Question – What happens when you put together a Sick young man, a Sefer Torah almost near completion, the Dream Team and the owner of an Aeromedical Transport company?

Answer – Yochi Ruby flying high as he gets Brachos from today’s leading Gedolim!

Yochi Ruby, known fondly by his friends and admirers as Captain Yochi, is faced with multiple severe life-threatening complications yet he always sports an incredibly positive attitude towards life and always finds himself in great places doing amazing things. His mission this week however, soared way higher than anything else he had ever done or could have ever dreamed possible. Off to Israel was Yochi this time, however not just for an all-expense paid vacation to relax or tour but to fill a very holy purpose – finishing the writing of a sefer torah in his z’chus. Travelling alongside Yochi to help ensure a safe trip were members of The Dream Team (founded by R’ Shlomo Zakheim A’H) that included Moti Mitteldorf and Jet911 Owner, Paramedic Eli Rowe.

The team arrived at JFK at 8:58am and like royalty, Yochi was whisked thru security straight into the King David Lounge where El-Al staff treated Yochi with unrivaled VIP service. After a luxurious breakfast, the Jet911 Flight Team, comfortable they were well prepared for all medical and logistical needs of the long flight, buckled Yochi in for a B”H uneventful flight where upon arrival everyone was greeted with loud cheering by ecstatic family members and fans overjoyed to see Yochi arrive in Ben Gurion Airport!

This legendary Dream Team trip had excitement permeating every single moment at every single location. Hashem seemed to provide endless koach (and oxygen canisters) as Yochi and his crew spent early morning till the late hours of the night visiting world renowned Gedolim and getting wonderful brachos from the Gedolim as they excitedly wrote a letter in Yochi’s Sefer Torah. Yochi was bentched personally by many Gedolim including Rav Chaim Kanievsky, Rav Aryeh Leib Shteinman, Rav Berel Povarsky, the Posek R’ Zilbershtein Shlit”a and others. Each Rav warmly accepted Yochi and showered him with special brachos as they wrote an Ois in Yochi’s Sefer Torah.

Early wakeup consisted of a delicious breakfast at the Waldorf following davening with Yochi eagerly hurrying to see Rav Shmuel Orbach and other leaders of Klal Yisroel including Chacham Yaakov Hillel who again gave wonderful chizuk to Yochi with Brachos for Arichas Yomim v’shanim with a complete Refuah Shleima.

As the day progressed and the hour was getting late Yochi was thrilled with all he accomplished but had one last request …to see Rebbe Dovid Abuchatzera in Nahariya. With a window of only 4 hours to accomplish that and the drive being at least 2.5 hours each way in Israeli rush-hour, the likelihood of that happening was looking very close to nil. Eli Rowe saw Rabbi Chaim Cunin and asked him if he can use his vast network of connections to find a helicopter right now to fly Yochi up north and within minutes the team were racing toward a makeshift landing zone in Latrun where they jumped onto a Bell Ranger Helicopter and landed in a field adjacent to R’ Dovids Yeshiva.

The motto of the Dream Team is “if its difficult, we do it, if its impossible, we try harder!”. For Eli, Moti as well as AJ Rowe and Dovi Meyer escorting Yochi to Nahariya this seemed beyond impossible yet it actually happened. Although there were literally hundreds of people standing in line for a fleeting glimpse of the Rebbe on this Erev Rosh Chodesh Sivan, Rebbe Dovid immediately took Yochi to a private room where he lovingly and patiently spent over 15 minutes promising to daven for him to have a complete refuah and hatzlacha with the lung transplant he is waiting for with Arichas Yomim. The Rebbe was delighted to write a Ches (the number 8 which is lemala min hateva and Yud for Yochi which the Rebbe explained together is Chai) in Yochi’s new torah.

The final day of this amazing trip saw an incredibly special visit to Yochis own Rebbe, the Karlin Stolin Rebbe and the Mekubal Rav Shlomo who were so generous with their brochos for a complete Refuah Shleima as they hand selected a ois to write in Yochis Sefer Torah before Yochi headed for the airport to return home.

The culmination of this “dream” was when Yochi teary eyed thanked the team and went over and hugged and kissed Eli with one hand while clutching his Sefer Torah in the other searching for the words to express his appreciation for making his special Dream Team trip a reality.

What an amazing trip…Seeing the Gedolim’s love for another yid as well as the warmth and care of the team was a true lesson on vhavta lareach hakamocha…..

Standby for details about the venue for Yochi’s Hachnosas Sefer Torah in the upcoming weeks!

Please daven for a complete refuah for Yochanan Ben Sima Masha

To learn more about Dream Team trips and/or to help to sponsor future trips please email [email protected]