A Flat Tire Connected Me With Tzvi Meir Kriegsman

By Mendy Lipszyc

It has been a tough weekend. I just got back yesterday from burying my best friend.

23 years ago, I met Tzvi Meir Kriegsman 23 years ago, and how we became friends was an exact reflection of who he was.

At the time, I was attending a trade school where my cousin and Tzvi were as well. One day, my cousin introduced me to Tzvi during a break. A few days later, my father was sitting Shiva after his mother passed away. My father was sitting Shiva in Boro Park, about 30 minutes away from where I was living.

Every morning, I would drive with a bunch of friends, to make sure there were enough people to make a minyan.

One night, hanging out in my car, I noticed a flat tire. As an 18-year-old, who just started driving, I had no idea what to do. I went into my house, and logged into good old AOL. Looking at the messenger, I saw Tzvi Meir, who I had just met online. Half-jokingly, I said, “hey, do you know how to change a flat?”

“Sure,” he said.

At midnight, he walked over and changed my tire so that my father would have a minyan and be able to say Kaddish. This was the beginning of our friendship.

This is exactly who Tzvi Meir was. He was selfless, and always there to give a helping hand. Life was not always been kind to him, yet what little he had, he was ready to give to others. And yet amazingly, I always admired how grateful he was for what he had.

I remember him telling me how happy he was that he found “a good-paying job.” I couldn’t understand how he was making ends meet with it, yet he was grateful for what he had.

The world lost an amazing person this past Thursday, and 2 girls were left without a father. Left without a father to help them with their expenses. Left without a father to help them find shidduchim. And left without a father to marry them off. They need your help. Please donate generously at Charidy.com/tzvi

Shiva information for the Kriegsman family:

Dina Wall (Kriegsman) and Mrs. Kriegsman are sitting at 1342 Sterling Place #1A – (between Schenectady and Troy)
Wednesday 5pm -8pm
Thursday 12pm -2pm and 5pm – 9pm
Friday 10am – 1pm
Motzoei Shabbos 7pm – 9pm

Binyomin Kriegsman is sitting at 770 Empire Blvd #4N
Minyanim:
Shachris – 9:00
Mincha – 4:05
Maariv: 8:00
Visiting hours:
12-1 pm
8:20-9:30 pm

Detroit info
Devo and Bayla are sitting shiva at the home of their grandmother, Mrs. Miriam Roetter – 25431 Gardner in Oak Park.
Visiting hours are Thursday from
11 am to 1 pm
3 pm to 5 pm with a 4:30 mincha
and 7pm to 9 pm.
As well as Friday 11 am to 1 pm
and Motzoei Shabbos from 7 pm to 9 pm.