How Could Jhan Moskowitz Fall In a New York City Subway?

I can't get it out of my mind that a fall on the head in a New York City subway was the cause of Jhan Moskowitz's sudden and tragic death.

I found a memory my husband Dan wrote of how he and I and other JFJ Campaigners chased him through the subways in 1988.  Was he perhaps running and leaping through the place that was so much like home to him?

I guess I'll never know....

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Dan wrote:

"Our first day began in the early morning with a grueling chase for the New York branch leader, Jhan Moskowitz. On and off subway trains, off at the 125th street station in Harlem, chase around the block past winos sleeping on the sidewalk, back on the subway. It was particularly scary going from car to car on the subway train as it raced beneath the streets.

I stayed behind with Jo Ann, who was getting too tired to run. Ironically, we caught Jhan as he came out of a station, having just given the slip to the vast majority of campaigners who had gotten stuck on a subway train he slipped off at the last second. We chased him longer but eventually gave up and went back to the JFJ office on 31st street."

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I just found an explanation of what happened:

Jhan's death was sudden and unexpected.

It was raining in New York City on Tuesday, September 4 at around noon. The subway steps must have been slippery and wet. Jhan slipped and fell forward on a staircase going down into the subway at 45th Street and 3rd Avenue. I've been told that is Grand Central Station and that a policeman witnessed Jhan's fall. Jhan said something like "What just happened?" and the policemen told him he'd hit his forehead and fell. The policemen called an ambulance.

A JFJ co-worker was notified because he was the most recent person in Jhan's cell phone record. That person contacted Jhan's wife, Melissa. Jhan was taken to Roosevelt Hospital which is on 58th Street. Melissa arrived and was able to see Jhan while he was still conscious, but disoriented. His daughters arrived later at the hospital. Jhan's family was with him him through the night.

The trauma to his head caused significant bleeding on his brain. He died the next day. Memorial services were held in New York City, Chicago and Tel Aviv. He was buried on Sunday in a suburb of Chicago.

Well, now I know...

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The photo to the left was taken at Jhan Moskowitz's memorial service. I read at the following link below that it was very moving and that Melissa was standing up alone and singing to God during one of the hymns. I have read that the service is not available for the public to see, but...

Click here to read that person's thoughts on and experiences at the the memorial service in NYC.

My Thoughts About Jhan Moskowitz's Sudden and Tragic Death

I've known Jhan Moskowitz most of my adult life. He died on Wednesday, September 5, 2012.

He was in a terrible and tragic accident in New York City on Tuesday, September 4. I heard that he fell off a subway platform on his way to work and hit his head. His head injuries were so great (there was no brain activity) that his family chose to pull him off of life support.

I've had really no interaction with him for about twenty years.

I remember chasing him through the subways of NYC the first day of JFJ Campaign 1988. It was a training exercise to get us warmed up to New York City. I'll never forget how we were instructed not to lose him and he kept yelling, "30 feet!" We were told we had to stay 30 feet away from him, and not lose him. Eventually, he escaped us all by flying away on a helicopter!

The idea that he died in the NYC subways where he felt so much at home. seems so, so sad.

I have been reading the thoughts of other people who knew Jhan. I realized I actually don't have any memories of him that are all that personal, but in my mind, he was always there and part of a big "family" (religious group) that once was my family.

The thing is, I realized long ago that I can't ever again be part of that "family," so in a way, I'm mourning Jhan's death in my own way and it's lonely doing it that way...

Even if I was able to get to the memorial service in New York City, I know I would feel very out of place.

I am thinking of his family at this time. I had more interaction with his wife, Melissa, than with Jhan. Even my interaction with Melissa was limited.

I do know that Jhan was always very nice and even though he was not all that close to me, I am very, very sad he is gone.

I've been told that heaven has welcomed Jhan and he is being rewarded right now for his efforts on earth. I wish so much that I could really believe and know that is true.

