What Zlata meant to me

As I prepare to say the שמע before drifting into sleep, I began to wonder- What did Zlata mean to me? What impact did she have on my daily life? To know this however, you have to start with another question- What was Zlata like? Each שבת I spent at Chabad was a magical one. Not just because of the prayer, but because of my interactions with people that I don't see the rest if the week. After praying, I would go up and see if Zlata needed any help with preparing the food, or anything else. She would greet me always with a smile on her face and joy in her eyes. "Shookie," she would say, "you can help scoop out חומוס and then get some cups" After I had worked for at least a couple of mintues, she would gently rebuke me- "aren't you supposed to be downstairs for מוסף?" I would then head back downstairs to pray a little bit more. Zlata's actions here show one side of her- even though she knew that I was supposed to be all the time downstairs, praying, she would let me help her and only after I had done something, send me back down. She knew that I couldn't stay in shul for so long, and she showed compassion by allowing me to help her- but she also showed me that, while helping others is important, so too is praying. She was always like that. Always smiling, full of ruach- not only normal spirit, but holy spirit! She would always do things for other and then get back to her work. She was full of life. In those gentle rebukes, she showed her compassion and love of Judaism to me at the same time. While understanding and accepting that I couldn't stay in shul for long periods, she also reinforced my love of Judaism by allowing me to do a mitzvah and the to go and pray. I never realized it, but now it seems to me as if she was a messenger- she showed me not only to have compassion for fellow Jews, but to embrace Judaism in it's entirety and in doing so, to live life to your fulles capabilities. She truly knew what it was to be Jewish. I wish that her soul would reach ever higher in heaven, and that she would look down upon her family with love in these hard times. 

She truly understood what it meant to say- 

שמע ישראל ה׳ אלקינו ה׳ אחד.    

Joshua Eisdorfer