Avi Schaefer
To be honest: I didn’t think I was going to write any more posts on this blog. I was worried about the stresses of a new job and the time it would take away from my writing.
Then, I met Avi Schaefer.
Actually, I met his parents at Brown University Hillel, the Foundation for Jewish Campus Life on campus while attending a service known as Chavurah, where like-minded Jews get together on Shabbat to share life experiences while observing the Jewish day of rest.
You see, Avi was killed by a drunk driver back in February. He was only a freshman in college, 21 years old and fresh out of the Israeli Defense Forces, where he served three years after making Aliyah, in which he moved to Israel from California after completing high school. On the night of Friday, February 12th, exactly one month ago, Schaefer was struck by a drunk driver at the intersection of Thayer and Hope Streets, near Brown’s campus. He was taken to a hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.
So, one month later, friends and fellow classmates at Brown, as well as Schaefer’s parents, gathered at Hillel for a Friday night service and dinner. It just so happened that I wanted to join in a Friday night service and I couldn’t have picked a more meaningful night.
As Avi’s fellow students shared thoughts and interpretations of the Torah portion for this week, called Vayak’hel-Pekudei,it’s almost like Avi was right there with them. When, the service transitioned into the chanting of prayers such as Shalom Rav, the prayer for peace, I was moved to tears. You see, I didn’t even know Avi, and I could fee that the young man embodied and wanted to live for peace in the world.
According to Brown University president, Ruth Simmons, “Avi was working with a Brown professor and a Palestinian undergraduate to establish a new course on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, emphasizing the importance of dialogue.”
He also wanted to help the Providence Police Department use some of the defense tactics he learned in the army, a mandatory three-year service for Israeli young men and women.
What’s terrible is that Avi was taken away from us too soon. He was a promising young student, who had a breadth of experiences to empower him in his life, to create the change he wished to see in the world.
