It is with a broken heart that YWN informs you of the petirah of Reb Yanky (Jack) Meyer Z”L, the founder of Misaskim and one of the leading askanim in Klal Yisroel. He was 58. Yanky suffered from a terrible illness in recent months and his condition severely deteriorated in the weeks prior to his tragic petirah. Yanky was an incredible human being, a person whose magnanimity and selflessness may never truly be understood, and someone whose relentless drive to help others deprived him of every basic worldly pleasure. He was simply too busy devoting his life to helping console those in pain and providing support to anyone he could possibly help, to enjoy even a single night of uninterrupted sleep. Yanky was a devoted member of Boro Park Hatzolah for around 35 years, a position in which he was fondly known as “B-41.” He also volunteered for Tomchei Shabbos of Boro Park, spending each Thursday night delivering food to dozens of families who didn’t have the means to buy what they needed. Yanky was a chaplain in multiple law enforcement agencies, including the Port Authority Police, NJ Transit Police, the Office of the Medical Examiner of NYC, the Sullivan County Sheriff’s Office, and was a senior NYPD Clergy Liaison, as well. Yanky was trusted by all, including every NYC mayor and NYPD commissioner since the days of Rudy Giuliani, as well as high-ranking officials in the NYPD, FDNY, and many other agencies. In a world often in turmoil, Yanky was a voice of reason, calm, and respect, and all admired him for that. Yanky used his vast connections and contacts to prevent thousands of autopsies over the years and assist in bringing Jews to Kevuras Yisroel in a timely manner. In times of tragedy, Yanky z”l was always leading the restoration of stability, and he had a unique knack for informing families of the sudden loss of a loved one with care and sensitivity, somehow managing to provide a measure of comfort even when people were in their deepest pain. Yanky was a living “Rolodex” who used his network of contacts to navigate his way through thousands of tragedies over the years, giving a helping hand, hope, and consolation to an untold number of people. Approximately 25 years ago, Yanky recognized the need for an organization that would help those sitting shiva. Taking the heavy responsibility of creating such an organization upon himself, Yanky founded Misaskim, now a household name and a critical piece of every frum community in the tri-state area. When a family loses a loved one, the first call is to Misaskim. Once that call is made, the family is assured that their needs will be met – from small chairs for the aveilim, chairs for those being menachem avel, siddurim, sifrei torah, air conditioners, and anything else one could imagine needing in the trying shiva period. Under Yanky’s leadership and direction, Misaskim exploded in growth, and has since expanded to Baltimore, Los Angeles and even overseas, including in communities in Manchester and London in the United Kingdom. Just to give a snippet of an idea of the level of chesed Misaskim is involved with: on one motzei yom tov last year, Misaskim delivered shiva-related materials to over 100 homes, providing their services to well over […]
The post HEARTBREAKING TRAGEDY: Passing of Reb Yanky (Jack) Meyer Zt”l, Founder of Misaskim, And Leading Askan appeared first on The Yeshiva World.