Over 1000 people from across the Jewish community in Chicago filled Congregation Bnei Ruven on Thursday, 2 Cheshvan for a memorial gathering for Chabad bochur Eliyahu Moscowitz HY”D.
Moscowitz, a 24-year-old who worked as a kashrus mashgiach, was shot and left for dead on the pedestrian path in Loyola Park. Police believe that the same gun was used 36 hours earlier to kill another person.
Reeling from the tragedy, family and friends were joined by rabbis and community members to pay tribute to a life that was brutally cut short. The room was packed and multiple people spoke up about how wonderful he was, ABC7 reported.
Among the speakers was Eliyahu’s father, Rabbi Mendel Moscowitz, who said through these heartbreaking moments he’s heard endless stories of the wonderful person his son was. “We were deluged with stories from friends and coworkers,” he commented.
Though the Rogers Park community is on edge following the shootings, from the tragedy comes community support. “Even if it’s a terrible situation, it is bringing us together,” said Tony Lonien, owner of the bar Poitinstil.
“When you have darkness, a little extra light counters a lot of darkness,” said Rabbi Baruch Hertz, who spoke at memorial alongside Rabbi Yona Reiss, Av Beth Din of the Chicago Rabbinical Council (cRc) and cousin’s of Eliyahu – Rabbi Yosef Shmuel Moscowitz and Rabbi Meir Shimon Moscowitz.
The guest speaker of the community gathering was the renowned lecturer Rabbi YY Jacobson who because of weather conditions was not able to board a flight to Chicago in time for the event. Instead, he spoke via live broadcast from Monsey.
Following the event, participants continued to the F.R.E.E. center on W. Devon Avenue where they held there a Chassidic farbrengen. The center is located a few minutes walk from Loyola Park.
VIDEO: Rabbi Mendel Moscowitz
VIDEO: Rabbi YY Jacobson
VIDEO: News report
wishing the family a lot of kochos,reb mendel is a incredible teacher in the Cheder
Member of Chicago anash
A life well lived. A true chossid.
… and besurois toivos from here on, with the ultimate “good news” of Moshiach’s arrival, when the whole world will rejoice with Techiyas Hameisim – may it be now mamash!