NEW YORK (VINnews/Sandy Eller) – A group of Chasidic men have spent hours setting up and delivering tablets to hospitalized coronavirus patients in the New York City area, allowing them to stay connected to their families despite a strict no-visitors-allowed policy put in place to limit the spread of the deadly pandemic.
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A volunteer who asked to be identified only as Shloimy said that the joint effort involves approximately 1,000 specialized social media tablets that were bought by a Chasidic man about a year ago. When word began to spread that patients were feeling extremely isolated,the idea of using the tablets to give them the ability to communicate
with family members began to take shape and the devices were programmed to connect to the various WiFi systems at Weill Cornell Medical System, Columbia University Medical Center, NYU Hospital, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Lenox Hill Hospital and Mount Sinai Hospital.
“Every hospital has a different system and we had to make sure that each device would work in every hospital since we don’t know where it will end up,” Shloimy told VIN News. “At NYU, every single device has to have its own username and passcode while at other hospitals you just have to connect to the WiFi.”
Every tablet loaned to a patient is paired to a tablet being used by their family, with MiFi mobile hotspots given to those that don’t have WiFi in their homes.
Because visitation policies are extremely restrictive, getting tablets to patients is no small matter.
Some have been delivered with food packages sent to patients through hospital-approved channels, while others have been given directly to patients as they are brought in to the hospital.
According to Shloimy, more than 500 tablets have been loaned out so far to patients and their families, who live throughout New York City as well as in Monsey, Kiryas Joel and New Jersey. Volunteer Avromi said that the feedback from both patients and their families has been overwhelmingly positive and the group received a pre-Pesach picture
from one family showing the tablet perched on a shelf so that a hospitalized family member could share in their Pesach Seder.
“The kids were able to ask their father the Four Questions and the father was able to reply and see the Seder live,” said Shloimy.
The tablet project is a volunteer effort for now, with several coordinators and numerous volunteers spending hours programming the tablets and standing outside hospitals to make sure that the devices are connecting properly to WiFi.
“We aren’t an official organization,” said Shloimy, who often sings for hospital patients. “We are just a group of yungerleit looking to do this l’shem shomayim.”
For more information on the hospital tablet project call 917 999 0102
Let’s see if the NY Pust reports about this, or they only look to smear our community.
better that the post DOES NOT COVER THE STORY.. these kind of projects are best done under the radar vehameivin yovin
If the volunteers were black would you report black volunteers? Or Italian volunteers? All Americans come together as good benevolent Americans, why do you stress they are hasidik? When the fireman saves a person do you report the Italian fire fighter saved the victim? Just wondering
The media looks for every opportunity to vilify the chasidic community in particular and the Jewish community in general. Not that we need it, it says hasnai leches im Hashem e-lokecha, but let the non-jewish world also see the many good things we do.
Where are all the comments? Articles about Chassidim usually draw much more comments on this website?
And by the way as frum yidden in golus, we will always eat the cake we bake for ourself, when I see scores of our own going into the shul across the street from me, on 53rd, st. (not sure if they are davening there or using the mikvah there,) they are not only endangering them self, thier wives and kids when they get home, but they put us all in a very bad light! They are true tips him, as we have Italian neighbors as well, and they are watching what’s going on, and they very disturbed by it
I have a wholesale account with T-Mobile and I can donate SIM’s for the MiFi devices. I tried calling the number but no one answered….
how careful must we be when it comes ” TO OPTICS” . meaning ” IF” what one is doing is torahdik correct , but “the italian neighbors ” are disturbed, how much of an issue is that ( i dont mean the minyan question but replace it with any other inyan , as an example the music trucks going around there are goyim & yidden who love the music & some who feel this is NOT the time for music in the street when 700 people dying daily? or chometz fire ,….(i dont mean to compare examples)
being diff & seperate from goyim & cultures is a torah concept , an observation i made is that the more a kehilla stresses ” HAVDALAH” being diff from goyim the less they care what the goy thinks & on the other hand frum communities that are more sensitive to neighbors like finishing sukkos music before 8pm ..not making a hatzoloh because it upset the local EMT..are also more prone to being part of goyish culture (music , following sports, dress )
i think its a double sided.. and needs a proper balance which each kehilla thinks IT HAS
Which Ruv gave the Psak that using the Internet is OK for this? Many have said not to even allow children to use Zoom for learning Torah.
It may seem nice on the surface but we don’t run on emotions. We work by “Daas Torah”
A beautiful mitzvah-
The kids were able to ask their father the Four Questions and the father was able to reply and see the Seder live,” said Shloimy.
sorry , dont understand , is nt that assur to use on yom tov and shabbes???
@Ruby I’m sorry you are out of line here about the music !! Nothing could be further from the truth! ALL of us are aware of how many hundreds if not thousands of holy yidden we have lost !!! They’re going around with the music to try to cheer up everyone a bit ? Otherwise we would all fall into a deep depression ! How much tzaros have we witnessed !!!?? Enough already please Hashem have mercy on us all!!! In addition , I am jealous of this guys zechusim with the ipads! Mi keamcha Yisroel !!!!!