorrow morning.” As usual, R’ Alter was ready to assist another in need and although the hour was late he finished up a few jobs and by 1:15am he was on the way. He was working on the job for the school, as the ladder he was standing on gave way with a sickening  crack. He was thrown backward to the ground, his skull absorbing much of the impact leaving him with significant head injuries. He was initially conscious, but soon lost consciousness. He suffered substantial internal bleeding and was quickly taken to Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital in critical condition. Despite heartfelt tefilos cried on his behalf, about 24 hours later, R’ Alter Moshe Yakov Kaufman z”l returned his pure soul to his Creator , leaving his wife and eleven young children (the youngest not even 2 years old!) alone. Stunned and shaken.

R’ Alter Kaufman was a great grandson of R’ Yakov Yosef Herman, of the famed “All for the Boss.” He was an electrician by trade, and worked hard in order to support his large family. Although he worked long hours, when R’ Alter would complete a job for a family that obviously did not have funds to pay, he would either make up a ridiculously low price or not charge them at all for his work. And, whenever the situation arose (which was quite often) in which he was able to give of his time and abilities in order to help a fellow Jew in any challenging situation, he did so, without payment or recognition. He was the address for any medical, technical or mechanical troublesome situation in Beit Shemesh.

During Shiva, many stories of R’ Alter’s unassuming kindness were related, unfamiliar to anyone in the family. It was discovered that for many years, R’ Alter would drive across town to a lonely almonoh each day and drop off a loaf bread. This woman had no one except for R’ Alter’s thoughtfulness. “Shimon” related the following story, as story which was so typical of R” Alter: Shimon was frantic. His children had locked themselves in the house and fell asleep, leaving him no way of entry. After numerous attempts to awaken his children by calling them on the phone failed, Shimon was at a loss. What was he to do? Someone mentioned to him to call R’ Alter Kaufman to help. Although he was somewhat uncomfortable for he did not really know him, Shimon felt he had no choice. R’ Alter arrived, and immediately set to work. He encircled the house and looked for a possible breach. He took out his set of tools and began to quickly create an entry. After some time, a passageway large enough was created. Shimon crawled into the house and went to open the front door. He searched for R’Alter to thank him and pay him for his work— but R” Alter was gone. This encapsulated R” Alter’s essence.-he was always available to help anyone in need, but never did he remain to receive payment or even thanks for his good deeds.
Consistently throughout shiva, many described how he loved every single Jew, and tried his best to help everyone in every possible way- always without fanfare, and always with true simcha. As a volunteer member of Hatzoloh,  he devoted himself to the klal and saved many lives by quickly and efficiently responding to emergencies. Friends and co-volunteers recall how he used to run out at any given moment, despite the time of day or night or any inclement weather, in the hope that he would be the shaliach to help save another Jew. A story was retold how R’ Alter responded to a call in which a child was locked inside a car. Quickly, R’ Alter began to work to open the locked vehicle. The chiloni driver became extremely agitated when he saw a chareidi touching his car. Despite R’ Alter’s calm explanation that he responded as a member of Hatzoloh, he angrily insisted on waiting  for the fire department to arrive so that a chareidi should not touch his car. In his rage,  he slapped R’ Alter across his face. The next day, while walking with his wife, two women approached his wife and asked her about the story. Mrs. Kaufman  who had not heard the story, broached the topic. R’ Alter softly responded, “In truth, what hurt me most in not the slap.. it is the division of the fractions of Am Yisrael.”

Thousands whose lives were impacted by this special individual attended his levaya Thursday morning in Beit Shemesh. The depth of their pain was evident, and the torrents of tears could not be stopped. When Yosef, the bechor hamishpacha, a chasan who was set to get married in  about a month, began his hesped, the enormity of the tragedy once again struck the crowd who collectively burst into  tears once again. He described his father as a wonderful, devoted parent who despite having designated an untold amount of hours of chesed for others, gave of himself in so many ways to his family first and foremost. “ I beg you, Abba, Please continue to support us… Help Ima so that she can guide our family.. Never did I dream in my wildest nightmare that you wouldn’t  be there to walk me to my chuppa…. Please, accompany me from on high…”

At the recent wedding of Yosef  the oldest son of R’ Alter feelings of intense joy mingled with deep sadness at Hundreds of guests attended the wedding in order to bring joy to the new couple, but they could not replace the feelings of heaviness and hurt present due to the sudden loss of R’ Alter. The pain is still so fresh; the ache is still so raw. Who would have dreamed just a few months ago, when the the engagement was celebrated, that R’ Alter would not physically be here to participate in the wedding of his oldest son? Rabbi Pinchos Breuer, Rosh Yeshiva of  Knesses Eliyhau (the yeshiva the chosson attended) officiated the wedding. Many prominent Rabanim were in attendance to give support as well as hundreds of Beit Shemesh residents who came to show their joy at this momentous occasion and to show their support.
With R’ Alter’s tragic demise, the sole breadwinner of the family is gone. This young almana now has the sole responsibility to care for, raise and marry off her eleven young orphans. There is no income. There is no money for even the most basic necessities.

The Torah promises;משמח את שלי אני משמח את שלך”  “אם אתה   Please, open your hearts and provide for the family. Click here for more information or to donate.

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