28 | SEPTEMBER 1 • 2022

OUR COMMUNITY

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WeeCare, a New Jersey-based organization
that provides peer support for Orthodox
moms of premature babies. Different com-
munity members who weren’t members of
any organization offered to help care for the
babies during the night so the Kleins could
sleep.
Being on the receiving end of all this
kindness was a new experience for the
Kleins.
“
Accepting all this help was hard,
” Aliza
Bracha said. “I’
d always been on the giving
side, volunteering, adopting families at the
holidays, things like that. It was difficult to
accept that the roles had reversed.
”
After seeing how life-changing and
meaningful it was to receive all this help,
the Kleins are eager to pass it on. These
days, though she is now a busy mom of
thriving and active 18- month-old twins,
Aliza Bracha always tries to sign up when
she sees a meal train.
“I’m eager to share the love and support
that I had. I hope one day I’ll be able to
give back in all the ways my family and I
received — physically, mentally, spiritually,
monetarily,
” she said.

A DEVASTATING ACCIDENT
Sima Leah Duato, a lactation consultant
from Oak Park, has also been on the receiv-
ing end of community kindness. She was
diagnosed with breast cancer in 2018 and
said the community immediately rose to

the occasion.
“They davened for us, fed my family
for months and were there for my kids in
every way,
” Sima Leah shared. “Baruch
HaShem, I recovered.
”
Things were looking up for Sima Leah.
At the time, her husband of 29 years
and father of their six children, Yisroel,
worked as a mashgiach at Soul Café and
as a Lyft and Uber driver at night.
In October 2021, as he drove a passen-
ger home one night, he was in a terrible
accident.
“Yisroel looked in his mirror and saw
this guy charging right at him and knew
there was no way to avoid him,
” Sima
Leah said.
They later discovered that the drunk
driver was speeding at over 100 mph. He
smashed into Yisroel’s car.
“Yisroel said it felt like he’
d been hit
with a sledgehammer. His passenger
walked away unscathed, but Yisroel was
left a paraplegic from the waist down,
”
Sima Leah said.
At that moment, their lives were changed
forever. As the dust settled, people immedi-
ately stepped up to support them.
“Family came in from out of town, peo-
ple cooked us meals, and friends visited
Yisroel,
” said Sima Leah. “
And that was just
the start of it.
”
Rabbi Y.A. Amzalak helped Yisroel put
on tefillin, arranged kosher food for the
family during Yisroel’s hospital and rehab
stays, and was able to put up Sima Leah in
a house near the hospital so she wouldn’t
have to walk so far on Shabbat.
Another woman raised money for the
Duato family to help them during the holi-
days. The Torgow family paid for the ramp
and the urgent new wheelchair-accessible
modifications their home now needed. The
Spot, a respite program for kids with special
needs, has lent the Duatos their wheel-
chair-accessible van as needed, even driving
them to a friend’s home so they could par-
take in a Purim seudah away from home.
Yisroel’s insurance denied coverage, and
the Duatos were left struggling to pay out of
pocket for the expensive necessary physical
therapy and medical supplies he need-
ed. Thanks to much-needed funds from
a gofundme campaign (https://gofund.
me/8dfd3b9a), the family was able to begin

paying off these expenses as well as hire
a caregiver for Yisroel in the mornings so
Sima Leah could return to work part time.
“Every little bit of help was a huge load
off my shoulders,
” Sima Leah said. “Having
delicious, filling meals bought to the house
or hospital meant I didn’t need to shop or
prepare food, and we all know how time
consuming that is.
“Extra funding for medical bills meant
that we could pay our regular bills on time
without extra stress ... As a result, I was able
to focus on being present at all of Yisroel’s
therapy and doctor appointments and giv-
ing him the care and attention he needs.
”
According to Yisroel’s doctors, he will
never walk again. Sima Leah and Yisroel
have not given up hope though; they believe
everything is in God’s hands and that things
could change in an instant.
Even now, almost a year since the acci-
dent, people are always stopping Sima Leah
to ask how her family is doing and how
they can help.
“Knowing there are people who are
always ready to lend a helping hand is such
a relief,
” Sima Leah said.
She is constantly busy with her husband’s
care but takes her prayers very seriously
and is always praying for others who are
struggling.

Sima Leah and
Yisroel Duato of
Oak Park outside
their wheelchair-
accessible home

Ezra
Drissman