SHERREE BELSKY

 

I am a second-generation holocaust survivor.  I was raised on a survivor’s instinct by amazing parents who always taught us that every Jew is our brother or sister, never judge anyone till you walk a mile in their shoes, and always step up to the plate to help others.  They did this not only through words but also through role modeling actions.  Everything I do, I do to honor them and make them proud of me.  My husband’s uncles are the famous Bielski brothers, the Bielski partisans who saved 1,200 Jews in the forest during the war.

Like all women, I wear many different hats as a wife, mother, grandmother, sister, sister-in-law, aunt, great-aunt, neighbor, friend, mentor, shadchan, Dating coach and retired Life Coach (whew).  

In the past I was a bookkeeper, office manager, mentor and co-parent of Kids at Risk, President and Founder of Kids Counts Foundation, an organization to raise funds for At-Risk kids to go to rehab, school and camps; Coordinator in an At Risk Yeshiva for teens, Vice President of an Organization I founded to Advocate for victims of Abuse, mentor for victims of Abuse and then helped quite a few women get a divorce and GETT from abusive husbands.  Yes I know, there aren’t many women or men that stand up for Agunahs, that has to change.

I helped the Five Towns Jewish Times get started by writing a column entitled Parents at Risk, and had many followers.  When my kids started the dating parsha I started setting up their friends and became an official shadchan and was always told I  was on the right track, I listened and they appreciated that.  I am proud to say that I made my niece’s shidduch.

Everyone is blessed with an individual way or ways they can do chessed and B”H, I found many ways that I could.   I read a story that said that just as you send care packages to our children in camp, if you lose a loved one especially a child, when you do mitzvos in the zchus of your loved one, you send care packages to them in Shamayim.  

L’zecher Nishmas my son Simcha Berel Dovid ben Avraham Moshe A”H, who Hashem took in his sleep on Chai Tishrei 2018, at the age of 32, I chose to get more involved in makings shidduchim.   

I was already a registered user on Partners in Shidduchim, having seriously looked to make matches for singles I care about, so I decided to get more involved.  I owe my attitude to a good friend of ours who gave me perspective and allowed me not only to start healing but also to reconnect me to Hashem when one’s bitachon is at the lowest possible low you can imagine.  Singles might understand what I am saying here, and if I can find the strength to keep going after what I went through, I hope you can learn from me.  

Thank you “Mordi I” for telling me “If Hashem came to you 32 years ago and said I can give you an amazing gift but only for 32 years and then you have to give it back, would you accept this gift or would you decline.”  This is what I hold onto every day.  I would never ever have declined the gift of my child.  I could never ever imagine not having Simcha in my life for the 32 years that I had him and shared him with the world. He was amazing, kind, generous, and giving.  He made everyone he met smile, and helped everyone who needed help.  I carry him with me every day in my mind, heart and soul.

Hashem has a plan for everyone, we don’t know what it is, and we can’t question it we just have to believe in it and never give up.  We must accept his gifts with gratitude and rise up to the challenges he sends us.  He is the Master; we are living in his world.