BROOKLYN (JTA) – In a weekend marred by an act of hate-filled violence, a Jewish family from Brooklyn did their part to heal the world.
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On Thursday, the Hasidic couple from Brooklyn were on an outing on Governors Island with their children when they found a wallet full of $1,400 in cash.
They contacted State Assemblyman Simcha Eichenstein, who was able to track down the owner of the wallet, a man named Christopher Collins from the Bronx.
In a video shared with the New York Jewish Week, Eichenstein is seen holding a meeting between Collins and the Hasidic man who found the wallet.
Feel good story for today: This Bronx man lost $1400 in his wallet. A Hasidic family, with the help of @SEichenstein, returned it. pic.twitter.com/8Ox276KkaB
— Jacob Henry (@jhenrynews) May 16, 2022
Collins said in the video that he is thankful and “appreciates the gesture so much.”
“I’m thankful to find out that there are people out there that care enough to give me back my wallet with all my things in it,” Collins said.
“These are two individuals that might have very little in common other than that they are both New Yorkers,” Eichenstein said. “We look out for each other.”
Eichenstein also noted that Collins is Black, which he brought up in referring to Saturday’s mass shooting in Buffalo when an 18-year-old white supremacist shot up a grocery store in a predominantly Black neighborhood, killing 10 people and injuring three
“We know what happened in Buffalo is a horrible, racially motivated crime,” Eichenstein said. “We have to be there for each other. If only one person out there walks away from this moment seeing how these two communities treat each other, then it was worth it.”
Eichenstein said he wanted to bring attention to this story because some people view Hasidic Jews as “different because of the way we dress.”
“These are two individuals that have never met before and probably will never meet again.” Eichenstein said. “When we get past all that, we start to realize that is how we’re supposed to treat each other.”
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Eichenstein also attended the Flatbush Council of Jewish Organizations breakfast on Sunday morning, where Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-South Bronx) spoke about the relationship between Black and Jewish Americans.
“Fighting racism should never be the sole responsibility of the black community, just like fighting antisemitism should never be the sole responsibility of the Jewish community,” Torres said.
It’s a little cheesy to have a filmed production of it but yasher koach
Very Cringy reenacted video.
Notice how the owner of the wallet didn’t look inside the wallet, however he commented on the fact that the contents were all there.
Pretty loserish to have to reenact the story for a political ad!
Look at the politicians face.
Of course it’s good that the fellow returned the wallet, as he should. He deserves a pet on the back for that.
But this video is gross! Making a stink out of it is gross!
I bet Moster of the “prestigious” Yaffed doesn’t like this story.
Good pr simcha you do vote as a Democrat with Carl heastie all the time unlike ari brown
Some years ago researchers planted ‘lost’ wallets in to see if finders would return them. Most people did. The issue with the story is that the average non-Jew would think “why are these Jews making such a fuss about something any decent person would do. Is it because they imagine they are better then us? If they do then they are bigots.”
A good deed is no longer a good deed if everybody knows about it…
המשיא את בתו לזקן, והמשיא אשה לבנו קטן, והמחזיר אבידה לנכרי – עליו הכתוב אומר ‘למען ספות הרוה את הצמאה לא יאבה ה’ סלח לו’
יישר כחכם
I am sure that if the actors were reversed; i.e. the chasid lost the wallet, and the finder was a Black man younger than 45, the results would have been the SAME!!! (That the Black man, and not the chasid, would have ended up with the wallet & the money).
what does the halacha say about finding a lost wallet belonging to a non Jew?
Decrepit Joe and his anti Israel pro pali terrorist admin continues to violate the Taylor Force Act in order to send hundreds of millions of dollars to the pali terrorist regime.
why is this news worthy? A yid did what he is supposed to do in this situation