by Allison Kleine
Eddie Ford was a Holocaust survivor, and he was dying of cancer. At the end of his life, the 85-year-old did not have any close family members or friends left. He was alone.
In a hospital in Toronto, Ford requested a rabbi visit him because he wanted to connect to his Jewish faith, even though he had not been practicing his religion. Ford had spent years of his childhood in Budapest raised by a Christian family who hid him during the war.
So Rabbi Zale Newman, who visits hospital patients on Fridays, started dropping by Ford’s hospital room. At Ford’s urging, He taught him simple Jewish blessings and songs. Over the eight months the men got to know each other, Newman grew fond of Ford and promised him a Jewish burial.
Newman, a volunteer rabbi with The Village Shul and the Jewish Volunteer Services in Toronto, found a funeral home an hour’s drive away that would bury Ford at no charge.
But when Ford died Jan. 29, Newman had a problem: He needed a “minyan” — 10 men — the minimum number of men required to make a Jewish funeral official. He didn’t know who to ask.
Newman put a request on Facebook at almost 11 p.m. Jan 30, asking for volunteers to attend the graveside funeral the following day at noon. He knew it was a long shot.
“Can you come escort a Hero of the Holocaust for his final journey,” Newman wrote. He added: “please dress warmly.” The temperature in Toronto would be negative-16 degrees...READ MORE
