Ottawa’s beloved ‘rolling rabbi’ dies at 49

Ottawa Rabbi Yehuda Simes, who turned a horrific car accident that left him a quadriplegic into a source of inspiration for thousands, died Feb. 7 in Ottawa of pneumonia. He was 49.

He named his blog, followed by some 10,000 readers, Rolling Rabbi “because I’m just that,” wrote the much-loved educator and father of nine.

“Figuratively, because I like to think of myself as one who rolls with the punches, and literally, because I also roll on the wheels of my power chair. This is because I am a quadriplegic – one who has no or limited function in any of his four limbs, and in my case, near complete paralysis.”

A former teacher at Hillel Academy and co-founder, in 2006, of Torah High Ottawa, Rabbi Simes was victim of a devastating accident in June 2010, which he described on his blog: “Thankfully, the eight others in the vehicle escaped with no or minor scratches and bruises, with my seven-months-pregnant wife sustaining the most worrisome injuries. But it was I, sitting in my wife’s original seat, who absorbed the brunt of the fury that night. The roof of the van was primarily crushed above my head, effectively breaking my neck and trapping me in the van.”

READ: QUADRIPLEGIC RABBI REFLECTS ON FREEDOM AT PESACH

He spent three months in intensive care and six months in a rehab hospital.

Three years later, he wrote: “Now, many things must be different, but we fight to keep them normal. We accept that things are different, but somehow they must stay the same. At the same time, many things that we took for granted before the accident we will never underestimate again.”

Rabbi Simes changed little after his accident, eulogized Bram Bergman, the other co-founder of Torah High Ottawa, at the rabbi’s funeral.

“The positive Rabbi Simes that many got to know after his accident was the same exact positive Rabbi Simes as before the accident. This is the essence of who he was. His whole life was dedicated to serving God, spreading Torah, and caring for others.”

Rabbi Simes “treated every student with respect and would take a real interest in their life by asking genuine questions and valuing what they said,” Bergman said.

“He would walk around the class with his arms waving and swinging to keep kids’ attention. He always smiled at his students and would greet them with fervour to show them how special they were to him. He was always positive, calm, and in control, never losing his cool.”

Rabbi Simes was born and raised in Saint Paul, Minn. He attended the Wisconsin Institute for Torah Studies in Milwaukee. He then entered the “Chofetz Chaim” yeshiva system, spending three years in Jerusalem and 11 years in Queens, N.Y.

He completed a bachelor’s degree in computer science and a master’s in education. He and his family moved to Ottawa in 2002.

Torah High Ottawa enrolled 52 students in its first year. Within five years, it surpassed 100 students. “I truly believe that it was Rabbi Simes’ unique ability to teach and inspire” that led to the school’s growth, Bergman said.

Following his accident, Rabbi Simes took to public speaking at various Ottawa Jewish facilities and in Toronto.

Rabbi Simes “was the quintessential teacher,” said Rabbi Reuven Bulka, rabbi emeritus of Ottawa’s Congregation Machzikei Hadas. “He loved all his students and was beloved by them. He considered teaching a profound opportunity and responsibility. He was always prepared, and also prepared to listen to his students.”

In the wake of his accident, he “became a teacher for the ages by unconditionally affirming life and thereby inspiring all of us. He was too modest to think of himself as a heroic figure, but a heroic figure he was, and will always remain,” Rabbi Bulka said.