Deans, NJ – Emotions ran high at a small gathering today in Deans, New Jersey, as a hakamas matzeiva was held for Leiby Kletzky, four weeks to the day before the Borough Park boy’s first yahrtzeit on the eleventh day of Tammuz.
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The Kletzky family was joined by their Rov, Rabbi Binyomin Eisenberger, and approximately two dozen others at Washington Cemetery.
Following Tehillim, Kel Maley Rachamim and the singing of Acheinu, those assembled at Leiby’s kever placed stones on the matzeiva, which bore a poignant inscription, describing Leiby as a korban for all of Klal Yisroel, who ultimately served as an inspiration to Jews worldwide.
The matzeiva also portrayed Leiby’s exceptional character praising him as “loved by all those who knew him…excelled in the pleasantness of his middos…thirsted for the word of Hashem and his mitzvos…and had a pleasant face for those who knew him and his rabbeim.”
All photos-video credit to thelakewoodscoop.com
Sweet Leiby should be a meiletz yosher for us all. May the family find comfort in that merit.
Do I see Peasach Krohn?
Oy Leibi how much we all cried for you .Be mispalel for all of us
Intresting it doesn’t say hashem yinokom domom(may gd avenge his blood), if a gentile killed him regardless the motive I’m guessing they would of wrote that.
which chelkeh is he?
PLEASE! I can’t watch this clip! This is too much to handle! Dei L’tzoroseini!
What beautiful pictures. G-d bless his poor family. They must miss their boy each & every day.
May I ask: What is the box w\the holes in front of little Leiby’s grave? I realize it probably says what it is right on it, but I do not speak Hebrew as of yet, and am unfamiliar w\such a custom at a gravesite.
Many thanks to all,
Sherry
The Box with the holes is where they place a lighted candle in memory, and it is in the box so that the wind should not extinguish the flames.
Sherry, visitors light candles in those boxes.
Leiby was buried in the Chasan Sofer chelka that is close to Route 130 North, opposite the cemetery office.. May haShem grant that the chelka stay empty.
To our dearest & most precious Leiby,
11 long xcrciating months hav passed,
yet the pain lives on hidden beneath our everyday masks
there isnt a day that i do not think of you
& all the pain ur parents & family r living thru.
we all cried 2gether so bitterly as 1,
you will 4ever b klal yisrael’s son
I daven 4 ur choshuve parents e/ day
tht HaShem comfort them in e/ way.
Time may pass & our wounds may slightly heal
but you-our precious Leiby- the pain of ur absence we will always feel
although we r forced to move on e/ day
in our hearts & minds ur beautiful smile will 4ever stay
I did not know u & tht is my loss
4 such a pure beautiful Neshama was truly yours
you accepted a gzar din on behalf of all of us
2 help erase the aveiros tht we- the klal caused.
since you hav left 2 a much more beautiful world
2 b closer 2 HaShem & to hear his loving world
i hav tried 2 do mitzvos in ur zechus..
i worked on middos, ahavas yisrael, shmiras halashon, shalom,tzeddaka & so much more.
& thruought all this I say R’Yehuda ben R’ Nachman- our beloved LEIBY Z”L may you be a meilitz Yoisher for us all!!
you r in a much better place then we are
please plead to HaShem to send us mashiach!!
Oy Leibi how much we all cried for you .Be mispalel for all of us
And yet we still have rabbonim and askanim in the kehilliah who will dither around on the fine points and obligations to consult a local rav before reporting allegations or suspicious individuals to the police. Every time I see anything to do with this tragedy or others, I seethe with anger about the Agudah bureaucrats who oppose legislation to mandate reporting. Its not clear such reports would have made a difference in this particular case since there were few prior warnings but it might save the life of the next Leibele.
OY, Not a day passes that I don’t think of Leiby and his family! All I can do is try to educate my children and hug them each day! May his neshamah be a meilitz yoisher and may there be no more karbonos!
I sit here once again shedding bitter tears and reliving those horrible horrible days last summer. I don’t think any of us has gotten over this unspeakable tragedy, nor should we. I light extra candles separately for family members who past away–parents etc. Last year I added another candle–one for Leiby A”H. His Yarzheit is just a month away–please light a yahrzeit licht lizecher nishmaso
May Leiby be a meilitz yosher for all of us. May he bring shalom to klal yisroel.
ומחה ה’ דמעה מעל כל פנים
whn Leiby wnt missing- my world went dark
I grew up in the s/ streets as him-in boro park.
i live nearby the dreadful spot
& pass it many times- wishing I had been the 1 he stopped.
i as all of u was devastated beyond words
wht can i do 2 help this beautiful neshama & let his family knw tht their cries r being heard?
after months of crying bitter tears filling an ocean so wide
i realized it was time2 do s/t 2 keep Leiby’s neshama alive.
