What we learned from Rabbi Ya’acov Don

Rabbi Ya'acov Don z
Rabbi Ya'acov Don z"l

Every terror attack on Israelis is a tragedy, but some attacks are pure nightmares. Last Thursday’s strike near the West Bank settlement of Alon Shvut, which left three dead, including an 18-year old yeshiva student from Boston, falls into the latter category.

For many Canadian Jews, there was a personal connection to this attack. Rabbi Ya’acov Don, who spent four years in Toronto in the late-1990s working as a shaliach (emissary), was among the victims. (A Palestinian man was the third person killed.) As the news began to spread, Rabbi Don’s former students at the Anne and Max Tanenbaum Community Hebrew Academy of Toronto (TanenbaumCHAT) and in the Bnei Akiva youth movement took to Facebook to eulogize their former teacher. They remembered him as charismatic, down-to-earth and optimistic, an educator who left his mark. Having spent some time with Rabbi Don during his Toronto sojourn, I completely agree.

The day after the attack, The CJN received a letter from Tomer Chervinsky, a TanenbaumCHAT graduate of 2001, titled “What I learned from Rabbi Don.”

“During my four years at CHAT, no one teacher touched my life as much as Rabbi Ya’acov Don,” Tomer began.

“He was a shaliach, from a West Bank community… I was a know-it-all secular lefty who challenged every one of the religious precepts he taught, and yet, he taught me more than any other teacher I’ve ever had.

“Ask anyone who knew Rav Don, and they’ll remember his infectious grin, his ready smile, his quick wit and his passion for education. He pushed us to try harder, learn more, revel in knowledge and debate, and build communities of friendship and respect. He worked hard to ensure every voice was heard – even when he disagreed. He was the model of brilliance, compassion, supportiveness and humour that define the word mensch.”

Tomer continued: “In Grade 12, a friend and I were running a Yom Hazikaron/Yom Ha’atzmaut ceremony, when alcohol from the memorial flame spilled and lit the gym on fire. Cue the extinguishers, the evacuation and my nervous breakdown… Rav Don was our staff advisor on the project – and when we wanted to cancel a second ceremony, this is what he told me: ‘I understand you’re stressed and embarrassed. If you don’t respect the amazing work you put into this ceremony, that’s fine, but I do, and I won’t let you throw it away.’ To this day, those words remind me that it’s not how far you fall, it’s how you stand back up.

“What Rav Don taught those of us who were lucky enough to know him was that we could passionately disagree – in that way that Israelis do – but still love each other. That we could debate ideas with a smile and a kindness that today’s world is missing.”

“I know all of us who knew the Don family while they were in Canada are saddened, and our hearts are with his wife, four children and [their] entire community. May they find comfort among the mourners of Zion and Jerusalem.”

Tomer, and so many others who were positively influenced by the mustachioed, baritone-voiced shaliach, are part of Rabbi Don’s legacy. May his name continue to be a blessing for us all.