My Rambling Thoughts 8-12-2012

Why do I have such a hunger for God and desire to learn all about God and biblical history, but feel like I know nothing about God and feel God is so far away? How could I have pretended to know anything about God ever?

I feel like I am several people at times. I become what people around me want me to be. Are there other Jewish people like me trying to seek God and dealing with all the issues I deal with?

Small Plane Crash Made Me Wonder If God Does Exist

Keith Green and two of his children died in a small plane crash on July 28, 1982. That was thirty years ago. The Greens had four children. Three year old Josiah and two year old Bethany were on the plane. Also, John and Dede Smalley and their six children died in that crash.

Melody Green was actually pregnant with child #4 at the time and there was a baby that didn't go on that plane.

I woke up this morning thinking about that plane crash, and also about the tragic plane crash that just happened to one of the skating families in Colorado Springs.

I just read about Trish Porter. I knew nothing about her before this past Thursday.  She was just another loving parent who took her kid ice skating. I've now learned that she is a strong, brave, and an amazing woman who has been through so much already. I know people will tell me that God had a reason for 1/2 of Melody Green's family to perish and that there must be a reason that something similar has just happened to the Porter family.

Pat Porter had just been inducted into the Rocky Mountain Hall of Fame on July 20, 2012.

The next morning, on July 21, I was sitting in the stands in the Colorado Springs World Arena Ice Hall watching my kids do pair skating.  Annabelle had a bad fall on the double twist lift.  Trish Porter was sitting right in front of me in the stands.  She asked if Annabelle would be okay.  It's hard for me to fathom that five days later, her life, and the life of her daughter, Shannon (who was skating on the same practice session as Annabelle and Joel), would have their lives changed forever.  It almost seems like a dream and it just can't be real.

I didn't know the Porters really, but they were such a "light" at the World Arena. Trish is so friendly and all the skaters love Shannon.  I didn't know Keith or Melody Green either, but I did visit their commune once just after I finished college.  Both people just sort of touched me, so I feel some connection with them.

These two small plane crash tragedies happened almost exactly 30 years apart to the day. Both women had amazing husbands, but also, both women maybe (or were/are) "called by God" (I don't usually use that lingo) to go on and to tell others that God is in charge.

I admit I have wondered how something so horrible could happen at all. In fact, horrible things have occurred in Colorado this past summer.

This week, I began to question if there is a God at all after hearing about the Porter tragedy, but thinking about Melody Green and how she went on for 30 years and kept on believing in God helps me to continue to believe that God does exist.  There has to be a reason that God allowed these things to happen.

I am still so, so sad and I'm thinking of Trish and Shannon Porter and also I'm thinking of the family of the other boy (who was a Collin Porter's friend) who also died in this tragedy.  I wish I could hug them.  I also wish I could hug the families that lost loved ones in the Aurora shootings.  I am also so sad for the families that lost their homes in the Waldo Canyon Fire.

• Plane crash claimed Olympian, two teens

Review of "God and Kings" - A Book By Lynn Austin

I downloaded God and Kings to my Kindle because it was a free book advertised on a free Kindle Books and Tips App.  I also downloaded it because I love to read historical fiction, and I especially like reading biblical fiction.

I wasn't sure I would really read the book, but since it was free, I thought it was worth having on my Kindle Fire to read when I needed something new to read.

I had no idea when I downloaded the book, that I'd find it to be so good and also, that the book would almost seem to "speak directly to me."   There is definitely a message in Lynn Austin's novel.

God and Kings is the first book in a series about the kings in the bible from the book of Chronicles.  This book is about the life of young Hezekiah, whose father was Ahaz, one of the wicked kings of Judah.  Ahaz does horrible things.  Hezekiah learns about Yahweh (God) through his grandfather, Zechariah, when he is a little boy.  He forgets about God as he grows up since Zechariah is taken away and hidden from him.  When Hezekiah becomes King of Judah, he is reunited with Zechariah and remembers God.