Leiby was 2 young to die of his sins
it is clear tht he died 4 all of us & accepted a harsh g’zar din
2 cry & 2 mope- thts not wht he wld hav wantd
such a pure, erlich, temimisdig boy-i felt a change in my behavior was warranted.
its easy 2 say “oy nebach, by yenem”
cry a few tears & 4rget his parents pain-w/ is surely gehinnom
Leiby suffered 4 all of us its clear
wht can we do-if we really care
dont let the moment of passion & sympathy slip by
its up 2 U & Me 2 bring the geula-or at least 2 try
there’s a beautiful song in-kumitz in the rain
its track #4 & never fails 2 remind me HaShems pain.
The kosel sits waiting 4 us 2 come home
we cry & we beg 2 c HaShem on his throne
but sinas chinam destroyed it all
& only 2GETHER can we rebuild the walls
im not a rebetzin in any way
but surely the simple people like me & u can help save the day
there are no easy answers, no simple rules
we each must flex our middos muscles and use all our G-D given tools
to fix ourself to the best we can be
without looking at others & saying “why dont the work as hard as me”
this life is so short, so fleeting and sometimes insane
but after 120- that is where the truth will forver remain
it is hard to forive when ou have been caused so much pain
i know this firsthand- some people never change
but because of Leiby Z’L- my new rebbe and Rav
I forced myself to give up and to try and to love
even those who have hurt me so deep and so cruel
when ii am mevater and moichel – i whisper “Leiby- im doing this 4 u”
leiby has done so much 4 us all
it couldve have been anyone’s son 2 hav taken the fall
but Leiby’s neshama chose this test
don’t we each individually owe him our best?
ahavas yisrael is the only key
2 yerushalayim- our promised destiny.
it is not easy & can b only done your side
but as long as u did yours-u know u hav tried
& when the day tht Mashiach will surely come,
we will embrace-finally united as one
may it be HKB”H’s will- kainn yehi ratzon!
Wow! Thanks to all who helped answer my question. Putting a box there for lighting candles is a genius idea! This way… they will not go out. Very good!
Bless poor Leiby’s family… this past year must have been the hardest of their lives.
My Father and Leiby Kletzky
I am writing to share something gave me inspiration as I sat by my late fathers bedside. As he lay in the hospital the Friday before Leiby ‘s petira/passing he coded on Friday night. For those of you not in the know, coding means his breathing stopped. Long story short, without discussing halachic/Jewish law issues, my father was intubated and resuscitated.
When someone dies and is brought back to life, only a fool would not stop and ask why this person had to go through this process. I believe several things were the direct result of my fathers passing and return to this world on that fateful Friday night. Number one, the most obvious to me is the fact that, as a result of his resuscitation, all eight of his children, from his first and second marriage , were able to fly in from as far away as Eretz Yisroel , San Francisco, the NY and NJ areas to be together for the first time in history under one roof. When you consider that the children span two marriages, three countries and 32 years, this is nothing short of a miracle.
You will ask what this has to do with Leiby and I will tell you.
As the tragedy was unfolding and, between my thoughts and prayers for my fathers welfare, were thoughts of a scared little boy and just what he would need to comfort him.
My father received a Brocha when he was eight years old from the third Gerrer Rebbe, the Imrai Emes: “Zol zein learnen Torah, Zol zein marbitz Torah/ You should learn Torah and spread-teach Torah” . For 57 years my father taught the tinokos shel bais raban/ Jewish school children. Pittsfield Mass. Columbus Ohio. Toronto Canada. At his funeral the hearse and casket stopped at the Eitz Chaim Schools and the children lined up in two rows as the hearse passed thru and stopped so the children could give kovod Acheron/ the final respect with kaptlach of Tehillim/chapters of psalms.
A teacher of Torah. A master educator .
My father was man who led a Seder twenty years ago till three in the morning and started it all over again after the final songs were sung because the non religious daughter of the family he was visiting arrived at 3 AM. (She has since returned to our heritage)
My father was a man who led his children in the recitation of psalms/Tehillim outside a less than observant shul so that he wouldn’t violate Jewish law and yet give honor to the deceased, , a non-religious relative while sanctifying G-ds name in the process.
My father was a man who validated each and every student and, while raising them up in Yahadus, met them in their space and treated them like the mentschen he knew they could grow up to be.
My father died on Shabbos as the righteous are known to do. Hakodesh Baruch Hu in His wisdom knew however that , not only did his family need him here just a little longer but, a little boy named Leiby needed a Rebbe to take him by the hand.
My father, Rebbe par excellence’, was buried that fateful Wednesday after passing away finally the day before and , together, he and the Olah Temima/pure sacrifice , Leiby Kletzky met for the first time and went up to Shamayim hand in hand.
From a brocho from the Imrei Emes comes a lifetime of chinuch habonim and habanos/ educating children and the talmid acharon/final student going home, but not alone.
Hakodesh Baruch Hu/G-d — You are perfect and Your ways are perfect. May all the availai tzion V Yerushalayim, the mourners of Zion and Jerusalem experience the ultimate comfort within these three weeks, and even today.
Yehi Zichronom Baruch/May their memories be for a blessing
The words on the Matzeiva are very well writen and brings you back to those very sad days when we all searched and prayed for Leiby, and then the shock we got when we heard the tragic news.
Just one question, why don’;t we see any women here?
Even by frum families there are women at the Hakumas Matzeiva.