Uman, Ukraine – A gravely ill Chasidic man who longed to spend Rosh Hashana in Uman got his final wish before passing away on Monday in the central Ukrainian town during the annual pilgrimage that drew thousands of worshippers from all over the world.
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Avrahm Getz of Brooklyn, author of the sefer Meshiv L’Shoel, had been fighting cancer for several months.
The Breslov Global Twitter feed showed letters written by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and President Donald Trump to Getz last summer in honor of his birthday, expressing support and prayers for the 24 year old in his ongoing battle.
According to B’chadrei Charedim (http://bit.ly/2Ql23yd), Getz was a Bobover chosid who had developed strong connections to Bresolv over the last several years.
Getz had spent Shabbos in Uman and was feeling poorly on Sunday night, calling on members of Queens Hatzolah and an oncology nurse who contacted his doctors in New York and monitored him closely. Getz told paramedics how glad he was to have come to Uman and have had the opportunity to recite Tikun Klali on Erev Rosh Hashana at the tzion of Rabbi Nachman in Uman.
By Monday Getz had taken a turn for the worse, and there was a minyan present at his bedside when he passed away on the first day of Rosh Hashana.
Numerous hurdles had to be cleared so that Getz could returned to the United States as expeditiously as possible, explained Zvi Gluck, director of Amudim who serves as a liaison between the Unites States Consulate and the many American citizens who travel to Uman to visit the holy site.
Gluck said that local officials in Uman including the police department and medical examiner’s office were both helpful and respectful, waiving the requirement to perform an autopsy, allowing Getz’s body to remain in the Uman compound, completing multiple mandatory certificates and having them translated into English in order to ensure that he could be returned home quickly.
Ensuring Getz’s swift return to New York involved the cooperation of numerous international agencies including the United States Consul General in Kiev, the American Embassy’s Citizen Services section, the United States State Department, the United States Customs and Border Patrol, the Ukrainian Health Ministry, and the Israeli mission to Uman.
“Once again, we are grateful to the many people whose extreme sensitivity allowed everything to fall into place in a very short amount of time so that the levaya can be held as quickly as possible,” Gluck told VIN News.
Once Rosh Hashana ended, Chevra Kadisha members from Minnesota, Flatbush, Miami and Israel performed a tahara on Getz, who was then taken to Rabbi Nachaman’s tzion where the entire Tikun Klali was recited.
After a brief eulogy, Getz was taken to the airport for a 3:30 AM Ukrainian Airlines flight back to New York. Initial plans to have Getz flown back to New York on a private jet had to be abandoned because of Ukrainian regulations.
Producer Isaac Gefen, a friend of Getz’s said that his passing, coming at the start of the new year, was difficult to bear.
“He was also busy learning and kept striving to finish another masechta,” said Gefen. “He never gave up even when things were extremely difficult, always putting his trust in Hakadosh Baruch Hu.”
The funeral for Getz, who leaves behind a wife and two small children, will be held today at 2 PM at the Shomrei Hadas Chapels at 3803 14th Avenue.
Very moving and befitting. May his neshoma have an alyia.
Thank you president Trump for your support.
BDE. Trump is a tzaddik.
Avrumy your funeral was soul wrenching. You were a good man, friend, husband and most of all father. You will never be forgotten.