I realized, as I read the book, that I really didn't know much about any of the kings described in the Tanach.  I also didn't know much about the sacrifices that once took place in the Temple or how God's people had turned away from God.

Even though this story was about a past that seems fictional, there was some present day reality brought to the story.  The overwhelming theme is that believing and following God may seem ridiculous and outdated to people that don't believe or don't want to believe in God.

The people in the time of the kings had walked away from God, yet there still were some who did or remembered what their life had once been like when they did follow God.  Success and greed may have changed them, but in the back of their minds, they knew what God had done in their lives.  They had to decide if they would stay comfortably in the lives they had chosen without God or return to God.  It was a hard choice.  They also had to decide if they would publicly take a stand for God.

The point of this book is to show that God may be forgotten, but when one returns to God and takes a stand, goodness returns to one's soul and also good things may happen.  The book seems to make it clear that a life that is without God is a life that leads to bad things and destruction.  Thinking about all of this is scary.

Why Did 347 Homes Burn Down?

347 homes have burned to the ground in Colorado Springs, the town I've lived in and loved to live in.  The homes that burned were in a beautiful neighborhood that I'd visited and enjoyed.  Two people also died in the fire.  The city's wonderful happy place, the Flying W Ranch, is gone.

I don't get it.  I prayed and prayed for a miracle; instead my faith in God grew weaker instead... 
 

Book Review: Seed of Avraham - The 4000 Year History of the Jewish Family

A Jewish friend of mine recommended Seed of Avraham - The 4000 Year History of the Jewish Family by Othniel Seiden to a Jewish Women's Social online discussion group. I knew I would find it interesting since I love historical fiction.

This book perhaps should be called "Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Judaism, Jewish People, and Jewish History." Fictional stories are mixed with facts.

I feel I now have traveled through time. I've been through World War 2 and the Holocaust; I've been through the Crusades; I've seen the pogroms in Russia; I've been to Germany where Reformed Judaism began; I've walked to Palestine with a Jewish couple who wished to escape Jewish persecution in Russia; I've seen anti-semitism in its worst forms; I've seen a young Jewish boy ask to be exempt from singing Christmas Carols in public school; I've seen Jewish families deal with eating non-Kosher foods and not observing the Sabbath; I've met the Judge Deborah; and I've even seen David kill Goliath. I've met the Baal Shem Tov who founded Hasidic Judaism and I've even met Rabbi Akiva and learned about the Nazarenes and "Joshua the Messiah."

Yes, Seed of Avraham is an amazing read and is a "page turner" at times. There were also times I had to go back and read entire chapters again since there is so much information in this book. I wanted to understand everything and I learned so much.

The book tells historical stories through the eyes of average Jewish people that could or may have been my relatives. The book skips from thousands of years ago and moves to the present, then goes back hundreds of years, and then moves to the present, and then goes back two or three thousand years. What a great way to travel through time and to learn at the same time!

In addition, certain Jewish words and terms and names are highlighted in bold throughout the volume. I was surprised how many of those words and terms and names I already knew!

Here's some examples of the stories told in Seed of Avraham:

The story of King David is told through the life of a friend of David's who's father was the armor bearer to King Saul. Other stories like the Inquisition, the Holocaust, and Columbus' journey are also told. I found out the many people think Columbus might have been a secret Jew!

The reader "hears" the stories because they are told through the eyes of people who were "there."

The book will be of interest to people of all faiths, but people who are Jewish will especially enjoy it because this book is the story of any Jewish family. Since my grandmother may have left Russia for a better life in the USA like some of the characters in the book, I especially related. There were stories my dad told me about his life as a young boy in the USA that were similarly told in this book.

I also related to the "search for something more" that occurs for a character named David. Although his secular life provided great fulfillment, at the end of the book David realizes that his desire to serve and know G-d was and is very real. I'm wondering how many Jewish people may experience something similar.

Another wonderful point the author makes is that Jewish people are truly a connected family. How great that is!

Readers should know this book is very, very long, and there are some typos in the book, but it is a great read.