A Jewish Family Needed Help After A Car Crash, Chabad of Virginia Was There To Help

The call came in to Chabad of Richmond, Virginia after 10:00am Sunday morning. A Jewish family driving from Monsey, NY to Tampa, FL had crashed, and they had nobody to help them. This is an extraordinary story of Shlichus.

The story begins around 9:15am Sunday morning as the Jewish family, who lives in Tampa, Florida and was returning home from Monsey, lost control of their vehicle, which crashed and rolled multiple times. The mother was rushed to one hospital by ambulance while the father and their four-month-old baby were airlifted to VCU Medical Center.

A local news outlets covering the story wrote that “Officers arrived on the scene and found a severely damaged vehicle and multiple injured individuals, including an infant who had been ejected from the vehicle.”

News of the crash arrived in their community in Tampa around 10:00am, and a group of community members immediately purchased tickets on the only direct flight.

“We purchased tickets on the only direct flight, but we would be landing only around 5:00pm,” one of the community members who flew in told CrownHeights.info. “We knew it wasn’t enough.”

Heshy Neiman, a member of Khal Ahavas Hashem of Tampa and an Askan from Cleveland, Ohio stepped up to the plate, calling Rabbi Mendy Heber of Chabad Williamsburg, VA asking for help.

Rabbi Heber immediately networked with the head Shliach Rabbi Yossel Kranz and Rabbi Mendy Weiss, the Youth Director at Chabad of Virginia, who dropped everything, picked up the families belongings from the wrecked car, and rushed to the Hospital to be with the family where he stayed for seven hours.

Rabbi Yossel Kranz’s wife Rebbetzin Nechama Kranz also jumped into action, arranging the delivery of food to the family and herself going to the hospital to sit with the mother. The mother was transferred to VCU Medical Center to be with her family later that day.

“From not knowing anyone from Virginia yesterday, to getting amazing help from the Chabad community of Virginia,” one of the Tampa community members said. “And not just the bare minimum, they opened there houses and dropped everything for someone they didn’t know.”

Miraculously, the 4-month-old baby who was ejected from the vehicle had landed on a patch of grass and only suffered minor injuries. They were released first from the hospital and the Kranz family stepped up yet again, caring for the child as the parents were were under continued care in the hospital.

So impressed by the actions of the Chabad community of Virginia, the Tampa community of Khal Ahavas Hashem published a thank you message showing their appreciation to each person who stepped up to help.